For those budding screenwriters out there who have a great idea for a movie but don’t know where to start and are considering studying the craft of screenwriting, we have compiled a list of the best academic screenwriting degrees and courses in the US for you to review.
Is A Film School Program Right For Me?
Pursuing a formal full-time degree in screenwriting isn’t for everyone and it is by no means necessary to launch a career in filmmaking. All you really need is a passion for film, a talent for telling stories and some screenwriting software like Movie Outline to develop your story and characters and a professionally format a screenplay.
Agents, managers and Hollywood studio execs will like a good script no matter who wrote it or where it comes from and a good script will always garner attention if you can get it in the right hands, but sometimes new writers need a little formal education and discipline to get them on the right track, focus their creativity and hone their technical skills in the craft. Attending one of these MFA programs can also help you experience the broader aspects of filmmaking and take part in practical modules in other areas such as directing, producing and editing.
The contacts you make at film schools, both with students and professors, can last a lifetime, create collaborations that endure into your future career and open doors once you are ready to launch yourself and your scripts into the professional arena.
What Does A Master Of Fine Arts In Screenwriting Entail?
A Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree is typically the highest degree offered in creative writing. To qualify for most MFA screenwriting programs you need to have graduated from an accredited four-year college with a sample of your own creative writing that forms the most important part of your application. You may also need recommendations from past instructors.
MFA screenwriting programs usually last two or three years and require the student to attend on-campus daily or weekly classes, though some online courses are now available which include occasional intensive workshops.
All MFA program workshops encourage students to discuss each other’s creative writing in a collaborative environment and most screenwriting programs offer opportunities for students to experience other disciplines in the medium such as editing and directing to help students familiarize themselves with the wider aspects of the business they will be entering into.
On Your Marks...
Visit the websites listed below for more information and research each program carefully. It is always a good idea to contact the professors and/or lecturers who teach the courses for more details and even better to talk to past students and learn from their experience.
Remember, each course will differ in structure and teaching methodology so be clear what you want out of the course from the start so as to avoid disappointment down the line.
Good luck and may the force be with you!
First, the Top Six...
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University of Southern California (USC)
Widely considered to be one of the best schools to study film in the country, the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema & Television (located in Los Angeles) was also the first and has a rich alumni that include George Lucas, Robert Zemeckis and Ron Howard.
USC offers both undergraduate and graduate screenwriting programs to students from all over the world and out of the thousands of applicants each year, only 26 undergraduate students and 32 graduate students are admitted for their respective degrees. The Master of Fine Arts with a Major in Writing for Screen and Television is a two-year program that focuses on the basics of narrative structure by writing scenes, treatments, short scripts and full-length feature screenplays.
USC: “Our philosophy in storytelling is a combination of compelling characters and three-act structure. Additionally, we encourage experimental narratives, and television pilot writing and preparation for growing media like mobisodes, internet series, and gaming. Most of our students graduate with extensive writing samples.”
Students also take elective classes in video production and technology, editing, directing, producing, acting and directing actors, history and theory of film, and the business aspects of the entertainment industry. The school's research and technology labs enable students to pursue a wide range of related activities that include work with high-definition television, multimedia, virtual reality, animation and CGI.
During the program students attend lectures that bring top film executives and screenwriters to the school, and during the final year, USC help pair students with professional mentors and gain industry internships.
Degrees Offered:
- Bachelor of Fine Arts in Screenwriting
- Master of Fine Arts in Screenwriting
- Undergraduate Minor in Screenwriting
Visit the USC Website for more information and to apply.
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University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
The Screenwriting Program at the UCLA Department of Film-Television and Theater was established in 1965 and is considered among the finest in the country offering the prestigious Master of Fine Arts, online courses and workshops, as well as degrees in producing and directing. UCLA’s alumni include Francis Ford Coppola, David Koepp and Shane Black.
Its on-campus two-year MFA screenwriting program focuses on preparing students for professional careers as film and television writers where they learn film theory, film history and all of the key elements of creating screenplays, such as plot, story structure, scene development, dialogue and characterization.
UCLA: “The two-year Master of Fine Arts in Screenwriting program encourages students to concentrate upon the challenge of writing a well-structured story inhabited by vivid, compelling characters. The elements of character, dialogue, scene, setting, texture, style, and tone are explored through an intensive workshop process.”
The MFA is designed for the student to produce four original feature length screenplays and the program also includes guest speakers, a pitchfest, and a screenplay competition where student scripts are read and scored by eight industry judges. Excerpts from the winning screenplays are then presented for an audience of industry professionals.
The Department of Film and Television's production and teaching facilities consist of professional motion picture sound stages, scoring and re-recording stages, editing rooms, mixing rooms, viewing rooms and TV studios. Its Film and Television Archive is the largest collection of film and video holdings in the United States outside of the Library of Congress.
Degrees Offered:
- Bachelor of Fine Arts in Screenwriting
- Professional Program in Screenwriting (also online)
- Summer Workshop in Screenwriting
Visit the UCLA Website for more information and to apply.
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New York University's Tisch School Of The Arts
Unlike UCLA and USC, the New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts Dramatic Writing Program does not offer a specific degree in screenwriting but a Masters degree in Dramatic Writing that encompasses stage, screen and television. The programs offered here are recognized internationally as the premier training site for professionals in film, television and radio. Its screenwriting alumni include Kenneth Lonergan, Neil LaBute, and Alexa Junge, and its extensive list of acting, directing and producing alumni include Spike Lee, Martin Scorsese, Oliver Stone, Joel Coen, Joel Silver, Chris Columbus and Billy Crystal.
The screenwriting workshop, required of all Dramatic Writing majors, is designed for new screenwriters, offering emphasis on character and purpose and how this leads to conflict and the construction of plot. The workshop includes the reading and analysis of four to six screenplays in conjunction with the student’s original work.
NYU: “Students will examine the principles and processes of writing for the screen with topics that include finding and developing story ideas, film language and script structure. By the end of the course, students will have participated in in-depth film analysis and intensive screenwriting exercises and discussions, and are expected to have completed a film treatment for a feature film or television episode they intend to write.”
During the program, students will be required to complete an internship, participate in critique sessions where industry professionals discuss their thesis projects, and complete a table reading of their thesis with actors for evaluation. The film school’s state-of-the-art facilities include editing rooms, screening rooms and theaters, a cinema studies archive, animation studios, television studios, motion picture sound stages, and the University radio station.
Course Offered:
- Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dramatic Writing
- Master of Fine Arts in Dramatic Writing
Visit the NYU Website for more information and to apply.
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Columbia University School of the Arts
Similar to NYU, Columbia University’s Film Division of the School of the Arts does not offer a dedicated Master of Fine Arts in Screenwriting but a slightly broader two-year MFA in Screenwriting & Directing with a particular emphasis on “narrative storytelling”, and a third year of thesis work that includes a one-semester intensive workshop in which students learn the art of revising their screenplays. Its alumni include Lisa Cholodenko, Nicole Holofcener, James Mangold, Kimberly Pierce and producer Albert Berger.
Creative Producing Program MFA students share the first-year curriculum and some of the second-year elective classes with screenwriting/directing majors; the aim being to encourage the development of professional collaborations that last through and beyond the program, which the film school believe is essential to the creation of film, and crucial for students to understand and accustom themselves with in preparation for entering the professional arena.
CU: “The mission of the MFA in Screenwriting/Directing is to rigorously train story-tellers in film, television, and digital media. The course of study includes two years of creative workshops and related courses, followed by one to three years of thesis work. Students are immersed in the principles and working methods of a variety of genres and dramatic forms. Through multiple exercises and short film and script projects they are encouraged to explore their understanding of the medium, with the ultimate goal of establishing each student’s personal voice.”
At the end of the second year, students who declare screenwriting as their concentration are assigned a thesis advisor from Columbia’s full-time faculty that include veteran screenwriters from New York and Hollywood’s filmmaking communities. The Screenwriting Thesis project that students are required to produce is a feature length screenplay that demonstrates originality of subject matter and a mastery of the technique of dramatic and cinematic structure, dialogue and characterization. During the third “thesis” year, students will work with their advisor to develop their screenplay from an initial pitch to a final draft.
Degree Offered:
- Master of Fine Arts in Screenwriting & Directing
Visit the Columbia University Website for more information and to apply.
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American Film Institute
Established in 1969, the AFI’s Los Angeles Center for Advanced Film Studies offers a two-year Master of Fine Arts in Screenwriting that is designed to simulate the real world of professional filmmaking. Students attend classes and workshops lead by veteran filmmakers and the program’s guest speakers include high profile actors, directors, producers, agents and studio execs. Its screenwriter alumni include Susannah Grant, Scott Frank and Jeff Nathanson, and its impressive alumni of directors include Darren Aronofsky, Paul Schrader, Edward Zwick, David Lynch, Terrence Malick and John McTiernan.
AFI: “The heart of the Screenwriting program lies in the relationship between the Fellow and the exemplary faculty who serve as teachers and mentors, guiding and supporting each writer's development in an intimate workshop setting. In the core Screenwriting Workshops, Fellows grow as cinematic storytellers through critique and analysis of their work by faculty and peers.”
The AFI encourage a collaborative nature between the other filmmaking disciplines throughout the course in order to prepare students for a practical career in the industry. By the end of the program screenwriting students would have completed at least two feature length screenplays and worked on scripts for fellow producing and directing students from first draft through the entire production process. These screenplays are published in “New Scripts by AFI Graduates”, an annual publication that is distributed at AFI Showcase screenings and mailed to some of the top agents, managers and production companies in the industry.
Degree Offered:
- Master of Fine Arts in Screenwriting
Visit the AFI Website for more information and to apply.
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Boston University College of Communication
Boston University’s MFA in Screenwriting is a two-year program that aims to prepare students for the film and television industry by teaching them the art and craft of screenwriting through a variety of specialized classes that include acting for directors and writers, directing film and television, American masterworks, script analysis and screen adaptation. Screenwriting students are also expected to take an active role in both film production and film studies. Its alumni include Scott Rosenberg, Richard Gladstein and Lauren Shuler Donner.
BU: “This program is small yet vigorous and nurturing. The motto is : writers write. By the time students leave the halls of the University, they will have a strong understanding of the film and television industry and what it takes to sell their work.”
By the end of the program students will have completed at least two feature-length screenplays, a short script and a television pilot and will have the option of completing a fifth post-graduate semester in Los Angeles which is aimed at providing students with invaluable experience in the business of film and the opportunity to work with established writers on TV staffs or in agencies and development departments of studios and productions companies.
Degrees Offered:
- Master of Fine Arts in Screenwriting
- Undergraduate Degree in Film & Television
Visit the Boston University Website for more information and to apply.
The Final Six...