MA Screenwriting

An intensive one-year programme that develops the writer’s original voice, embeds professional practice and enhances employability.

At LFS you will gain expertise and experience that form the foundations of your professional screenwriting practice. You will forge relationships and develop networks that propel you into the film and television industries.

MA Screenwriting focuses on the development of the individual screenwriter’s voice. You will be supported and challenged throughout your one year MA as you explore that voice through your screenwriting.

You will work collaboratively within a diverse, international cohort and within the conservatoire atmosphere of LFS.

The development of your feature screenplay, at the heart of your MA, is undertaken in small Feature Development Groups of 3 or 4 students, chaired by a tutor. Regular Group meetings are structured around the giving and receiving of feedback and the deep exploration of your feature project from initial idea through several draft screenplays.

The ambition and variety of students’ screenplays reflect both the depth of their creativity and the breadth and diversity of their backgrounds and interests. In addition to your feature screenplay you will have opportunities to write short screenplays and to develop a television series idea.

Screenwriting is filmmaking and MA Screenwriting situates screenwriting in filmmaking, collaborative, industrial and cultural contexts. You will join filmmaking students for screenings and discussions and you will have opportunities to collaborate with them and to script edit their screenplays.

You will be supported with workshops that introduce you to a range of creative writing exercises and to pitching, empowering you to generate and develop ideas, produce scripts and take them out into the market place with confidence.

You will read and discuss numerous screenplays, exploring aesthetic, craft and industrial issues in classes run by the Course Leaders. You will be introduced to - and encouraged to read - a range of theories and approaches to screenwriting. Your tutors will support and challenge you from a variety of perspectives but you will be encouraged to identify and develop your own preferred approaches to screenwriting.

You will consider screenwriting and filmmaking from historical and cultural perspectives and as well as developing creative work you will also produce a Work and Research Journal. The Journal invites you to explore, analyse and reflect upon your concerns as an emerging screenwriter. This underlines the School’s belief that analytical and reflective film-makers are better prepared to navigate - and to exploit the opportunities arising within - contemporary moving image industries.

MA Screenwriting embeds professional practice and industry involvement in the course, whilst developing screenwriters’ entrepreneurial capacities and enhancing their employability. Your course tutors are experienced, practising professionals and include screenwriters, producers, directors and development executives. They are also experienced educators.

Applicants should normally have at least one of the following: Bachelors degree with Honours; or an equivalent (international) or higher qualification; or an equivalent professional qualification; or substantial professional experience in film or a related area.