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Birkbeck, University of London: Screenwriting

Institution Birkbeck, University of London View institution profile
Department School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication
Web http://www.bbk.ac.uk/
Telephone 0203 907 0700
Study type Taught

Summary

This postgraduate screenwriting course offers aspiring writers the opportunity to develop their work to a professional standard. You will be guided by leading practitioners with years of industry experience, including the Programme Director Daragh Carville, co-creator and lead writer of hit ITV crime drama The Bay.

Why choose this course?

  • You will be taught by leading industry professionals, including BAFTA award-winning writer and script editor Barbara Cox (The Bill, Cardiac Arrest, Holby City), writer, director and actor Anna Maguire (Saving Private Ryan, Constellations, Violation) and former BBC producer and script editor Tanya Nash (EastEnders, Holby City).

  • A distinctive feature of the course is its fast-track core module on screenwriting theories, conventions and formats.

  • You will also benefit from industry talks with guest speakers, and a four-day summer school on working in the industry, including pitching and storytelling.

  • You will build up a portfolio of projects across a range of genres.

What you will learn

Working closely with tutors and fellow students in interactive workshops, you will learn the essential skills of screenwriting, from the planning stages - writing outlines and treatments - through to the practicalities of formatting, polishing and presenting finished scripts, for both film and TV.

You will gain a practical working knowledge of:

  • story structure

  • scene design

  • characterisation

  • visual storytelling

  • dialogue.

As well as writing finished scripts for film and TV, you will receive a thorough grounding in writing proposals, outlines and treatments. You will also study classic and contemporary screenplays, films and TV series to gain an understanding of how screenwriting has developed over time and continues to evolve today.

How you will learn

Teaching on this screenwriting course is on campus in evening sessions so you can balance study with work and other commitments. It includes lectures, seminars and tutorials, but the workshop model is at the heart of our approach. Working closely with tutors and other students in small groups, you will respond to work-in-progress, sharing your work in an atmosphere that is both focused and supportive.

We offer this course as a Master’s and a Postgraduate Certificate. For the Certificate, you study fewer modules and do not complete a dissertation.

Highlights

  • This postgraduate screenwriting course allows graduates in other subjects to achieve professional standards of practice and understanding of the industry.

  • We have state-of-the art cinema and exhibition spaces, all housed in a historic building that was a former home to key members of the Bloomsbury Group, including the author Virginia Woolf and the artist Vanessa Bell. Birkbeck has a number of institutes specifically designed to foster work across disciplines, such as the Birkbeck Institute for the Moving Image.

  • Located in central London, in the heart of historic Bloomsbury, Birkbeck is within easy reach of cinemas, theatres and galleries, as well as the British Film Institute and British Library.

  • We offer a number of bursaries for postgraduate students.

Careers and employability

On successfully graduating from this MA Screenwriting at Birkbeck, you will have gained an array of important transferable skills, including in:

  • media literacy

  • critical thinking

  • the ability to work independently and also as part of a team

  • the ability to work to deadlines

  • professional formatting and presentation.

Studying this course will prepare you for roles in a range of fields and professions including in:

  • screenwriting

  • script editing

  • film and TV developments

  • theatre and dramaturgy

  • journalism

  • gaming

  • teaching and lecturing.

Some of our graduates from this course have gone on to be employed at the BBC, Channel 4, the British Film Institute (BFI), AbbottVision, Rocket Pictures and Stolen Picture.

MA

Postgraduate Certificate - PgCert

Located in Bloomsbury, in the heart of London, everything the UK’s Capital city has to offer is on our doorstep.

We offer over 250 taught and research postgraduate programmes across the humanities and social sciences, business, law; and science and we’re a part of the prestigious University of London, one of the world’s best known and most highly regarded universities.

Birkbeck, University of London is built for the busy. We have over 200 years’ experience of providing exceptional learning experiences designed to fit in with students’ schedules. Our range of different study options allow our students to choose …

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