MFA in Screenwriting
Boston, USA
DURATION
4 Semesters
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
03 May 2025*
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2025
TUITION FEES
USD 30,525 / per semester **
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* priority deadline: February 1; applications are reviewed on a rolling basis until our final deadline: May 1
** tuition fee
Introduction
Our small, select program offers the necessary time and focuses to hone your skills for both film and television. Ready to join our Writer's Room?
No GRE required. Scholarships available.
The Boston University Master of Fine Arts in Screenwriting offers the best of both worlds: a learning environment on the east coast and a working-world experience on the west coast.
Over four semesters in two cities, students build the skills, experience, and community to launch a career in the television and film industry as a scriptwriter. They start with three semesters in Boston and become part of a close-knit community that wants to grow together. COM keeps things intimate and nurturing by design, so students collaborate and learn from peers as well as faculty.
Then, students spend their fourth semester in Los Angeles, learning through an industry internship and gaining valuable experience from established writers and guest presenters while networking with our Los Angeles-based alumni. All students take a rewrite class to revise and polish a script started in Boston.
Students will write a minimum of seven scripts for:
- Two feature-length screenplays
- Two short screenplays
- An existing hour-long TV drama
- An existing half-hour TV comedy
- An original TV pilot and series bible
Courses cover writing for television (including Writing the Pilot, Writing the Sitcom, and Writing the Episodic Drama, among them) as well as for film (Writing the Short Film, Script into Film, three feature screenwriting workshops).
Learn Alongside Professionals
Students are mentored and taught by industry-savvy faculty -- veteran creatives with experience writing for both film and television. COM’s screenwriting faculty share their own experiences in the craft as well as their insights into building a professional network.
Since the MFA in Screenwriting is known as a “terminal degree,” students may gain teaching experience while also earning a paycheck through a graduate assistant position. After teaching their own section of our undergraduate screenwriting course, our MFA students have gone on to adjunct and full-time teaching positions.
Admissions
Curriculum
MFA candidates have a fourfold requirement: to understand and practice the art of screenwriting; to learn the fundamentals of a dramatic production; to understand different models of filmmaking and film history and to comprehend the role of storytellers and that of mythology in the dramatic tradition.
Screenwriting Curriculum
A total of 60 credits is required to receive the MFA degree.
First Semester (CRC)
- COM FT 522 Writing Television Situation Comedy Scripts
- COM FT 702 Script to Film
- COM FT 711 Screenwriting I
Second Semester (CRC)
- COM FT 512 Writing Episodic Drama for Television
- COM FT 704 Genre for Sreenwriters
- COM FT 713 Screenwriting II
Elective: 500-level or above.
Third Semester (CRC)
- COM FT 724 Screenwriting III
- COM FT 729 Script Analysis
- COM FT 730 Screen Adaptation I
- COM FT 514 Writing the Television Pilot
or
- COM FT 516 Writing the Sitcom Pilot
Fourth Semester (Los Angeles)
- COM FT 587 The Rewrite
- COM FT 585 Careerhollywood
- COM FT 953 Internship
Program Outcome
In the Screenwriting program, students will be able to:
- Deliver narrative story structure through a combination of characterization, conflict, and theme.
- Demonstrate an advanced understanding of cinematic storytelling for the screen.
- Develop advanced analytical skills in order to provide professional feedback on written content for both film and television.
Program Tuition Fee
Career Opportunities
Reel Resources
Opportunities for experience abound. Students attend Cinemathèque, a series of screenings and conversations with industry professionals. They have full access to BU’s Kasker film and video resource center with 16mm prints and rarities at the Mugar Memorial Library on campus. They enjoy complimentary screenings, too, at the nearby Harvard Film Archive, the Museum of Fine Arts, and the Brattle Theatre.
English Language Requirements
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