MA in Screenwriting

An intensive one-year program 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 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 the 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.

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, practicing professionals and include screenwriters, producers, directors, and development executives. They are also experienced educators.

This one-year course is aimed at developing screenwriting skills in the context of a filmmaking community where writing is an everyday practice and a collaborative process involving actors, directors, musicians, editors, and producers.

At LFS we explore the boundaries between writing and directing and stimulate debate through classes in film history, cross-cultural approaches to dramaturgy, and script readings with professional actors. Regular screenings of classic and contemporary films in our film theatre and visits by contemporary filmmakers complement the core practical work of developing a feature screenplay.

The MA Screenwriting program provides a year of critical and creative development, a network of future contacts, and space where a writer can define their interests and particular talents. The course focuses on short, feature, and series writing.

The school runs annual graduate surveys; the survey for 2015 stated that 100% of MAS grads “would recommend the course to someone else“.