University degrees: Postgraduate
Course length: 2 years full-time
Course city: Los Angeles
The Screenwriting program, a two-year Master of Fine Arts degree in Film and Television, 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 great misconception among new and untested writers is that screenwriting is easy,” says screenwriter and Lecturer Emeritus Hal Ackerman, the former co-head of the UCLA TFT Screenwriting Program. “Trust me, it’s harder than it looks. The beauty of a great artist, like a great athlete, is the ability to make something amazingly difficult and complex look easy.”
Screenplay writing is a rigorous craft and, at its best, an art. In UCLA TFT’s Screenwriting Program students learn all the key elements of creating scripts for feature film and television, including story structure, plot, scene development, characterization and dialogue. The goal is to prepare students to turn their stories into screenplays. A series of writing assignments guides them toward mastering the basics, which are used to conceptualize and begin work on their scripts.
Established in 1965, the UCLA TFT Screenwriting Program has provided a strong foundation for hundreds of alumni. Program graduates include Dustin Lance Black (Milk, J. Edgar), Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather), Dean Hargrove (Columbo), David Koepp (Spider Man), Josefina Lopez (Real Women Have Curves), Michael Miner (RoboCop), Brian Nelson (Hard Candy), Alexander Payne (Nebraska, The Descendants), Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank Jr. (Norma Rae), Scott Rosenberg (High Fidelity), David S. Ward (The Sting), Eric Roth (Forrest Gump) and Caroline Williams (Miss/Guided).
I. MFA: Film and Television, Area: Screenwriting (See sections I to V for all requirements)II. Summary:
The Screenwriting Program has the following time-to-degree requirement: a minimum of six quarters; maximum of 7 quarters. The minimum total units required to graduate is 72 units (18 courses). Maintenance of a B average GPA.
III. Courses:
A. Required Courses:
First-Year Curriculum
Second-Year Curriculum
B. FTVDM Required Courses:
Students must take a minimum of TWO graduate-level Cinema & Media Studies courses.
Please see list below for approved course numbers and titles.
Please note that not all courses are offered every quarter. Students should consult the registrar’s schedule for available courses and class times. For courses in the 298 series, students should consult the graduate advisor first to check whether a course fulfills the CMS requirement.
Plus choose one course below:
**These courses are sometimes taught as a core course for M.A. students and may not be available that particular quarter for MFA students.
** courses are sometimes taught as a core course for MA students and may not be available that particular quarter to MFA students.
C. MFA Course Requirement:
Students have to take a minimum of ONE graduate-level course from the Directing/Production, Animation, and/or Producers Program area. Please see attached list for approved course numbers and titles.
Directing:
Animation:
Producers Program:
D. Electives:
A minimum of four feature length screenplays must be completed while enrolled in FTV 434 before advancing to candidacy. This writing is accepted as a body of work for the Masters Thesis requirement and must be approved by the Candidate’s Thesis Chair.
