University degrees: Postgraduate
Course length: 2 years full-time
Course city: Sydney
For over 45 years, AFTRS has consistently produced screenwriting graduates who have enjoyed critical and commercial success – at home and abroad. The Master of Arts Screen: Screenwriting is designed to nurture the next wave of Australian screenwriters.
In this course, you will develop industry knowledge, craft skills and peer networks; vital resources in building a sustainable career in the screen industries. Through an intensive incubator-style program, you will develop a portfolio of creative work that showcases your understanding of screenwriting craft.
WHY DO THIS COURSE
The Master of Arts Screen: Screenwriting will equip you with the knowledge you need to forge a sustainable career.
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT
Through a combination of craft-based writing workshops and cross-disciplinary collaborations, you will learn the complex skill-set demanded of screenwriters at the highest industry level.
To practice your craft, you will participate in peer feedback incubators that allow you to develop a major creative work (or set of screenplay documents). Industry practitioners will provide insights into their professional practice and essential feedback on your scripts.
In the final year, you will have the opportunity to develop your screenwriting through the realisation of a funded major project and undertake a professional placement. You will graduate a versatile storyteller, able to work across platforms in a rapidly evolving media landscape.
Overall, the course will allow you to consider who you are as a creative practitioner with an adaptable skill-set. Learning to analyse your process through the development of a practice-based research project, you will understand how your practice is informed by the past – but also how it engages with contemporary screen culture and emerging trends and technologies.
Each year Australian feature films, television and other screen media are testament to the impact of the AFTRS Screenwriting program. Screenwriting alumni include: Jane Campion, winner of an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for The Piano (1994); Jacquelin Perske, Love My Way (2004-2005), Spirited (2010-2011), Seven Types of Ambiguity (2016); Michael Lucas, Offspring (2010-2014), Not Suitable for Children (2012); Tony McNamara, winner BAFTA and Academy Award Nominee, Best Original Screenplay, The Favourite; and Julie Kalceff, Starting from Now (2014-2016) and First Day (2017).
