MA Screenwriting: Feature Film and Continuing Series

This vocational course will enable you to develop your own creative screenwriting practice and an extensive portfolio of work in preparation for a career as a screenwriter.

You will be based in the Northern Film School and will work alongside production courses and be taught via lectures, seminars, tutorials, talks, discussions and screenings. You will be supported as you work on self-directed projects and writing exercises. You will be encouraged to explore your own creative potential and test your ideas across a range of platforms including film and television, and you will develop an understanding and appreciation of the impact of new technologies on the industry.

You will be introduced to a wide range of ideas from industry which will inform and inspire your development as a writer as you gain a thorough grounding in key concepts and concerns of screenwriting for a range of screen media. This course will emphasise the creation of new ideas through provocation, stimulation and inspiration. You will be paired with a mentor for your final project which will replicate professional practice by encouraging you to develop a script in response to a client's needs.

Throughout your course, you will work to develop your voice as a writer. You will be supported by staff with valuable industry experience at all stages of your creative process as you plan, prepare and write for screen. Constructive feedback on your work from your tutors will be delivered in tutorials and seminars, and collaborative feedback from your fellow screenwriting students will help to shape your ideas.

In order to do this effectively you will need to understand the history, context and application of various forms of screenwriting and develop a sophisticated understanding of genre conventions and their application.

You will present your ideas to industry through professional events organised by you and your fellow students.

The Northern Film School and Leeds School of Arts has professional links with a wide variety of organisations including Leeds International Film Festival (LIFF), Hyde Park Picture House, Duck Soup Films, ITV Yorkshire, Screen Yorkshire and freelance industry practitioners, and you will be encouraged to begin building your professional networks from day one. Masterclasses led by filmmakers will enable you to learn from and work with experienced industry professionals and you will have the opportunity to engage with current film practice taking place within the school through practical, visual and sonic exercises, and short film shoots. As a student on this course you will have the chance to submit short scripts to be considered for production on the undergraduate filmmaking course at our university. Leeds’ thriving creative sector is set to include television network Channel 4 in 2020.