Master of Arts in Screenwriting

A unique graduate program of discovery and growth with an intense focus on professional screenwriting, in the heart of the motion picture and television industries.   The Masters Program in Screenwriting is designed to develop:

Professionalism

The University's proximity to the entertainment industry provides opportunities to enrich classroom writing and theory with real world experience.

Many MA courses feature one-on-one relationships with working screenwriters both in course work and through internships at studios, networks, and production companies.  

The Cinema Department presents an on-going guest speaker program of accomplished writers, directors, and producers, along with weekly CTVA Cinematheque film screenings in our state of the art, 130 seat Armer Screening Room.

Leadership

The program offers a broad perspective on the arts, crafts, and aesthetics of cinema-telecommunications, and the responsibilities essential to prepare for leadership in the entertainment industry.   Paid undergraduate teaching positions are also available for those wishing to develop skills as a college instructor.

Creative Thinking

The MA in Screenwriting Program challenges students and fosters the development of imagination, creativity, and analytic narrative thinking.   In a vigorous workshop environment, students explore the elements of screen story structure, character, dialogue, scene development, setting, texture and tone.

Emerging screen storytellers from many cultures and backgrounds are mentored toward writing scripts that explore new insights into the human condition.

The MA in Screenwriting Program offers a two-year course of study adaptable to the needs of working adults. Scholarships and financing are available.

Screenwriting Faculty

Eric Edson, MFA (2), UCLA, The American Film Institute
Graduate Program Coordinator
Writer of feature films and TV movies including Lethal Vows, The Rose and the Jackal, Diving In, The Soggy Bottom Gang, Uncaged Heart; episodic TV including Trapper John, MD, True Confessions.

Alexis Krasilovsky, MFA, Cal Arts
Film Director/Producer: End of the Art World starring Andy Worhol, award-winning What Memphis Needs, Exile, Women Behind the Camera [2007 Award for Best Documentary Feature Film at the Moondance International Film Festival]; author of Women Behind the Camera, Some Women Writers Kill Themselves, articles.

Kenneth Portnoy, Ph.D, NYU
Screenwriter and author of the books Screen Adaptation, and Fundamental Building Blocks of Screenwriting; episodic TV writer including Quincy, Fantasy Island.

Jared Rappaport, MFA, The American Film Institute
Co-writer, co-producer, and co-director of the Showtime feature film Fathers and Sons, and co-writer, co-producer of the feature Blindness. Writer for the TV series Family Medical Center, Days of Our Lives, and Early On.

Jon Stahl, MFA, UCLA
Screenwriter, whose scripts have been optioned by producers such as David Foster, Cari-Esta Albert and Meg Ryan’s Prufrock Pictures.

Lance Lee, MFA, Yale University
Author of books, plays, and poetry including The Understructure of Screenwriting, The Death and Life of Drama, and Wrestling With the Angel.

Guest writers have included:

Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, Magnolia)
Alan Armer (The Fugitive, The Untouchables)
Ron Bass (Rain Man, The Joy Luck Club)
Jessica Bendinger (Sex and the City, Bring It On)
Nandi Bowe (The Lone Gunman, The Lying Game)
Allan Burns (Mary Tyler Moore, Rhoda)
Rodrigo García (Nine Lives, Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her)
Pierce Gardner (Lost Souls, Dan in Real Life)
Jill Goldsmith (Law & Order, NYPD Blue)
Michael Hauge (Writing Screenplays That Sell, Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds)
Fay Kanin (Teacher's Pet, The Outrage)
Nicholas Kazan (Reversal of Fortune, Fallen)
Gavin Lambert (Sons and Lovers, Inside Daisy Clover)
Dale Launer (Ruthless People, My Cousin Vinny )
Luisa Leschin (Resurrection Blvd., George Lopez )
Daniel Petrie, Jr. (Beverly Hills Cop, The Big Easy)
Abraham Polonsky (Body and Soul, Odds Against Tomorrow)
Phil Rosenthal (Everybody Loves Raymond, Baby Talk )
Bob Shayne (Magnum, P.I., Simon & Simon)
Joseph Stefano (Psycho, Star Trek: TNG)
Robin Swicord (Memoirs of a Geisha, Little Women)
Robert Towne (Chinatown, Mission Impossible)
Mike Werb (Face/Off, Laura Croft: Tomb Raider)
David Zucker (Judging Amy, Numb3rs)

Requirements for Enrollment:

• A Bachelor's Degree
• An undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or better
• An above average verbal score on the Graduate Record Examination
• A resume and statement of personal goals and objectives
• Three letters of recommendation
• Submission of an original screenplay, stageplay, or other creative written work
• Applicants with no previous screenwriting experience may be required to complete a basic screenwriting course prior to full acceptance into the program.

Click here for Graduate Program Application Form

Click here for a Letter of Recommendation Form

Tuition and Fees

Click here to view University Graduate fee information.

For additional information:

Graduate Advisor
Department of Cinema and Television Arts
18111 Nordhoff Street
Northridge, CA 91330-8317
Phone: (818) 677-7486
Email Graduate Advisor:
thomas.mcwilliams@csun.edu