Television Scriptwriting MA

UKPASS code: W81071

Duration:  Two years part-time

Location: Clephan Building

Start date: September 2012

Although we favour students with a good academic record (2:1 honours degree is ideal), the main criteria for admission to the course is writing talent. You are required to submit examples of your scriptwriting with your application form and to show evidence of an informed interest in television drama and/or comedy.

The example should be one complete script or a 30 page extract of a script. This can be in any genre and can be written either for film or television. The script should be accompanied by a half page synopsis and will be judged on:

• Originality of ideas and approach
• Understanding of dramatic construction
• Plausibility of characters and dialogue

You will also need to submit:

• A 200 word proposal for a new soap or drama series or sitcom accompanied by the first five pages of a sample script
• A 200 word critical review comparing two soap operas or a review of a long-running drama series or a recent sitcom episode demonstrating your knowledge and critical awareness of popular television drama
• A CV giving details of your career history to date

 

Lectures, workshops and tutorials are led by the course tutors and visiting professionals. A visit to a BBC drama studio offers you a ‘behind the scenes’ perspective of television drama production. Industry-based script editors deliver a full and professional script report on your first year scripts. A visiting group of actors undertake a workshop reading from scripts so you can hear your dialogue spoken and interact with the actors to define and improve your writing skills.

You are required to write script reports and a 5,000 word essay. However, you will be mainly assessed on the quality of your scripts, one or more of which you will be required to write for each module, and you are encouraged to circulate your work within the industry and the contacts forged by the course.

Jim Hill (Course Tutor)

Jim is a freelance writer/producer/director. He is best known as the co-creator of the television series Boon. He has worked on popular shows including Minder, The Bill, Lovejoy, Casualty, and Pie in the Sky as well as directing a six part series about Subbuteo tabletop football for BBC Scotland. He has been employed as a producer/director for LWT on reality crime shows Coppers and Crime Monthly and has worked extensively in Europe for Fremantle Worldwide Drama as a story consultant on a daily serial drama.

Jim wrote the Directors’ Handbook for Lego’s Stephen Spielberg Movie Maker Set. He has been working for McCann Erickson and their client The Carbon Trust directing a series of case studies about the business community and the effect of climate change. He has been an adviser to Interaktív-Fiction (Hungary), which produces the prime-time soap opera Joban Rosszban for the commercial channel TV2.

Christopher Walker (Course Leader)

Chris is former head of the script unit of Central TV where he produced all seven series of the successful situation comedy The Upper Hand.

He was creative executive for Columbia TriStar Central Productions and subsequently developed comedy projects for Carlton Television and the BBC. He is also tutor for the undergraduate module on scriptwriting on the Media and Communication BA (Hons) at DMU.

For your final script you will be assigned a mentor drawn from the industry. Recent mentors include Jimmy McGovern (The Street, Cracker), Tony Marchant (Mark of Cain), Jed Mercurio (Bodies), Kay Mellor (Band of Gold) and Barbara Machin (Waking The Dead).

A large proportion of our lecturers are active practitioners within the television industry and we can call upon the expertise of writers, producers, agents, script editors and development executives to offer practical advice, undertake Q&A sessions and oversee workshops. We also invite graduates to return as guests and talk about their experiences within the industry.

Importantly the broad range of guests who have practical experience across a wide range of genres are the beginnings of the network of supportive professionals that will assist, advise and encourage you in your career as a writer.

Networking is a key component to progressing as a writer and De Montfort has, over the years, established a supportive network within the television industry. Through our mentoring scheme we ensure that all our writers are given the opportunity to find their own champion within the writing community who will read their script, endorse and promote them.

De Montfort University MA TV Scriptwriting is highly regarded within the industry for its continual high standard of teaching, its eminent visiting tutors and the high profile commissions of its graduates.

This course provides a positive platform if you wish to launch yourself into a scriptwriting career by instilling technique, encouraging creativity and bringing you into contact with industry professionals.

You will have a greater knowledge and understanding of popular drama writing; its economic restrictions, and story-telling demands. You will be introduced to the realities of the industry and the opportunities available to you.

The course’s growing reputation within the industry is reflected in the willingness of visiting professionals to read your work and, in some cases, forward it to active producers and script editors. Literary agents have attended as guest tutors, read students’ scripts and given feedback.

Previous students from the MA have gone on to/been commissioned to write for Eastenders, Doctors, Shameless, New Tricks, Heartbeat, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks.

Home (UK) and EU students  for 2012/13 entry*
Part-time: £3100

Continuation Fee

This fee is charged on a monthly basis to any student who exceeds their registration period. To give an example, if you enrol on a one year full-time programme starting in September, your registration period will end on 30th September the following year. If by that date you still have outstanding work to be completed, you will be charged a continuation fee of £150*** per month for the duration of the time that the work is still outstanding.

(***subject to change)

The Clephan Building, home to humanities courses, houses generous teaching accommodation equipped with the latest audio-visual equipment, the Student Advice Centre, Academic Guidance Centre and resources rooms with specialist facilities needed to excel. Our dedicated computer centre includes a state-of-the-art media lab with Apple Intel Mac Pro computers, cinema screens and all the latest creative software applications with full technical support. There are computing classrooms and an additional suite of computer workstations which can be pre-booked. Our computer centre reflects both our commitment to providing access to information technology and our determination to develop innovative teaching methods and web-based learning resources.

 

Home and EU students

You can apply online for free with UKPASS|

International Students

You can apply online for free with UKPASS|. You will need to attach qualification transcripts, references and evidence of English language with your UKPASS application. If these documents are not attached to your original application, this will delay the process of your application.

You can also apply to De Montfort University directly, and free of charge, by using the International Application Form|

The following link will, allow you to add this course to your application list on the UKPASS Website. Apply to study Television Scriptwriting via UKPASS|