Scriptwriter for BBC1 drama series Doctors, Jacqui Canham, is the latest in a string of industry professionals to run a writing workshop for Television Scriptwriting MA students at De Montfort University Leicester (DMU).
As a graduate from the same course herself, Jacqui spoke to the students about her own experiences at DMU.
She said: “This course helped me get together a strong portfolio of scripts across different genres that I could send to producers and editors, which actually led to a couple of jobs.
“It’s brilliant for meeting and connecting with people in the industry, and I loved seeing my characters come to life when professional actors would come in and read our scripts.”
With her successful career in journalism spanning over 20 years, Jacqui also gave students some helpful advice:
“Write, write, write of course. And as daunting as it may seem, ask for feedback from everyone you can. It may feel relentless at first, but the constructive criticism really helps to improve your skills.”
The well-established course concentrates on the craft of television scriptwriting and prepares students for the competitive world of professional writing through lectures, workshops, location visits and one-to-one mentoring.
Guest speakers such as script editors, agents and producers have worked on wide ranging television programmes including Hollyoaks, Drop The Dead Donkey, Emmerdale, Merlin, Dr Who, Waking the Dead.
This month, students are also visiting the set of Holby City to gain valuable insight from the actors, writers, producers and other members of the cast.
Hiren Joshi, a 25-year-old student on the course who is also a DMU Media and Communication BA (Hons) graduate, said: “It’s really great to see former students going on and being successful in the industry.
“The course also teaches you the industry standard way of planning a script – from the initial concept to seeing it all the way through.”
DMU Marketing and Media and Communication BA (Joint Honours) graduate, 23-year-old Bradley Cooke-Catcheside, said: “The great thing about studying an MA is that you get to meet people of all ages and backgrounds, helping you to develop your own style and ideas.
“We’ve all picked up lots of new tricks and tips as we’re all from different disciplines - actors, playwrights, comedians and so on.”
James Robinson, a 28-year-old student said: “The reason I love this course is that I was encouraged to join it even though I had barely any qualifications before. They saw my portfolio of work and believed in me.”
Senior Lecturer in Television Scriptwriting MA, Jim Hill, said: “This is a practical course with students writing several scripts across different genres from crime to soap to comedy.
“Importantly, they write an original one-hour calling card script that can be sent to production companies, producers, script editors and agents. This is the script that opens doors for them.”
Posted on Thursday 17 March 2016