Screenwriting PG Cert

Birkbeck, University of London

This postgraduate screenwriting course offers aspiring writers the opportunity to develop their work to a professional standard. You will be guided by leading practitioners with years of industry experience, including the Programme Director Daragh Carville, co-creator and lead writer of hit ITV crime drama The Bay. Why choose this course? You will be taught by leading industry professionals, including BAFTA award-winning writer and script editor Barbara Cox (The Bill, Cardiac Arrest, Holby City), writer, director and actor Anna Maguire (Saving Private Ryan, Constellations, Violation), and former BBC producer and script editor Tanya Nash (EastEnders, Holby City). A distinctive feature of the course is its fast-track core module designed to offer all students, regardless of their academic background, the chance to gain comprehensive knowledge of screenwriting theories, conventions and formats, and develop the ability to apply these to their writing practice. You will also benefit from industry talks with guest speakers, and a four-day summer school, which focuses on the writer working in the industry, and includes pitching and storytelling workshops. On successfully completing this course, you will have built up a portfolio of projects across a range of genres, and with our practical, hands-on, industry-facing focus you will be well placed to take your own first steps into the industry. What you will learn Working closely with tutors and fellow students in an interactive workshop setting, you will learn the essential skills of screenwriting, from the planning stages - writing outlines and treatments - through to the practicalities of formatting, polishing and presenting finished scripts, for both film and TV. You will gain a practical working knowledge of: story structure, including three-act, five-act and alternative structures scene design characterisation visual storytelling dialogue. As well as writing finished scripts for film and TV, you will receive a thorough grounding in writing documents that are essential in the industry, such as proposals, outlines and treatments. You will also study classic and contemporary screenplays, films and TV series to gain an understanding of how screenwriting has developed over time and continues to evolve today. How you will learn Teaching on this screenwriting course is on campus in evening sessions designed to help you balance your studies with work and other commitments. It includes formal lectures, seminars and tutorials, but the workshop model is at the heart of our approach. Working closely with tutors and other students in small groups, you will respond to work-in-progress, sharing your work in an atmosphere that is both focused and supportive. We offer this course as a Master’s and a Postgraduate Certificate. For the Certificate, you study fewer modules and do not complete a dissertation.