Writing for Film & Television Course of Study (New!)
The new three-year Writing Program at Columbia will follow the curriculum of the shared first year, in which students from all concentrations take the same core classes and have the same filmmaking assignments. The shared first-year courses include workshops in producing, directing, screenwriting, and directing the actor, reflecting the faculty's belief that the best training for screenwriters, directors, and producers must include experience of and knowledge in all of these essential disciplines. These workshop classes are anchored by lectures covering the fundamental principles of directing, screenwriting, and producing. In bringing all concentrations together in this initial year, the faculty actively encourages the development of professional collaborations that last throughout film school and beyond, fostering an environment of mutual support and holistic understanding of the filmmaking craft.
Workshop classes are limited to small groups, to emphasize a hands-on, process-oriented focus on creative work.
In the first semester, each student works on short scripts in Screenwriting I, and directs a 3–5 minute film in Directing I. In Elements of Dramatic Narrative, they will also develop a treatment for a full length feature that they will continue developing during the spring semester.
Students will complete their first feature-length screenplay during the first year of study in Screenwriting II. During the spring semester they will revise their short film from Screenwriting I in Script2Screen and begin their study of Television writing with Intro to TV Pilot.
The culminating project of the first year is the creation of a 5–12 minute film. Each student directs a film, from their own screenplay, or one written by another student in the program. Several courses in the first-year curriculum help to generate and prepare these scripts for filming in the summer of the first year. Additionally, every student must act as producer on a film other than the one they direct. The films are shot over the summer after the first year, and a critique of all the finished films begins the second year of study.
As the second year begins, students on the three-year Writing for Film & Television path focus on their core writing classes.
The second-year screenwriting sequence, Screenwriting III and Screenwriting IV, requires the student to structure and write a feature-length screenplay, working with the same instructor and the same classmates for both semesters. Students will also take additional Television Writing workshops, in both the fall and spring terms and have access to various writing-focused electives, depending on year and instructor availability, such as Story Gym, Adaptation, and Story Structure.
Electives for the second year may also include courses in other programs at the School of the Arts, or throughout the University, including electives from the Digital Storytelling Lab.
Every MFA student must take one course in Film and Media Studies (FMS) during the first two years of study. Students planning to apply for teaching assistantships should take two FMS courses.
Writing for Film & Television students will receive initial academic advisement during the first year and will be introduced to the full-time Writing faculty and exposed to their different methodologies. At the beginning of the second year, students will be assigned an advisor who will supervise all thesis portfolio work.
The required 60 credits of coursework must be completed in the first two years of study.
Second year core classes and electives will be followed by a third year of Research Arts study, participation in a Thesis Writing Workshop with an assigned advisor and peers, and the creation of a creative portfolio that will include both feature screenplays and television scripts.
Revision workshops in Script & TV Pilot Revision are also offered in the third year of study. Writing for Film & TV candidates on the three-year path will also be offered additional elective courses, including possible offerings from the Digital Storytelling Lab, Creating the Pitch Document, Exit Strategies, Writers’ Professional Prep, etc.
Thesis portfolio work for Writing for Film & Television 3-year concentrates can be an original screenplay, which can be originated in Screenwriting II or Screenwriting III-IV; or a screenplay written outside of class work, to be workshopped in their thesis class; or a sample of original television writing, of at least 90 minutes, to be additionally workshopped in their thesis class.
In addition to the thesis scripts, Writing for Film & Television concentrates submit one of the following as part of their thesis work:
- A revised and polished second feature screenplay (that has been taken through a Feature Revision class, as well as their Thesis class)
- A packet of revised and polished original television writing (that has been taken through a TV Revision class, as well as the Thesis class)
During the third (Research Arts) year, students are no longer taking courses for credit, but they meet regularly with their advisors for intense developmental work on their thesis ideas, take thesis preparation classes and revision classes, and may take master classes with guest film and television writers and filmmakers.
Topics offered in master classes may include: comedy workshops, pitching seminars, writers room seminars, generating a series idea etc. Shorter master classes are regularly offered by a range of internationally recognized screenwriters, television writers, directors, and producers.