Course Overview

Our postgraduate screenwriting course offers you an integrated program in the history, theory, and practice of screenwriting. It will develop your practical screenwriting skills and techniques, and you will be able to develop outlines, treatments, and scripts toward a portfolio of original projects. Projects may be for film or television and the course will encourage you to write in different genres, and expect you to rewrite draft scripts with feedback and tutor support.

One distinctive feature of the course is the fast-track core module which will allow all students enrolling in the course, including graduates in other fields, to gain detailed knowledge of screenwriting theories, conventions, and formats, and develop the ability to apply these to writing practice. Subsequent modules will deepen your writing skills and knowledge of screenwriting with assignments of increasing length designed to meet industry requirements, such as feature film script and television series writing. You will also study the discourse and practices of screenwriting.

If you progress to the Master's degree, central to that course is examining how the industry works, and to this end, there are six autumn 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.

Graduates can pursue career paths in the creative industries, such as screenwriting, script editing, and collaborating with readers/directors/producers/co-writers. Possible professions include:

screenwriter

scriptwriter

creative writer

magazine or newspaper journalist

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher

higher education lecturer.

We offer a comprehensive Careers Service - Birkbeck Futures - your career partner during your time at Birkbeck and beyond. At every stage of your career journey, we empower you to take ownership of your future, helping you to make the connection between your experience, education, and future ambitions.

General Eligibility

A second-class honors degree (2:2) or above in any related subject; other qualifications will be considered.

Part Time Work Details

20 hours of work permit weekly for international students.

Language Requirement

• If English is not your first language or you have not previously studied in English, the requirement for this course is the equivalent of an International English Language Testing System (IELTS Academic Test) score of 7.0, with not less than 6.0 in each of the sub-tests.