Global Campus Master's Program in Screenwriting Builds on Hollywood Connections
The panel of instructors for the program includes alumnus J. Michael Straczynski, a television and movie writer.
Long a sought-after location for moviemakers and television, San Diego may be poised as a hotspot for the writers who dream up the stories for the small and big screens.“My class will be run as if a (fictional) series had just been ordered, and everyone in the group is a writer working on the project.”
San Diego State University has launched a Master of Fine Arts in Screenwriting, created through a collaboration with SDSU Global Campus and the School of Theatre, Television, and Film.
The graduate-level program is designed for students who currently work in media production, as well as those who are interested in launching a career as a professional screenwriter. Notably, the diverse panel of filmmaking professionals leading the program includes SDSU alumnus J. Michael Straczynski, a highly accomplished writer and producer whose decades of industry experience began after years of reporting for The Daily Aztec.
Students will learn how to turn their creativity into compelling narratives designed for television, film, and other exciting new media.
Straczynski has written almost 400 TV episodes and was creator of “Babylon 5,” a science-fiction series with a five-year story arc, “Jeremiah,” and “Sense8.” He’s also worked on films such as “World War Z,” “Thor,” and was the screenwriter for Clint Eastwood’s 2008 movie “Changeling,” which received eight BAFTA nominations, including one for Best Screenplay. He wrote “The Complete Book of Scriptwriting,” revised and expanded several times since its original publication in 1982.
“My class will be run as if a (fictional) series had just been ordered, and everyone in the group is a writer working on the project,” said Straczynski, who graduated from SDSU with a bachelor’s degree in 1978. “It’s a direct simulation of the TV development process, with all the fun, difficulty, anguish and pain that goes with sudden shifts in the project, network notes, and the like. Having worked in many writers’ rooms, I want this to be as authentic and often maddening as possible.”
SDSU’s MFA in Screenwriting is a low-residency graduate program that will help students turn their passion for storytelling into a career in screenwriting. The program is primary virtual, with courses supplemented by a six-week summer residency in San Diego, in order for students to gain invaluable hands-on experience working with production and post-production equipment, including cameras, lighting, soundboards, and in-studio editing software.
Interested students can visit neverstoplearning.net/screenwriting to learn more and submit an application.
