Western Colorado University MFA in Creative Writing: Screenwriting for Film and Television
The screenwriting track at Western Colorado University promises students: “We bring Hollywood to you!” It backs it up with industry instructors and deep collaboration through weekly classes, live lectures, discussion boards, script workshops and guest speakers. The program also remembers the little things that are actually huge things, like business etiquette and pitching strategies, and pays attention to both the studio and indie worlds.
Concentration director J S Mayank has a blind TV deal at Sony Pictures TV, who has worked with Laurence Fishburne and Kate Walsh, among others, and is happy to use his industry connections to help students. When one needs a sample TV script, or a network outline, he calls up his agent, manager, or writer friends and gets one.
“We’re less academic,” he says. “We’re more practical and pragmatic.”
He says students who have attended prestigious brick-and-mortar schools sometimes tell him they get more access and flexibility from the low-res MFA program.
“One student told me he received five times as much close interaction,” Mayank said.
Courtesy of Western Colorado University
The faculty also includes Trai Cartwright, a trailblazer in the Colorado indie film community, who worked previously at Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way, as well as at HBO and FOX. Notable guest speakers have included JD Payne, creator of Amazon’s new Lord of the Rings series, and Simpsons executive producer Mike Reiss.
Notably, Western Colorado has a low-residency Masters program as well as a low-res MFA.
Western Colorado is still accepting applications for Summer 2020, and while the school won’t be able to welcome students to the Gunnison, Colorado campus this summer due to COVID-19 concerns, it will still hold a virtual residency in July.
COST:
$42,000 (MFA)
$21,000 (MA)
LENGTH:
Two academic years and three summers for the MFA
One academic year and two summers for the MA
Spalding University MFA in Writing
Spalding’s program, which started two decades ago, is one of the most established low-res MFAs.
“The MFA is our flagship program, but based on student needs, we’ve in the past year developed into a School of Writing,” says Kathleen Driskell, chair of the School of Creative and Professional Writing. That change has included adding certification programs and a Masters.
Screenwriting is one of six concentrations for writing students, who stay at Louisville’s four-star Brown Hotel when visiting the campus and can also take part in summer residencies abroad. They can also gain literary experience working on The Louisville Review.
The Brown Hotel, where Spalding low-residency MFA students stay when visiting the campus.
Spalding alums have sold features to Disney, Universal and TriStar and earned places on the Black List, Blood List, and more, and past visiting screenwriters have included Academy Award winners Kevin Willmott (BlackkKlansman) and John Patrick Shanley (Moonstruck).
One testament to Spalding’s appeal: Graduates who join the faculty.
Spalding’s latest faculty member — a graduate — is Bruce Marshall Romans, who is now writing for Messiah and has written for The Punisher and Hell on Wheels. He runs a Writers Room workshop in the spring.
COST: $39,000
LENGTH: Two years
(Editor’s note: Western Colorado University is the sponsor of this story, but had no control over editorial content; it is included here strictly on its educational merit.)
Share:
