Our MA in Screenwriting offers you an integrated programme 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 towards a portfolio of original projects. Projects may be for film or television and the programme 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 programme is the fast-track core module which will allow all students enrolling on 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.

Central to the programme 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 in other fields can achieve professional standards of practice and understanding of the industry.
• We have a state-of-the art cinema and exhibition spaces, all housed in a historic building that was a former home to key members of the Bloomsbury Group, including the author Virginia Woolf and the artist Vanessa Bell. The school is also actively involved in a number of College-wide institutes specifically designed to foster work across disciplines at Birkbeck such as Birkbeck Institute for the Moving Image.
  
• The department hosts a range of events including information evenings for prospective students; the annual Murray Lecture where speakers have included Gabriele Finaldi, Director of the National Gallery, and Neil McGregor, Director of the British Museum; and exhibitions and displays at the Peltz Gallery, the School of Arts' purpose-built exhibition space.
• The School of Arts offers a number of bursaries for postgraduate students.
• The School of Arts is an official partner of the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in London. Opportunities for students have included a year’s free membership of the ICA, private views, discounts on all talks and events, free members' screenings and £3 cinema tickets on Tuesdays, up to 25% off ICA Artists' Editions and a monthly e-newsletter.

Graduates go into careers in the creative industries, such as screenwriting, script editing and collaborating with readers/directors/producers/co-writers. Possible professions include screenwriter, creative writer, or higher education lecturer. This degree can also be useful in becoming a script writer, magazine or newspaper journalist, or English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher.

We offer a comprehensive Careers Service to help you advance your career, while our in-house, professional recruitment consultancy, Birkbeck Talent, works with London’s top employers to help you gain work experience that fits in with your evening studies.