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MATV

Television Fiction Writing

UK & EU Students

Course Details

Classification:MA

Course Duration:1 Year

Course Start Date:16 September 2013

Course Mode:Full Time

Subject Area:Creative and Design, Journalism and Media Studies

Course Fees

Students from England, Wales or Northern Ireland

Year Fee Description/Notes
2012/13 £8270.00 Information on fees, scholarships and financial support.

Students from Scotland and the rest of the EU

Year Fee Description/Notes
2012/13 £8270.00 Information on fees, scholarships and financial support.

Minimum Entry Requirements

Minimum RequirementsCandidates must be able to satisfy the general admissions requirements of Glasgow Caledonian University.

Applicants should have:

  • A UK Honours degree 2:2 or equivalent
  • Creative writing experience
  • A strong desire to write drama for television
Additional RequirementsIn the Personal Statement section of the Application Form candidates must demonstrate evidence of prior interest and/or achievement in writing fiction for television and/or the general field of creative writing.
 
This must be supported by samples of personal creative writing (up to 3 short pieces ie: short stories, scene from play or screenplay). These works do not need to have been published or performed.

Additionally applicants must make a clear and unequivocal statement of why they wish to pursue a career in television writing.
Interview/TestCandidates will also be required to attend and pass an interview and test as part of the application process. The test will consist of a previously unseen scripting exercise conducted under class test conditions.

Further information regarding the interview and test will be provided after review of a candidate's application.

Non UK/EU Students

Course Details

Classification:MA

Course Duration:1 Year

Course Start Date:16 September 2013

Course Mode:Full Time

Subject Area:Creative and Design, Journalism and Media Studies

Course Fees

Year Fee Description/Notes
2012/13 £9900.00 Information on fees, scholarships and financial support.
2013/14 £10400.00 n/a

Minimum Entry Requirements

Minimum RequirementsCandidates must be able to satisfy the general admissions requirements of Glasgow Caledonian University.

Applicants should have:

  • A UK Honours degree 2:2 or equivalent
  • Creative writing experience
  • A strong desire to write drama for television
English LanguageStudents whose first language is not English will normally be required to hold the equivalent of an Academic IELTS test score of 7.0 with no element less than 6.5.
Additional RequirementsIn the Personal Statement section of the Application Form candidates must demonstrate evidence of prior interest and/or achievement in writing fiction for television and/or the general field of creative writing.
 
This must be supported by samples of personal creative writing (up to 3 short pieces ie: short stories, scene from play or screenplay). These works do not need to have been published or performed.

Additionally applicants must make a clear and unequivocal statement of why they wish to pursue a career in television writing.
Interview/TestCandidates will also be required to attend and pass an interview and test as part of the application process. The test will consist of a previously unseen scripting exercise conducted under class test conditions.

Further information regarding the interview and test will be provided after review of a candidate's application.

Further Education Students

Course Details

Classification:MA

Course Duration:1 Year

Course Start Date:16 September 2013

Course Mode:Full Time

Subject Area:Creative and Design, Journalism and Media Studies

Course Fees

Year Fee Description/Notes
Contact us

Minimum Entry Requirements

Minimum RequirementsCandidates must be able to satisfy the general admissions requirements of Glasgow Caledonian University.

Applicants should have:

  • A UK Honours degree 2:2 or equivalent
  • Creative writing experience
  • A strong desire to write drama for television
Additional RequirementsIn the Personal Statement section of the Application Form candidates must demonstrate evidence of prior interest and/or achievement in writing fiction for television and/or the general field of creative writing.
 
This must be supported by samples of personal creative writing (up to 3 short pieces ie: short stories, scene from play or screenplay). These works do not need to have been published or performed.

Additionally applicants must make a clear and unequivocal statement of why they wish to pursue a career in television writing.
Interview/TestCandidates will also be required to attend and pass an interview and test as part of the application process. The test will consist of a previously unseen scripting exercise conducted under class test conditions.

Further information regarding the interview and test will be provided after review of a candidate's application.

Programme Description

Raw Talent, New Voices

For screenwriters television is where most of the opportunities lie. We have developed this programme in close collaboration with the television industry to maximise employment opportunities for our graduates and produce the next generation of television script writers.

Our students are taught by both academic staff and top TV scriptwriting practitioners. During the programme, students work intensively on at least two drama series, transmitting on British television now. They learn how to story conference, storyline, write scripts and edit these dramas, shadowing the real life dramas as they transmit. Uniquely the course is led by writers working in the industry who continue to write for British television. The course also benefits from direct input from Shed Productions (New Tricks, Waterloo Road, Footballers Wives), as well as the BBC, STV and other independent producers and writers.

Throughout the programme, students receive:

  • Tutoring by writers presently working in British Television

  • Incredible access to drama producers and drama commissioners

  • The opportunity to work on dramas presently transmitting on British television

  • Individual mentoring by experienced television drama executives on their original drama or comedy

  • A one-year representation by a London Agent

  • The opportunity to develop their original drama or comedy beyond the course with a professional script reader

  • The chance to compete to see a co-written play staged in one of Glasgow’s most exciting theatres

Through this Masters, you will gain knowledge and skills essential to succeeding in contemporary television drama through close exposure to the industry, some of its most successful practitioners and their professional practice in action. However, this is more than 'skills only' training.  This programme gives you space to reflect critically upon creative processes and dynamics, and upon the realities of producing work for the television industry, to become a flexible and independently minded TV scriptwriter needed for the 21st Century. In other words, our graduates not only know 'how' but also crucially 'why'.

Visit our blog at: http://caledonianblogs.net/tvfictionwriting/

Why choose this programme?

  • It is housed within Glasgow School for Business and Society, as such, it is in an excellent position to bridge both creative development and business aware skill sets for the TV industries.
  • The teaching programme has been developed in close collaboration with the television industry, ensuring that a real workplace context and direct market relevance is maintained. As well as input from Shed Productions (New Tricks, Waterloo Road, Footballers Wives), we also benefit from input from the BBC, STV and other independent producers and writers.
  • It focuses solely on writing for the growing television sector which is a key element of the Scottish, UK and global economies.
  • Successful students will graduate with both a masters degree and several projects or scripts ready to take to market.
  • Its learning programme is underpinned by both academic research credibility and cutting edge industry interventions
  • Competitive, industry-sponsored scholarships are available for this programme.

Programme content

There are four main strands to this Masters:

Story and Script Techniques (2 modules) - students study story telling and narrative, genre, character and voice, developing their critical and evaluative skills as well as their creative writing talents.

Writing for Existing Long Running TV Drama (2 modules) - students gain understanding of how creative and writing processes work on long running dramas such as soap operas or medical dramas, and then write their own mock storylines and scripts.

Developing and Writing Original TV Drama (2 modules) - students tackle the challenge of creating their own original drama in the context of current commissioning trends.

Researching TV Drama Markets - students will explore the terrain of the TV fiction market, the main channels (home and abroad), commissioning policies and audiences in order to enhance their market readiness.

Programme structure

To achieve the full Masters award you must successfully complete 8 taught modules and an Independent Script Project in which students research and write (with supervision and support) material for an original six-part television drama series.

The full-time programme runs over 12 months. You will take four modules in Trimester 1 (Sept - Dec), and four modules in Trimester B (Jan - May). Following this, you will continue work on your Independent Script Project which is submitted in September.

Industry support

"The Shed Productions team have worked in television drama for nearly two decades and have experienced a real shortage of writers trained to work specifically for the television medium. Getting quality training and education is expensive which is why we need generous people and organisations to help support students who otherwise would never have a chance to attend this course and the possibility of career in television. We want real people to benefit and our industry will flourish as a result."
Eileen Gallagher
Shed Productions


"As Chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University and with my own background in the media, it gives me great pleasure to endorse this new MA course in TV Fiction Writing. I am certain that such a practical programme will be a very good thing for the participants themselves, but also for the future of script writing all across the UK. I am also certain that we must attract the very best students to this course, and many of them will come from backgrounds where participation in higher education is a new concept. We must facilitate their participation and so this call for help to establish a scholarships programme is timely."
Lord (Gus) Macdonald of Tradeston

Scholarships

There are sponsored scholarships available for MA TV Fiction Writing from:
  • MG Alba (must be fluent Gaelic speaker)
  • BBC Scotland
  • Fremantle UK
  • ScreenHI
  • Shed Productions
The application process for scholarships is separate from the admissions process, although you can do both at the same time. We will be asking all short listed applicants for the programme to come for interview and test, and we'll conduct scholarship interviews on the same day.

For more information and applications for scholarships

Programme Contacts

Programme Leader

Dr Catriona Miller

T: +44 (0) 141 331 8097

E: c.miller@gcu.ac.uk

Enquire about this course. How to Apply.
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