About

This terminal degree focuses specifically on the art and craft of writing for performance. This is a three-year long creative writing discipline housed in a film department. The focus of the program is on developing feature screenplays but the candidate will also produce television screenplays, stage plays, and various type of work for digital media as it evolves. The program is based on a “conservatory” approach of practice and repetition and includes a significant amount of “pitching,” or working aloud with the cohort, as part of the process. Students completing the program will have a significant portfolio of feature motion picture, television, and other scripts that have been honed to a degree of professional expectation. In addition to faculty with professional experience, the students are exposed to a variety of professional guests.

Accreditation

For information regarding accreditation at UNLV, please head over to Academic Program Accreditations.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Dramatic Media (changed from Screenwriting) the student should be able to:

  • Use professional on-page formatting technique.
  • Explain why the various formatting choices are put to use.
  • Execute a verbal “pitch”.
  • Collaborate on a verbal “pitch”.
  • Identify story elements in the “pitch” and distinguish their effectiveness.
  • Revise all of the work presented, in response to critical analysis.
  • Recognize the structural strengths and weaknesses of completed written drafts of scripts.
  • Communicate, in a collegial environment, their critical analysis of work presented by the cohort.
  • Analysis of traditionally accepted “classic” screenplays in both written and verbal response.
  • Be able to create a work of dramatic media from inception, pitch, first draft and subsequent drafts in the most professional manner possible.
  • Create a personal collection of written works for various dramatic media (plays, screenplays, teleplays, webisodes, mobisodes, etc.). Each candidate should have a minimum of three feature screenplays, two teleplays and two samples from other media.

Career Possibilities

Although there is not a specific formal path to a career in writing for dramatic media, whether it is in feature screenplays, television, theatrical presentation, or digital entertainment, there are certainly opportunities in screenwriting, and it can be very lucrative and rewarding. It is an industry, however, where less than 10 percent of the workforce is actually employed at any given time. This program prepares the writer for the challenges that will meet the individual as he or she enters the massive entertainment industry. Studios and networks do not have “placement” services for writers, actors and directors – the “above the line personnel.” If one chooses a path in academia, the candidate will be well-versed in how to approach the teaching of creative writing for performance as a career.

Requirements

Master of Fine Arts - Writing for Dramatic Media

Plan Description

The UNLV Department of Film offers a Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Dramatic Media. This terminal degree focuses specifically on the art and craft of writing for performance. This is a three-year long creative writing discipline housed in a film department. The focus of the program is on developing feature screenplays but the candidate will also produce television screenplays, stage plays, and various types of work for digital media as it evolves. The program is based on a "conservatory" approach of practice and repetition and includes a significant amount of "pitching," or working aloud, as part of the process. Students completing the three-year program will have a significant group of feature motion picture, television, and other scripts that have been honed to a professional level. In addition to faculty with professional experience, the students are exposed to a variety of professional guests.  

For more information about your program, including your graduate program handbook and learning outcomes please visit the Degree Directory.

Plan Admission Requirements

Application deadlines

Applications available on the UNLV Graduate College website.

Students are admitted in the fall term of each academic year. In addition to the general requirements for admission to the Graduate College, the following materials must be submitted.

  1. A writing sample to the Graduate Coordinator. This sample should be a screenplay. A stage play or prose fiction will suffice if approved by the coordinator. The sample is needed to demonstrate narrative ability.
  2. The names, addresses, and telephone numbers of two references.
  3. Finalists will be interviewed, by telephone or in person, by the Graduate Coordinator.

Review of applications begins January 15.

All domestic and international applicants must review and follow the Graduate College Admission and Registration Requirements.

Students are accepted into a degree program as described in the Graduate Catalog. The faculty and corresponding sub-disciplines and sub-plans within the described programs are subject to change at any time.

Plan Requirements

Total Credits Required: 54 

Course Requirements

Screenwriting Course – Credits: 18

Complete 18 credits of the following course: 

Required Courses – Credits: 18

Complete 18 credits from the following courses: ​

Elective Courses – Credits: 18

Complete 18 credits of 600- or 700-level advisor approved courses. 

Degree Requirements

  1. Completion of a minimum of 54 credits with a minimum GPA of 3.00.
  2. In consultation with their advisor, a student will organize an advisory committee of at least three departmental members. In addition, a fourth member from outside the department, known as the Graduate College Representative, must be appointed. An additional committee member may be added at the student and department's discretion. Please see Graduate College policy for committee appointment guidelines.
  3. During the three years of study, each screenwriting student will be expected to complete a minimum of four full-length feature motion picture screenplays and two television scripts. In practice, the output is actually closer to five screenplays and four television scripts. One screenplay will be selected to be the candidate's thesis script. It will undergo final revision as the work most indicative of the candidate's art and craft.
  4. A two-hour oral examination will take place at the end of the course of study. This examination focuses on the student's final project (1 hour) and on all remaining work completed within the program (1 hour).

Plan Graduation Requirements

The student must successfully complete and defend their final project.

Students may apply for graduation up to two semesters prior to completing their degree requirements. All required forms must be submitted to the graduate college via the Grad Rebel Gateway.

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Contacts

Department of Film

The department of film offers students the exciting opportunity to study film in the heart of Las Vegas, “The Entertainment Capital of the World.” Our efforts contribute to UNLV’s status as a premier metropolitan research university by adapting traditional film education values to meet the needs of individuals, communities, and industries in the 21st century.

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College of Fine Arts

The College of Fine Arts provides an academic experience that heightens awareness of the physical, intellectual, and cultural world. We diligently prepare students for professional employment and/or post-graduate study in their artistic area.

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