The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Writing for Screen and Television is a unique, four-year program for students who seek intensive professional preparation for a career in screen or television writing. This rigorous program emphasizes small, workshop-style classes. The program attracts students from all over the world. The program, located at the center of world cinema and television, offers a rich variety of guests, internships and mentors from the first rank of writers for screen and television.

Each fall (there are no spring admissions), a class of 24 undergraduate writing students is selected to begin the program. A total of 128 units is required for completion of the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree; 72 of these units are taken in a prescribed sequential order.

Applicants must submit supplemental application and materials to the program office. For specific instructions, contact Writing for Screen and Television, University Park, Los Angeles, CA 90089-2211 or telephone (213) 740-3303, or online at www-cntv.usc.edu.

The university’s general education program provides a coherent, integrated introduction to the breadth of knowledge you will need to consider yourself (and to be considered by other people) a generally well-educated person. This program requires six courses in different categories, plus writing and diversity requirements, which are described in detail on General Education Program.

Undergraduate writing students are required to take CTPR 290 Cinematic Communication. This is an introductory production course which must be taken during the junior year.

In CTPR 290 students are taught the principles of filmmaking through demonstrations, hands-on production and critical analysis. Each student makes five digital video non-dialogue movies using equipment supplied by the school. Approximately $1,200 should be budgeted for miscellaneous expenses, lab and insurance fees.

A minimum grade of C (2.0) must be earned in all required and prerequisite courses (a grade of C- (1.7) or lower will not fulfill a major requirement).

The Master of Fine Arts, with a major in Writing for Screen and Television, is an intensive two-year degree program which concentrates on writing for narrative film and television. During the course of their studies, students benefit from a wide array of internship and mentorship opportunities available as a result of the university’s close links to the Los Angeles film industry’s top screenwriters, directors, production companies and studios.

Course work includes practical instruction in everything a working writer needs to learn about the filmmaker’s art and craft. Writing is taught in small workshop-style classes. The approach focuses on the visual tools of storytelling, developing stories from characters and then on an Aristotelian three act structure. Fractured narratives, ensemble stories, experiments with time and points of view, as well as other idiosyncratic styles of storytelling, are also addressed. The curriculum covers other professional concerns, including legal issues, agents and the Writer’s Guild, as well as the history and analysis of cinema. Classes are taught by working writers with a wide variety of skills, experience and attitudes.

Each fall 32 students are selected to begin the Graduate Writing for Screen and Television Program; there are no spring admissions. Applicants must submit a supplemental application and materials to the Graduate Writing for Screen and Television Program. For specific instructions, contact the Graduate Writing for Screen and Television Program, University Park, Los Angeles, CA 90089-2211, or telephone (213) 740-3303, or online at www-cntv.usc.edu.

A total of 44-46 units in cinema-television at the 400 and 500 level is required. Course work includes hands-on instruction in production, acting and directing.

CTPR 521x Filmic Communication is taken in the first semester. This course reviews the basic aspects of filmmaking through lectures and hands-on production using digital video. A minimum grade of B (3.0) is required in CTPR 521x in order for a student to continue in the Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Screen and Television program.

Total: 46 units required for the degree. Only two writing courses can be taken per semester.

A minimum of 14 elective units at the 400 and 500 level is required, determined by which options the student selected.

An overall grade point average of 3.0 (A = 4.0) must be maintained in all courses. In addition, an overall grade point average of 3.0 in all units attempted is required to qualify for registration in CTWR 515ab. Courses in which a grade of C- (1.7) or lower is earned will not apply toward a graduate degree.

In lieu of a thesis, the student is required to complete a full-length screenplay which will be developed in CTWR 515ab and must be accepted by the Division of Writing Graduation Committee.

Students must maintain satisfactory progress toward their master’s degrees at all times. The time limit to complete all requirements is three years from the first course at USC applied toward the Master of Fine Arts degree. Course work more than seven years old is automatically invalidated and may not be applied toward the degree.