COURSE OVERVIEW
Could you write an award-winning film, TV drama or animation? Or devise a multi-layered narrative for a ground-breaking game?
This rigorous, practical course has a long history of producing outstanding writers for film, television, animation and games, and will give you the chance to see your writing tested in production.
Content Tabs
The voice of the individual screenwriter is at the heart of our course. You’ll be taught by working screenwriters, producers and script developers, and your voice will be nurtured, developed and challenged to produce work of quality and originality, ready to take out to the industry.
All aspects of professional screenwriting are addressed, with the added benefit that you will also collaborate with other departments – including fiction, animation, producing and games - putting into practice the skills you learn throughout the course.
This is a hands-on course set in a working film and television studio – something that is unique to studying Screenwriting at the NFTS. You’ll cover all aspects of screenwriting across film, television, games and animation, in different forms and genres, from the development of ideas, treatments and bibles, through the drafting of scripts, into production and post, and you’ll receive comprehensive preparation for the professional world of the screenwriter.
You will also have your writing workshopped by professional directors and actors and, working with student producers and directors, have the chance to see your writing tested in production. Samples of your work will be read by literary agents, broadcasters, commissioners and film and television production companies, in advance of a round of industry meetings in your final term where you can pitch your ideas directly to the industry.
The course is intensive and full-time and requires a high level of dedication, a prolific output, and the ability to meet professional deadlines.
You will need to display a talent and passion for screenwriting, a fund of ideas and the desire to tell stories for the screen. You may have written in other forms - plays, novels, short stories, journalism – or already have a body of work, but whatever your experience, your writing must demonstrate an original voice with something to say.
Professional experience in any field is an advantage, in particular work in film, TV or theatre, or allied creative arts. A sound general knowledge of film, TV and theatre writing is expected, as well as a high level of self-discipline and personal motivation.
While many applicants will have a degree from a British or overseas university, we will consider applicants who do not have a degree if they have an impressive portfolio, a creative track record or an alternative qualification.
International students Visa and English language requirements
If you have any questions, please email info@nfts.co.uk
The following item(s) should accompany your online application:
- 12 pages of an original screenplay, together with a one-page (A4) synopsis. The screenplay should be the first 12 pages of a longer work or a short film script of 12 pages. It should be presented in a standard screenplay format as per Final Draft, Celtx, etc. All work must be original and must not be adapted or co-authored. It should include a one-page synopsis of the entire story, at the beginning of the screenplay. The screenplay and synopsis should be included in one document to upload and include your full name on the first page.
Applications open 8th January 2025. We are happy to receive applications from 8th January until the midnight of the application deadline date.
Funding Available
The NFTS awards more scholarships and bursaries to British students, relative to the size of our student body, than almost any other educational institution in the UK. If you’re successful at gaining a place on the course, you will be contacted by our funding team with details on how to apply for one of these scholarships.
Tutors
Student Showcase
Crab Day (trailer)
2023 graduate animation
Director/Lead Animator - Ross Stringer
Producer - Bartosz Stanislawek
Screenwriter - Aleksandra Sykulak
As part of a fishing community’s annual ritual, a young boy must kill his first crab in order to become a man and gain his father’s approval.
Crab Day won the British Short Animation award at the 2024 EE BAFTAs.
Terminus (or How Dr. Clark Almost Saved The World) (trailer)
2022 graduate fiction film
Director - Sarah Knar
Producer - Alfred Deragne
Screenwriter - Hipatia Argüero Mendoza
It has been raining for weeks on end. A young woman commits herself to a psychiatric clinic, claiming that she is the cause of the rain, and that she has the power to end the world.
Harp Song (trailer)
2022 graduate game
Designers/Developers/Story - Stephen Glenister, Ástráður "Ace" Ísak Lárusson
Writer - Paul Carey
Harp Song is a narrative-adventure game set in ancient Ireland. Inspired by Irish mythology, our heroine, Clár, is pulled into an on-going war between the old Gods.
Other Half (trailer)
2021 graduate animation
Director - Lina Kalcheva
Producer - Michelle Brøndum
Screenwriter - Laura Jayne Tunbridge
As an Individual Being in a world comprised of Merged Couples, Ren embarks on a hero’s quest to find his other half and become complete.
City of Lost Children (trailer)
2020 graduate fiction film
Director - Misha Vertkin
Producer - Jesse Romain
Screenwriter - Brid Arnstein
City of Lost Children is a near future thriller set in a refugee camp for kids in the UK. We follow Dami and Azra as they negotiate the chaos of the camp, desperately trying to find a home for Dami before Azra is deported the next day.