COURSE OVERVIEW
The most comprehensive vocational programme in script development in the UK.
This course aims to give you all the skills and expertise you need to develop highly polished scripts for film and television.
Content Tabs
This Diploma course offers you a comprehensive contemporary overview and ongoing practical learning in an intensive professional environment, preparing you for a successful career in the Industry.
During the course, you’ll get access to new screenwriters and regular industry speakers, as well as working on a practical development project with a screenwriter.
Learning is part-time, delivered by fortnightly online evening sessions over 14 months.
The course combines lectures, seminars and workshops alongside talks and panel discussions with current industry practitioners, as well as supervised practical work with a screenwriter.
There are continuous written assignments throughout the taught section of the programme which are mostly practical and designed to be useful to a career in development, as well as other areas of the film industry.
The programme consists of fortnightly online sessions held on a Monday evening from 18:30pm - 20:30pm, plus 3 intensive weekend workshops running from September to April. The Final Project element of the Diploma is a six-month supervised development project, which begins in April when students are paired with a screenwriter. The delivery of all assessed material for the Final Project is due in October.
This course is open to UK applicants and EU/EEA Nationals with UK pre-settled/settled status (subject to meeting residency requirements) and applicants who are currently in the UK on a valid visa for the full duration of the course.
We are looking for people who:
- Already work in development and feel they may benefit from a structured course in story theory and working practice in order to build their confidence and resources
- Already work in the film industry and are keen to develop or hone their skills when working with scripts and writers, to get the best work from those writers
- Are producers keen to get an edge on finding and nurturing new writing talent
- Have experience in other creative industries and would like to explore script development and believe that they can bring new experience and ideas to the process of developing scripts and cultivating writers
- Have a passion for film, a love of storytelling, can demonstrate initiative, and have an enthusiasm for, and a commitment to, working collaboratively
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.
If you have any questions, please email info@nfts.co.uk
The following item(s) should accompany your online application:
Applicants must supply a short piece (750 words max) telling us about a film or TV drama you wish you had developed. Please include:
- The reasons you have chosen this piece.
- A brief description of the main story line and the protagonist’s story arc.
- Your ideas around what you think might have improved the script.
Applications open 8th January 2024. We are happy to receive applications from 8th January until the midnight of the application deadline date.
Funding Available
The NFTS want to encourage applications from the brightest and best talent out there, whatever your background. We are actively seeking to redress imbalances within the Industry by encouraging applications from under-represented groups, and have a limited number of bursaries on offer for UK applicants.
Tutors
Graduate Success
The course is designed to give you the highly developed skills needed to work with both scripts and screenwriters to create great content for the UK and international film and television Industries.
Graduates include...
Fiona Lamptey
Director of UK Features at Netflix
Graduate Success
The course is designed to give you the highly developed skills needed to work with both scripts and screenwriters to create great content for the UK and international film and television Industries.
Chloe
Script Editor Ruth Trippitt
Graduate Success
The course is designed to give you the highly developed skills needed to work with both scripts and screenwriters to create great content for the UK and international film and television Industries.
The Pale Horse
Executive Producer Basi Akpabio
