MA Script Writing

The skills of storytelling are timeless. Tackle the creative, analytical and professional sides of script writing for film, television and radio on this industry-accredited Masters.

• Focus on further developing your own feature film, TV or radio project in a workshop-based environment limited to twelve students, ensuring intensive engagement.
• Study on one of the few MA Scriptwriting programmes accredited by ScreenSkills.
• Gain industry exposure by pitching your project to high level industry professionals and having your script read. Attend lectures given by industry professionals, and have your scripts read by professional actors at a Script Showcase, attended by agents and other industry professionals.
• Be supported in finding industry contacts who can encourage and support your development as a scriptwriter.
• Develop script editing and script development skills.
• Study within Goldsmiths’ Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies, and hone your craft in a critical, stimulating, and interdisciplinary creative environment.
• The Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies has been ranked second in the UK for 'world-leading or internationally excellent' research (Research Excellence Framework, 2021) and 16th in the world (third in the UK) in the 2024 QS World Rankings for communication and media studies.

With myriad new media platforms, there are more opportunities to create content than ever before. And all these require a script and a story. But how do you get your work to industry-standard and in front of the right people?

Industry access

At Goldsmiths, our tutors are all experienced film and TV professionals, and we are able to offer exceptional industry access for our emerging writers.

Over the last four years we've welcomed a broad range of writers, television development executives and film production executives including:

• Internationally acclaimed movie directors Steve McQueen and Mike Newell
• Producer Allan Niblo (founder of Vertigo Pictures)
• James Bowsher and Catriona Renton (senior executives with Good Chaos Pictures)
• Matt Jarvis and Rachael Stephenson from Clerkenwell Films
• BAFTA-winning film producer Martin Gentles
• Acclaimed TV dramatist Jed Mercurio
• Oscar-nominated screenwriter Nick Hornby
• BBC Radio producer Sasha Yevtushenko
• Comedy writer and performer Jamie Demetriou

The questions we explore

The main question you have to ask yourself for this MA programme is: do I really need to be a writer more than anything else? That’s quite brutal, but script writing is a tough profession. You’re totally exposed as a creative person, it’s you and the page and the tradition in which you’re working, and that can be a liberating but also uncomfortable place to be.

The processes we use

The programme is not about learning how to be a writer; it’s about developing and pushing forward your own writing projects as far and as fast as you can in 12 months. You’ll be developing your own voice, learning how to critique the work of others, and getting to grips with marketing your projects. You’ll also be making industry contacts so you can pitch for employment in an extremely competitive industry.

You’ll cover every aspect of the writing process from getting ideas, maintaining productive writing practices and developing characters and storylines, to presenting your work to an industry standard and pitching your ideas. Writing is a lonely business – that’s why the community of writers that the programme gives you is such a creative advantage.

Contact the department

If you have specific questions about the degree, contact Naz Sadoughi.

You will be considered for this programme on the basis of your submitted creative work and your interview. If you are not a graduate you may be asked to show that you have the ability to work at postgraduate level.

International qualifications

We accept a wide range of international qualifications. Find out more about the qualifications we accept from around the world.

If English isn’t your first language, you will need an IELTS score (or equivalent English language qualification) of 7.0 with a 7.0 in writing and no element lower than 6.5 to study this programme. If you need assistance with your English language, we offer a range of courses that can help prepare you for postgraduate-level study.

MA Script Writing is all about the product. So when you complete this Masters, you leave with a whole portfolio of writing, a set of professional skills, a list of industry contacts, and a set of professional friendships through the Goldsmiths Screen School.

The programme gives you a safe, supportive and stimulating environment to unpack your ideas, get constructive feedback, make mistakes, and find the story you want to tell. In the end though, it’s down to you as an individual to become the writer you want to be.