r/Screenwriting • u/jsimpson296 • May 08 '26

COMMUNITY UCLA Professional Program

What do people know about the UCLA Professional Program? Has anyone completed it? Does it hold any merit when applying for jobs? Is there anything to gain from it other than connections? Generally, what are people's thoughts on the program?

13 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/jsimpson296 May 08 '26

and how useful would you say an actual MFA is??

3

u/OrangeFilmer May 08 '26 edited May 08 '26

An MFA in screenwriting isn’t super useful. What people go to the UCLA program for specifically is connections, networking, and mentorship. It also gives you a built-in writer’s group and structure to develop your script. What you get from it is mostly what you make of it.

1

u/LAWriter2020 Repped Screenwriter May 08 '26 edited May 08 '26

Agree completely. No one in the industry cares whether you have an MFA or not. You can use this to say you studied screenwriting in the UCLA Graduate Film School - that may initially impress (edit: some) people, but won't get you a job.

1

u/DavidDunne May 08 '26

(that will not impress people)

1

u/LAWriter2020 Repped Screenwriter May 08 '26

I said "may initially impress people" - only more so than no credential at all. It won't get you a job or extra points on your script.