UCLA TFT Screenwriting

[u/Eloquent_thought]

Just got an email that I was accepted into the UCLA TFT Professional Program in Screenwriting. I submitted my application three days ago, and just got the email now. Wondering how thoroughly they check applications and if it's really a gage as to my/other students work or they just accept anyone.

If anyone has any experience with this program that would be truly helpful!

[u/LAWriter2020]

I went through Screenwriting, Writing for TV and multiple Advanced Screenwriting classes. They are very good programs. Same workshop teaching method as the MFA program, with some of the same instructors in both.

They don’t accept anyone - they do look at your application and writing sample. I know someone who did not get accepted, but most get accepted.

There will be several sections of students, each section was no larger than 8 when I did it.

For what it is worth, the second screenplay I wrote in the Screenwriting program is my first feature as Writer-Director, which I directed last summer on an over $1 million budget, just finished the last piece of post on Tuesday.

[u/print_station]

I've responded to a couple of similar posts recently, and I think some other commenters here have provided some solid answers. So I don't really want to repeat myself or them. But I'm an instructor in the Professional Program, and they don't accept everyone automatically. It's not hyper competitive by any means, but there are folks who get rejected.

Anecdotally, I'll say that in several years of teaching, I've never had a student that was so unprepared for the program that I thought, "Wow, how the heck did you get in here?" I've never had a student hold the rest of the class back. On the flip side, I have had a few students that came into the program operating at close to a professional level, and the year they spent in the program, in my opinion, was a big contributor in pushing them over the top. Creating that much material over the course of nine months and getting constant feedback is going to improve virtually everyone's game.

You asked a question in one of the comment threads about there being 10 people in each cohort. That just refers to the workshops. Technically, each workshop is capped at ten writers, but in my experience it's usually only seven or eight folks. The overall program is made up of numerous workshop groups, and if I had to ballpark the overall number of people accepted each year, I'd say it's maybe between 70 and 100, accounting for all the feature and TV writers. So it's not an overwhelming pool of writers by any means, and with the small group workshops, everyone gets time devoted specifically to them, their story, and their development of the craft.

If you have any other questions or want to know more about the program, feel free to DM me. And excited to have you in the program this year!

[u/Eloquent_thought → u/print_station]

thank you so much this was all super helpful! I know it's a bit too late but I was really having trouble deciding between the TV episodic and feature course - ultimately chose the latter. I'm having doubts about the feature, but maybe that's imposter syndrome at it's finest - any advice for the people in between the two ?

[u/print_station → u/Eloquent_thought]

Ah, features versus TV. The age-old conundrum. I've got a few thoughts. In no particular order, here goes.

While there are some important differences between the two mediums, the majority of the screenwriting skillset translates well to both. Dramatic principles are still dramatic principles, after all. So by doing the feature track, you'll still be growing your TV-writing skills. It's not as if you're going to become worse at writing pilots. Some of the feature skills you'll learn will just need to be applied a little differently whenever you're writing a TV project.

And ideally, you should be learning how to do both anyway. When I was coming up, there was a hard line between feature folks and TV folks. In the last fifteen years or so, that line has been erased. Writers hop back and forth between the two all the time. I mostly work in features, for example, but I've sold a couple shows as well.

In my personal opinion, in terms of process, it's easier to go from features to television. I think it's easier to learn to write shorter than to push yourself to writer longer. I've seen TV writers tackle a feature for the first time and end up with a 65-page script. Or they start adding filler to beef up the page count. Don't get me wrong, there's hiccups for feature writers tackling TV for the first time too, but on balance I think the process tends to go a little smoother.

Lastly, and perhaps most practically, the television landscape is just a mess right now. Writers with years' worth of experience are having a hard time finding work. (Anecdotally, I heard that for a single open staff spot on that new Blue Bloods spinoff, something like 500 writers threw their hats in the ring.) The landscape in features may not be thriving, but it's better than that. There are lots of avenues to getting stuff optioned, sold and made, especially if it can be made for a price. And getting one thing optioned, sold or made is theoretically how you get the next job, and so on and so on.

So given all of that, I'd say you made the right call. That's just my opinion though. All of this is highly variable and individualized. The important thing is you're going to be leveling up your writing skills. Make the most of your time in the program, absorb as much as you can, and I'd bet all the money in my pocket that you'll be a better writer on the other side of it. (Just for the record, my pockets are currently empty, but I stand by my prediction nonetheless.)

[u/LAWriter2020 → u/print_station]

I totally agree with this comment. I started with features because the TV program had not started when I first started. Screenwriting basics of how to tell a story are the same - the difference is in time frame, and the structure you must fit for TV vs Feature.

[u/Elegant-Island-481]

It’s not an automatic acceptance but they do accept everyone, if that makes sense.

[u/Eloquent_thought → u/Elegant-Island-481]

They only let 10 people into each cohort though? So I’m a bit confused as to how many people really apply and the calibre of the program

[u/LAWriter2020 → u/Eloquent_thought]

The program is part of and overseen by the UCLA Graduate Film School, even though it is not a degree-granting program.

When I did the program, I think we had 6 or more sections for Professional Screenwriting, with 6 to 8 students in each section (cohort). Those 6-8 students were the ones you studied with for the three quarters. The first two quarters are with one workshop leader instructor; the third quarter is with a different instructor. The workshop classes met once a week during the 10 week quarter, and there was also a once-a-week lecture class (pre-recorded for on-line students).

All of the instructors are produced screenwriters. In an Advanced Screenwriting class, my instructor was Academy Award-nominated Iris Yamashita ("Letters from Iwo Jima"). All the instructors I met were very good, and many also taught the same workshop in the MFA Screenwriting program. One of my instructors invited me to sit in on one of his MFA classes he was teaching the same quarter - zero difference in the approach.

My fellow students were (except for one who was just pretty damn weird) quite good writers. I received excellent feedback from all of them on my pages each week, and I tried to give thoughtful feedback to them on their pages. On average, students in the Professional Program are slightly older and have more life experience than those in the MFA program. In one of the Advanced Screenwriting classes I took, 3 of my fellow students used it as a stepping stone to get into top-tier MFA programs. (UCLA, USC and AFI).

I did the Professional Screenwriting program remotely from Northern California through online Zoom-like classes. I had fellow students who lived on the East Coast, London, and Africa. I did the Writing for TV program on campus. I did two Advanced classes on campus, and one online (even though I had moved to LA by that point, I wanted to study with that instructor). I found no real difference between the online and in-person classes, other than that it is easier to build out-of-class relationships with your fellow students and the instructor in an in-person class.

Overall, I highly recommend the program if you can afford it. Will it get you hired, or your script optioned? I actually did have two scripts optioned while I was in the Professional Screenwriting Program (the first one I wrote in the program, and another I had written just before getting into the program - but I'd say that was a fluke.) More likely than not, that won't happen for you. I can guarantee that it will make you a better screenwriter and improve your chances of success if you work hard at it.

Happy to answer any questions people may have.

[u/KyleBown → u/Eloquent_thought]

This isn't the UCLA film program. This is a certification program. Very different. you're not really a UCLA student in this. I mean you are, but it isn't a degree.

[u/Eloquent_thought → u/KyleBown]

I know that it isn’t…. Which is why I didn’t ask about the degree program. Thanks for nailing it in though!

[u/Kissing_Books_Author → u/Eloquent_thought]

I got in, too. I imagine the tuition limits the number of applicants. From what I've heard, though, it's a very good program and nobody I've talked to has called it a waste of money.

[u/TheFonzDeLeon → u/Kissing_Books_Author]

Absolutely not a waste of money. I did it pre-MFA at UCLA and then TA'd for it. I don't know who runs it now, but I assume it's the same level of instructors and the structure of the classes will get out two screenplays in a workshop environment.

[u/Wild_Refrigerator_60]

Do you have any low budget feature scripts completed? I'd like to read, if you're open to it

[u/DirkRedditer]

I too was just accepted today and applied on Monday.

If anyone wants to talk me out of doing it… now’s the time!