<p>I've been browsing around, and i was just wondering what people consider the best college's for a Screenwriting major?</p>
<p>The best answer I know of, are any schools associated with film: USC, NYU, UCLA, etc. (I guess it's possible for a school to have a good screenwriting program to not be film related, but I would think you would want otherwise..) Check out Film School Confidential, some of the stuff in there will apply to you.</p>
<p>I've never heard of a screenwriting major; you'll have infinitely more options if you look into Cinema Studies, English or Creative writing instead, and preferably somewhere with all three. I second USC, NYU and UCLA and suggest Wesleyan or Columbia too.</p>
<p>So far i've found 7 rather impressive College's that feature a Screenwriting major. They are: Bennington, Bard, Chapman, Palm Beach Atlantic, Loyola Marymount, Sarah Lawrence and Southern California.</p>
<p>I'm just wondering if there are any other College's out there that i yet to have come across?</p>
<p>Since you made this error 4 times, the OCD in me won't let it slide. "Colleges" is the plural form and does not take an apostrophe. The apostrophe would indicate possessive, as in "The college's screenwriting program is exceptional."</p>
<p>Just in case you decide to major in English. ;-)</p>
<p>Emerson College~Boston <a href="http://www.emerson.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://www.emerson.edu/</a></p>
<p>Emmy is their friend.</p>
<p>if you are interested in a northeastern LAC, Vassar has a film major, with a screenwriting component:
<a href="http://film.vassar.edu/overview.html%5B/url%5D">http://film.vassar.edu/overview.html</a></p>
<p>How many screenplays have you written already? Are you just trying to learn the basics? You may be looking for anything from a standard liberal arts curriculum in which you would be immersed in writing of all sorts, to a just a trade school where after as little as a year and a half you could have an associates degree (sort of the half way mark to a baccalaureate degree) in screenplay writing. It really depends on what sort of grounding you already have and what are your expectations? Believe it or not, most working screenplay writers did not major in screenplay writing when they were in college.</p>
<p>I've written several screenplays, although still hope to attend a 4-year course. From what i've read, Chapman seems to be the most impressive. And once again, thanks for all the information.</p>
<p>USC, by far has to be the best at screenwriting and all cinema related studies. Just a tiny bit of bias, but the rest is whole truth, noone can hold a candle against its program.</p>
<p>Stanford, hands down</p>
<p>I don't think there is such a thing as a "sreenplay Writing" major. However, the University of Michigan has produced some major screenplay writers over the years. Here are a few that I know of:</p>
<p>DUDLEY NICHOLS (graduated all the way back in the 1920s I think) screenwriter for For Whom the Bell Tolls, Stagecoach and The Informer.</p>
<p>VALENTINE DAVIES (also graduated all the way back in the 1920s) was a screenwriter for Miracle on 34th Street.</p>
<p>ROGER L. STEVENS (graduated in the 1930s) was a stage producer for West Side Story, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, A Man for All Seasons and Annie.</p>
<p>ARTHUR MILLER (Graduated in the 1930s) wrote Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, The Misfits and Playing For Time.</p>
<p>MAX HODGE (graduated in the 1940s) was a TV writer for Wild, Wild West, Mission Impossible, Marcus Welby and The Waltons. </p>
<p>HAL COOPER (graduated in the 1940s) was a TV producer/director for Maude, Dick Van Dyke Show, Mayberry RFD, That Girl, I Dream of Jeannie and Empty Nest.</p>
<p>JOHN RICH (graduated in the 1950s) was a producer for Maude, That Girl, Mayberry RFD and MacGyver.</p>
<p>JOHN BRILEY (graduated in the 1950s) was a screenwriter/novelist of Gandhi.</p>
<p>DAVID NEWMAN (graduated in the 1950s) was a screenwriter for Superman I, II, III, Bonnie & Clyde, What's Up Doc? and Still of the Night.</p>
<p>LESLIE NEWMAN (graduated in the 1950s) was a screenwriter for Superman.</p>
<p>ROBERT K. SHAYE (graduated in the 1960s) was a producer for Nightmare on Elm Street and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. He is the president of New Line Cinema.</p>
<p>JACK OBRIEN (graduated in the 1960s) is a Broadway producer of The Full Monty and Hairspray for which he won a Tony in 2003. He also was the producer of His Girl Friday in London for the National Theatre of Great Britain. </p>
<p>LAWRENCE KASDAN (graduated in the 1970s) was a screenwriter/director for The Big Chill, Body Heat, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Return of the Jedi and Silverado. </p>
<p>GARY HARDWICK (graduated in the 1980s) is a novelist and filmmaker of Deliver Us From Eva. Hardwick wrote the screenplay and directed the romantic comedy, which starred LL Cool J. </p>
<p>DAVID LEVIEN (graduated in the 1980s) co-wrote and co-directed The Knockaround Guys, a movie about the sons of New York gangsters. Levien also co-wrote the poker movie Rounders, which starred Matt Damon.</p>
<p>TODD SAMOVITZ (graduated in the 1990s) is co-author of the screenplay Wonderland, which starred Val Kilmer and Lisa Kudrow.</p>
<p>DAVID MURRAY (graduated in the 1990s) had his film Livermore shown nationwide on the PBS series Independent Lens.</p>
<p>USC offers both a BFA and MFA in Writing for Screen and Television. There, not Chapman, you will find the best screenwriting program in the nation by any measure, be it caliber of faculty, hollywood connections, prominent alumni, or your peers.</p>
<p>Taken from <a href="http://www-cntv.usc.edu/academic_programs/writing/academic-writing-home.cfm%5B/url%5D:">http://www-cntv.usc.edu/academic_programs/writing/academic-writing-home.cfm:</a></p>
<p>"The Divisions faculty is composed of writers working in the industry, with a broad range of creative interests, writing styles, experience and personal voices. Among them are Academy Award and Emmy winners, and writers of Hollywood blockbusters and European films, television drama and comedy, documentaries and experimental projects. Other instructors experienced as directors, editors and agents prepare students to go beyond just writing and selling their scripts to become well-rounded film and television professionals. </p>
<p>Outside the classroom, the Division of Writing for Screen and Television provides a network of support and contacts. Students are paired with mentors who offer counsel before and after graduation, easing the transition from university life to professional careers. Thesis scripts written by students in the program are offered to hundreds of agents, producers and executives each year. A speaker series brings top writers and executives to USC for lively dialogue each week with Writing for Screen and Television students, in addition to frequent guest lecturers who visit various classes. </p>
<p>Alumni of both the BFA and MFA programs in the Division of Writing for Screen and Television have had remarkable success. Boyz N the Hood, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, Air Force One and Sweet Home Alabama, were written as student projects. Over 40 other films have been produced from scripts written by our students, including Reality Bites, Relic, The Rescuers Down Under, Natural Born Killers, Permanent Midnight, Basic, Haven, The United States of Leland and My Name Is Joe. </p>
<p>Many graduates are also working on successful television shows, including Arrested Development, ER, NYPD Blue, Spin City, For Your Love, Smallville and The O.C and The Apprentice. Other alumni are creating video games, working in interactive media and writing scripts on assignment. Many have moved into production, and others are working as creative executives at independent and mainstream companies in Los Angeles and throughout Europe. "</p>
<p>lol, Stanford..... hehe :)</p>
<p>Wow, USC sure sounds impressive. I can only imagine how competitive the course is. But it looks like i'm going to have to do quite a lot more reading up before i make my final decision.</p>
<p>I think UCLA has a program. I think it is more common to specialize in screenwriting at the graduate level.</p>
<p>Check out New York Film Academy:
<a href="http://www.nyfa.com/film/programs/screenwriting/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.nyfa.com/film/programs/screenwriting/index.html</a></p>
<p>some schools that offer courses in playwriting or screenwriting:</p>
<p>Brown
Carnegie Mellon
Colby
Emerson
George Washington U
Emory
UNC Wilmington
U Tampa
Hope
Knox
Oberlin
Purdue
Siena Heights U
Stephens College
U Evansville
Western Michigan
C of Santa Fe
Lewis and Clark
U Redlands</p>
<p>Yeah, i'm considering doing a little Screenwriting course at New York Film Academy over the summer. And thanks for the list of schools with the course. I'll check them out right now.</p>
<p>University of Hawaii just started a film school (it's started by Chris Lee--prducer of Superman) He even took 4 students to intern on the set with him last year. Anyways, there's no screenwriting major but you can major in film and take screenwriting courses. Plus, UH is one of the cheapest schools in the country! The profs are amazing in the film school! Go to: <a href="http://acm.hawaii.edu/index2.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://acm.hawaii.edu/index2.shtml</a></p>
<p>I'm not sure if you have your heart set on Ivies or not, but University of Michigan has an amazing screenwriting program underway.<br>
It doesn't have much publicity, because it's really taken off in the last 5 years. </p>
<p>(The Film program just got changed to the "Department of Screen Arts and Cultures," so all the webpages are a mess and not very helpful).</p>
<p>It's an undergraduate program, and you can't major in screenwriting per se, but you can get a SAC major and "focus" on screenwriting - basically the same idea.</p>
<p>Anyway, the writing is rigorous. 1st semester you write an entire screenplay. 2nd semester you revise it (VERY important skill to learn!) and 3rd, you write a new one, etc. Your classes will probably be under 20 people, and if you make it to screenwriting 3 it will be about 6 people, I think screenwriting 4 is an independent study!</p>
<p>I learned more in my screenwriting classes about plot, theme, character, structure, most of all, time management, than I learned in ANY of my writing classes for the 5 years I was at college. And I majored in creative writing.</p>
<p>U of M's screenwriting is going to blow up soon, it is WAY too good to be true, best-kept secret in screenwriting. You can pursue it purely as an art, or from a buisiness point of view.</p>
<p>Only con: U of M's cinema studies classes are great, but their production classes aren't. So if you want to direct or be a camera person, I don't suggest the program. But for studies, great; for writing, AMAZING!</p>
<p>Find out where the guy who wrote "The English Patient" went. And then go anywhere except there.</p>