<p>Many comedy writers come up thru the ranks of standup comedy which requires no education. They come from all walks and educational backgrounds. The top comedy show right now–Modern Family has a large stable of writers. The main thing they have in common is they often worked on the same show in the past. </p>
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<p>I gotcha, wrt bold. Absolutely…</p>
<p>I was referring to those who are just starting out as in the situation of perhaps the OP a few years from now when he/she graduates from college. You’re talking about getting constant work once you’re entered the loop. We did refer to this before, when you mentioned things, and I mentioned being Spielberg’s go-to writer, because I’m going to guess that he isn’t one of those triple-threats that direct, write and produce. He’ll do the first and the last, maybe not in combination for the same movie, but I don’t think he’s ever taken full writing credits. If he has done so, I would imagine he’d have an uncredited co-writer. </p>
<p>I just looked at his history, and in 2001, he had credits for writing AI, Artificial Intelligence, a movie which I liked a lot, but for which a lot of people didn’t because they took their kids to this somewhat modern adaptation of Pinocchio, and they didn’t like the unhappy ending. The writing credits for the movie were as follows:</p>
<p>Brian Aldiss, Short Story
Ian Watson - Screen Story
Steven Spielberg - Screenplay</p>
<p>According to the WGA these are the definitions:</p>
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<p>Aldiss, the famous science-fiction writer, penned the short story, off of Stanley Kubrick’s commission, who planned the movie way back in 1971, but later handed the project over to Spielberg, because Kubrick apparently couldn’t get the movie out of the development and off the ground. Spielberg according to some of the actors in the film, per my memory, would ad lib certain lines, and he would say, yea or nay, or he would off the cuff change certain scenes. (There’s some good ad lib scenes as when the boy finds the Blue Fairy.) So the actual dialog, he would rework on the fly, but for the actual transcribing, I’m sure he had an assistant who obviously didn’t get credits, partly because of the stipulations listed in [Rules for Determining Credit](<a href=“http://www.wga.org/subpage_writersresources.aspx?id=171”>http://www.wga.org/subpage_writersresources.aspx?id=171</a>), listed a bit below for screenplay.</p>
<p>Cameron, has done all three, perhaps in the same movie, Titanic, but he definitely writes, as he’s noted for initiating scriptments, which he also did for Avitar. I don’t recall if he has a go-to co-writer in a general sense, but he doubtlessly has assistants that help put things to “paper.”</p>
<p>Here’s a definition of [scriptments (along with treatments)](<a href=“A Screenwriters Guide To Treatments vs Scriptments – Gideon's Screenwriting Tips: Now You're a Screenwriter”>A Rough Guide To Independent Film Finance – Gideon's Screenwriting Tips: Now You're a Screenwriter), the former, which Cameron coined. </p>
<p>He penned almost 100 pages for each Avatar, back in 1995, it’s a 2009 film, and I think it said 131 for Titanic, which is a 1997 film, but doesn’t say when the seed originated, again, I’m sure with assistants, who edited, etc. Cameron is a Fullerton College alumnus. </p>
<p>We don’t know for sure how well both men write, but it appears that Cameron is maybe a bit more noted writer? He may have been a great student, but maybe fell by the wayside. Spielberg, in high school, was probably best described as an indifferent student, because he has surely manifested genius since. He was indifferent enough to have been rejected by both USC and UCLA, and he dropped out of Cal State Long Beach, only to fairly recently obtain his degree … wise move CSULB. </p>
<p>Anyway, we know that Spielberg at least has go-to writers, which are employed quite often. </p>
<p>Thanks guys, my son is now in crisis after reading all this. Now he doesn’t even know if he wants to go to college.</p>
<p>Well, please remind him that going to college and graduating is one of the best ways to ensure a decent job that makes it possible to do what you want, including a decent day job while you write the next great screenplay. Don’t be deterred by the negativity, in this day most writers, screenplay, book, whatever, went to college to hone their craft. The exceptions are simply that, and there will always be some. Some good advice here, like no degree is worth a LOT of debt, but what you really want to know is what schools will give you a good education to pursue your desired career. Keep in mind it is really tough to break in, you need talent and perseverance, and some luck.
You have three great schools, all expensive without good aid, and fairly difficult admits. Is money a concern? It is probably more true of screenwriting than other aspects of film that a film school education is not a requirement, but those contacts you make in a film school could be key. You should consider expanding your list to some target and safety schools, not just reaches.
Example from D’s experience recently graduated from LMU as a production major. She really wants to write and direct, but currently is keeping a roof over her head and eating and making her loan payments by freelance set work and some script reading. Every, yes every, job she has had has been through contacts with students she worked with, professors, etc. For all the talk about film school not being useful, unless you are related to somebody(that’s even better) how do you break in?</p>
<p>I don’t see the point of diving directly into the world of commerce, if you are lucky enough to have other options. Seventeen year olds are still growing physically as well as intellectually and emotionally and I would be afraid of stifling that growth spurt too soon, if I were any kind of creative artist. Screenwriting is an especially tiny niche market that almost always requires being in Los Angeles at some point in your career. A reputable film school or university with a good program is one glide path in the right direction, but, beware of going into excessive debt for purely technical training. A good, broad based, liberal arts education will pay dividends long after you’ve quit your first entry-level job as a grip or a best boy. </p>
<p>In terms of the OP’s original question, the process of picking a college is not that different for a would be screenwriter than anyone else. First, decide how much you can afford. Then, aim for the most rigorous academic match you can. NYU, USC, and Emory all have sterling reputations, but you have to run the numbers on their net price calculators. Also, pay a visit to the CC Visual Arts major forum; there are so many other schools out there than just those three:<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/</a></p>
<p>Sorry, @studentsmom , that you still haven’t had your specific questions answered. We all have our agendas, and sometimes these take priorty instead of answering your specific questions. I’ll readdress it here: it appeared to me in your various posts that you were wondering if Emory was a viable option for specific comedy writing for tv compared to NYU and USC. </p>
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<p>They go to college generally, because college for most is expected, but specifically to ‘hone their crafts,’ ehhh, iffy. I imagine this would depend on if they knew what they wanted to do post-college, but I’ve heard of people major in something like political science later pitch and sell, and to become a writer and creator of a tv series. Another, I heard of, studied Classics. </p>
<p>And they may well attend college, but their finishing, who knows. Pitching a script by an aspirant isn’t dependent on him/her having finished college as the pitchee isn’t going to look at his/her resume’ to make sure that he/she graduated, nor additionally to have the college send confirmation of graduation. Spielberg and Cameron, though older, did attend college. Cameron, as we can see, though, was a top-grade autodidact. And a lot of people hang around college long enough to get their break. This is obviously especially true of someone who would have scripts and writing samples ready-made, and certainly true for actors. </p>
<p>Let’s look at a couple others, both around 50. David Fincher, Ashland High School. Michael Bay, Wesleyan and Art Center College of Design; I don’t know what he studied at Wesleyan. Both are older, but the director’s chair and writing credits for movies aren’t generally going to be given to someone under the age of 30-35 – it takes a long time, generally to make behind the camera; (s)he’d have to be extremely precocious in the building of character pathos and the specifics of the technical side of filming, which usually takes years of experience to be given such a duty, included with which is staying on budget. </p>
<p>My main recommendation is, as I had to restate this, if someone is really academically minded, he/she should study history or English, because one (if not both) will help foster one’s imagination in his/her studying historical or fictional events and historical persons or fictional characters. Actually hardly anything is original, so ‘fostering imagination’ isn’t necessarily true, as studying such would more be lifting ideas from someone or something else of the ‘past.’ I’ve heard of psychologists who do psych thrillers, especially of the insane-asylum variety; and we know that Michael Crichton was a Harvard and Harvard SOM grad, (and was a professor in various things apparently). (Here’s your essence of college-ness, though it doesn’t appear he studied film or screenwriting, but I don’t doubt book writers are generally more educated.) So specific perusals can lend ideas to stories.</p>
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<p>But at the same time, someone at 17 can start his/her own business, read the WSJ to evaluate stock, and generally latch onto business principals to gain a head start. And given a chance to stay in college or do what Zuckerberg did, what would you do? This includes something a great deal smaller than what he did, but he also didn’t know how big Facebook would become, though he probably had an inking it would be big.</p>
<p>Wrt your reference to the fine arts and ‘stifling that growth spurt too soon,’ I think an observer, teacher, parent, whomever, can tell if someone will manifest writing chops by the age of 17. Writing as Cameron or Spielberg know it, would be undoubtedly different, but “writing” advanced dialog as they do doesn’t require the flow and the integration of character and story that book writing does, though I’m sure they have to rework some of these things to stay consistent, and both doubtlessly have people to keep the story on track. But either way it wouldn’t be a bad idea to learn the formats for both as early as possible. </p>
<p>And if someone starts out as a best boy, this person would do well.</p>
<p>@drax12
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<p>I guess, i’m not following your line of reasoning. Why on earth would you want to discourage a seventeen year-old with “writing chops” from pursuing college? </p>
<p>I don’t think a young person is necessarily stifling their creative growth spurt unless they attend college specifically for screenwriting or creative writing. It’s not a particularly good sign when someone can only thrive creatively in a certain environment. Professional writers learn how to power through and write every day, even when they’re bored out of their minds, and not just when inspiration strikes. </p>
<p>I think young writers would be better off getting a degree in something more employable, but still related to storytelling - even though English and History majors aren’t the most in demand degrees, they still offer students 10x the number of jobs and opportunities you’d get with a degree as limited as screenwriting. </p>
<p>This may be a poor example, but here goes: today, the industry for video game design is also oversaturated with young people. For a young person who wishes to be a game designer however, they would be much better off getting a double major or major-minor in computer science and animation, as opposed to a degree in game design. Why? Although both degrees generally cover similar skillsets, a game design degree is worthless in fields other than game design, while a computer science degree can be taken out and shopped around to hundreds of companies. Both educational backgrounds are equally desirable to video game companies, but only one of those educational backgrounds is valuable to other fields. </p>
<p>The same goes for writing. Get a degree in History or English - even psychology, which can always be bumped up to psychiatry if it’s an emergency - and skip the major as specific as screenwriting. </p>
<p>Yes, the degree in screenwriting would be more ‘fun’ to obtain, and you’ll probably make a few writer buddies, but everyone is ignoring the simple fact that ** a screenwriting degree is useless in all other fields unrelated to filmmaking **. I’m sorry if it’s bursting anyone’s bubble, but it’s the hard truth. Getting a degree in an incredibly risky, talent dependent field that cannot be reimbursed in another career, AND would also put you in significant debt is a ** foolish ** decision. </p>
<p>@studentsmom - I’m sorry that your son is now doubting his decision. But at least he’s opening his eyes to other options. Is it better to face a sweet lie or an inconvenient truth? Even though facing the facts might make him feel awful now, he’ll be wiser and more prepared when all is said and done. It’s easy to accept the straightforward, simple explanation that college = success. Digging deeper is the real challenge. Your son was obviously entranced by the propaganda peddled out by schools like NYU and USC, but he should consider ALL of his options before locking anything down. </p>
<p>My son is also interested in one day becoming a screenwriter. We had this discussion over a year ago. He didn’t want to major in screenwriting bc he thought it wouldn’t be as intellectually challenging. He wants to read great lit, study history, classics, psych, anthro, art history, all sorts of humanities. And then, possibly go to grad school for a MFA in screenwriting. He was accepted to USC and ucla as a double English and history major but turned them both down bc he hopes to go later. Didn’t want to be at the same institution/ in same city for his entire education. And if the screenwriting (& novel writing) doesn’t work out, he thinks he’d like to be on the creative side of advertising/ marketing. But for now, he’s really looking forward to all that he can academically explore in college. One step at a time.</p>
<p>Btw, at my son’s graduation last week, Dan futterman’s (wrote screenplay for capote) dad spoke. I later googled futterman and saw that he was an English/ comp lit major at Columbia who at the time wasn’t considering screenwriting as a career. </p>
<p>@abcde11
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<p>That’s a straw argument. What i said was, they may be in danger of stifling their creative growth by having to enter the workplace too soon. See below.</p>
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<p>A seventeen year-old has the rest of his or her life to be “bored out of their mind”. The question is would they - if given the chance - rather be earning a college degree? I think, for most people, the answer is obvious.</p>
<p>^ when I said “bored out of their mind”, I meant uninspired. Many writers feel like they can, or should, only write when they’re in this inspired state. Time and time again though, proffesional, working writers say writing should be treated like a 9-5 job. You have to make yourself write, even when you don’t feel particularly alive with inspiration. This is the reality of being a writer, it has nothing to do with college degrees. This discipline is applicable for young writers and old writers, writers who have all the time in the world versus writers who only have the time to write for an hour at night. </p>
<p>You commented on both entering the workforce too early, and being “bored out of your mind”. If someone is passionate about something, working in their field of choice should stimulate them, not hurt them. And I disagree with this notion that people are going to lead boring, painful day jobs anyways, so they might as well live it up for four years while they can. If you play your cards right, there’s no reason you should have to be bored out of your mind during adulthood.</p>
<p>@abcde11
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<p>This is based on your vast experience as an adult?</p>
<p>Emerson, NYU and USC were the 3 in question, Emory had not been a consideration. Spoke to some cameramen on the shoot of “Newsroom” the other night and they felt a writer should consider where they want to live in the end as a serious factor in their decision making for colleges. They stated currently most filming was being produced in NY, Georgia and Louisiana . Not LA. All this due to tax reasons. As a screenwriter they felt you could work from anywhere, and connections made in the area where they filmed (from school) and geographically where you might want to end up living were serious considerations. They leaned toward NYU as the pick due to the amount of filming currently being done in the market. Just another opinion, but all are helpful , and I agree the liberal arts education piece is a consideration too. Going to a good liberal arts college like Columbia (parent alumni) or BU communications is being always discussed with my son, even though they don’t have any undergrad screen/playwriting per say. He is stilll leaning toward the three film schools though, and we will let him make that final decision.He will be at Emerson for a month this summer and will get better feel for Emerson. I think that school would have the least amount of connection possibilities if school location/filming location is a factor. Their satellite in LA may grow but it’s pretty limited now, but they do have some impressive alumni. At 18 and as committed to writing as he is,I feel he needs the college experience to mature as a person and to hone his skills as well as get a college education. He did just write a 27 page screen play for a contest he just heard about for comedy central in 3 days before he realized it was a pilot TV film they wanted. He was not discouraged because he now has a full screen play written and feels pretty good about his ability to produce under pressure. I’ll sidetrack here a bit and reference this:</p>
<p>“Yes, the degree in screenwriting would be more ‘fun’ to obtain, and you’ll probably make a few writer buddies, but everyone is ignoring the simple fact that a screenwriting degree is useless in all other fields unrelated to filmmaking . I’m sorry if it’s bursting anyone’s bubble, but it’s the hard truth. Getting a degree in an incredibly risky, talent dependent field that cannot be reimbursed in another career, AND would also put you in significant debt is a foolish decision.”(Adobe11) </p>
<p>My oldest son wanted to be an animator.What a foolish dream? What else can he do but animate with a degree in animation? He had been accepted to a nice choice of schools, Columbia, BU (scholarship), RISD, CalArts etc. My husband pushed the “get a good education and don’t go to a” trade school"" I said follow your dreams, risk it all, and go to the best animation school if that is what you want to be. He picked CalArts, “Disney’s school” and harder to get into than many Ivy league schools. He worked his tail off, well as much as any 18 year old now without parental guidance in college does when they discover all that the college experience (priceless) can offer (something that you won’t get if you head to LA and get a job working to support yourself and write at age 18 ). His second summer he got a terrific animation internship. This was found not from the school, but our friends who knew someone. If he had not been at CalArts I don’t think that opportunity would even have been available as most internships at good companies have pretty established rules for their admittance to the programs, one being that you are in college. And being at CalArts was pretty impressive to the company.They clearly stated that to him.He made some friends there, and got to know his boss well. When he went back to school he was offered freelance jobs on occasion, His 3rd summer he was offered a paid internship with this company and again his senior year he was offered some freelance work during the school year. He graduated two years ago. He had friends that were scooped up at different times during that 4 years of college and went to work for companies like cartoon network etc. I encouraged my son to quit college should he be offered an opportunity and an animation job he liked.My husband freaked at the thought of not having a college “degree” (he’s the go to Columbia state of mind guy, then go back to school MFA (lets talk about dept) or learn animation on your own mindset…think of how old he would be before he would ever be ready or have the drive that a 21 year old does when they graduate ready to go from animation school…) to be cont…</p>
<p>So my son graduates with his degree in animation which has him pigeonholed into this one field, HIS field and passion at the time. He with sheer luck finds a FULL time job at a studio in Burbank animating some TV network cartoons.The job is scary as animators are let go when the job is finished and there is not another they are working on. He gets this with no help from connections he has at school.(so you can’t COUNT on a name school to get you a job or make connections) Those “connections” did not get him any of his “dream jobs” jobs at Pixar, Disney etc. BUT he is working full time making a good salary, STILL working freelance from the connections he made at the original internship @ over $100 an hour for his work. He now would like to become a director. Will he go back to school to get a Masters in Directing. Hell no. He says he will need to work through the connections he makes through friends, old teachers etc. I asked him yesterday (in light of these conversations) if he felt he needed his CalArts degree to be where he is now. He said no, he could have done it without college. To myself I say HOW NAIVE he is. He would never be where he is now without his animation degree, not at age 23. He would NOT have gotten that internship if he did not impress them with his portfolio, the best of it being work he learned/made at CalArts. Not to say he didn’t have any art work, he drew all the time and took many classes at RISD and Brown before he ever got to college. But to learn “animation” from some best animators in the country was worth every cent of the $40kplus a year education he got.If he was learning “on his own” I don’t think he would have had the same quality of education he received from “experts” in his field and the one on one guidance from teacher’s. The endless sleepless days and night they worked to make their films each year… motivation like that is not self imposed for most at that age. Yes, he’s still paying off his dept, but he’s also doing the work he dreamed of doing to pay off that dept. I think if he had gone to Columbia he would probably be teaching rather than doing right now, and if he had never gone at all , well who knows, but I don’t think he would have made it as he has without his “trade school” education at age 23. to be cont…</p>
<p>(I’m glad my son see’s Emerson college as a “writer’s retreat” and appreciates the importance that artists in your field can give you by critique and support with person one on one). If he goes to NYU I believe he can double major (English or History) or I will encourage him to pursue the concentration in a second field like directing or producing to give him some more marketable skills to work"in his field" while he continues to write. If he goes to USC maybe he will end up reading scripts if he is lucky and get paid (yes his brother has connections now and if he had 4 months off this summer he would have had that high school internship). he’ll have to count on his brother to live with while he finds his way but hopefully he will get an education that will hone those skills and his dreams. If he is lucky enough to get into Emerson’s honors program he will work one on one with some of the best writing instructors out there and get 1/2 tuition paid. Bottom line, at age 18 I don’t think sending him to LA to work at a minimum wage job 8 hours a day, possibly not in his field with no experience, to come home and write into the night on his screenplays is the answer for my son. The fact that we can help with some of the dept (even if we can’t i’d still feel this way) and give him the opportunity of 4 years of college experience to learn , mature and grow as a writer and person working with writers/directors/film makers etc is worth the dept he incurs for the chance to possibly reach his dreams. He can face the harsh realities at age 21 when he is more mature and better educated and equipped to deal with the realities of the field and opportunities it offers. These posts have opened his eyes, and mine to realities that I believe we already knew, but it’s always good to be reminded, but I still say reach for the stars, take the risk and don’t compromise your dreams. There is no one correct answer.</p>
<p>@circuitrider - it comes from basic common sense. </p>
<p>@studentsmom - I’m glad we were of some assistance despite all the shape shifting that took place with thiis thread. I was horrified at the thought that we might actually dissuade your son from attending college at all! OTOH, I can’t help but thinking, however, you are something of a ringer: Cal Arts is a great school and a great family connection to have. 
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<p>something of a ringer? That we feel a college education is important and are weighing all options of the different institutions to get the best education for my son who knows the direction he is heading? Ok, well I guess I’m defined. </p>
<p>^I meant it in the best possible way. [smilie face goes here] The fact that you have already gone through this process with one very successful son, struck me as new information, that’s all. </p>