Screenwriting

Screenwriting is the craft of writing for the screen, producing the scripts from which films, television dramas, and other screen productions are made. It is a discipline with its own distinctive forms and conventions, where the writer must think in images, action, and dialogue rather than in prose narrative, and where the page must communicate not just story but the visual and dramatic logic that will guide everyone from the director and the actors to the cinematographer and editor. A degree in screenwriting develops both your craft skills and your understanding of the industries in which those skills are deployed.

At the University of Chichester, this three-year full-time BA (Hons) in Screenwriting helps you find your own voice, hone your creativity, and gain the disciplines required for a career in the industry. You will study the craft of writing for film and television, exploring how stories are structured for the screen, how dialogue serves dramatic purpose, how genres work and how they can be subverted, and how a script functions as a production document as well as a creative work. The programme develops your ability to generate, develop, and deliver original screen ideas across different formats and to give and receive constructive script feedback, which is central to professional screenwriting practice.

You will also engage with the industry context, including how the development and commissioning process works and how writers build careers in a competitive and often unpredictable creative sector.

Graduates go on to careers as screenwriters, script editors, story consultants, development executives, and writers in related forms including theatre, radio, and digital media. Many build careers through a combination of commissioned work and self-initiated projects, and the ability to write compellingly for the screen is also valued in adjacent roles in production, development, and the creative industries more broadly. Postgraduate study in screenwriting or film is a route for those who wish to develop their craft further, and some graduates go on to significant careers in film and television writing.