Screenwriting
Established: 2021
Educational Degree: Master of Arts
Duration: 1 year (2 semesters)
Form of Education: Full-time
Program Director:
Prof. Dr. Stanislav Semerdjiev
Key Academic Team:
Prof. Dr. Stanislav Semerdjiev (Individual Screenwriting Project), Martin Thau (Drhebuchwerkstatt – HFF, Munich, Germany – Genre Canons in Plot Building), Prof. Francisco Menendez (University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA – Production Models in Virtual and Augmented Reality), Assoc. Prof. Alessandro Nani (BFM, Tallinn, Estonia – Transmedia Communications), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Maria-Ritta Koivumäki (Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland – Poetic Screenwriting), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Radostina Neikova (Writing for Hybrid Screen Forms, Prof. Dr. Petya Alexandrova (Screenplays’ Titles and Finalés)
1. ABOUT THE PROGRAMME
The programme is oriented towards students who wish to deepen their knowledge in the field of writing for the film, TV and internet industries and to elaborate their abilities to build projects for seeking funding from Bulgarian and international financing institutions. It is a mandatory prerequisite that students have knowledge of English at least at level B2, as 50% of classes are conducted by lecturers from Denmark, Estonia, Israel, USA and others.
Besides NATFA graduates, the programme is also open to students who have graduated other higher educational institutions in Bulgaria and abroad. In this case, they have to follow up an enriched curriculum, consisting of additional electives and activities that provide specialized knowledge in the field.
The obligatory modules focus on canons in the genre writing, transmedia communication, virtual/augmented reality production models, non-formal educational approaches; poetic dramaturgy, etc.
2. EDUCATION
Education is only full time, lasting one year (2 semesters). During the first semester students develop their own stories stage by stage (idea, synopsis, treatment). In the second semester, students finalize their projects and prepare a package for applying to national and international financing institutions: screenplay, characteristic of the main characters, synopsis, annotation, characters` bios, photos and videos of locations and casting.
3. QUALIFICATION
Graduates acquire the educational qualification degree “Master of Arts”, with professional qualification “Master of Screenwriting”. The graduated students may work as independent writers on any type of project in the screen industry and the interactive media but they may also find jobs in all state and private film, TV or new media institutions, fully or partially having the purpose of creation of screen products.
4. ADMISSION
When submitting their application, candidates must also submit a portfolio. It may contain scripts, essays, poems, short stories, plays, novels, paintings, drawings, photographs, films, original music, performances of songs and musical instruments, recordings of musical performances and other artistic materials of the candidate’s choice. Textual materials must be in a pdf format and not exceeding 5 pages. Images must be in jpg format. Audiovisual materials must be in mp-4 format and not exceeding a total duration of 10 minutes. Sound materials must be in mp-3 format and not exceeding a total duration of 10 minutes. The purpose of the portfolio is to show the applicant’s interests, artistic preferences, potential skills and mindset in as many details as possible. All materials must be uploaded in the Google Drive cloud space with a limit up to 3 GB.
The portfolio obligatory includes a detailed creative CV of the candidate.
Oral Exam
The Selection Committee interviews the applicants about the materials, included in their portfolio. The aim of the interview is to understand the applicants’ potential capabilities, interests, overall cultural knowledge and mindset, ability for independent thinking and artistic reflections. Candidates who receive a score lower than average (3.00) cannot participate in the final ranking.
