# UCLA professional certificate in Screenwriting



## ridzk (Feb 15, 2013)

Hi

I wish to apply for the UCLA professional certificate in Screenwriting (on campus one). Is anybody else aware of this program? Can you share your thoughts? Also their requirement is to send a 5 page writing sample and I am told it better be in screenplay format. But does it have to be just a part of screenplay for a feature or a script for a short flm? Any idea anyone?


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## thehamm99 (Feb 16, 2013)

I am a "graduate" of the program last year.

I went in to it having a B.A. in a screenwriting emphasis already.

I've applied at 4 schools for MFA this year. I've been accepted at Chapman and supposed to interview at UCLA...still waiting on the other 2.

I give you a little of my history so my critique is in context.

I did the online version of the course.

For me it was every monday from 6-9pm pacific time. It was conducted on Skype, audio only, no webcams.

There were originally 8 students in class (myself and 7 others), but one guy dropped out after the first week.

The first few weeks we did some exercises, then we jumped in to script and story development. Each week we read each other's pages outside of class and brought our thoughts and observations to class. What works, what doesn't, etc.

The first unit of class was 20 weeks. The second unit was 10 weeks (but actually I think they call it 3 10 week units, but it's really just one long one and one short one). Two different teachers. But the same class for each unit. Each week there is a lecture uploaded - around an hour long- that you can watch in conjunction with your writing. Theoretically at the end you have 2 completed screenplays. 

Pros: 
-Knowledgeable and enthusiastic teachers -- at least the two I had.
-Time for your work to be critiqued. Every week we each got 20-30 minutes devoted to our work. 1000% more than in any workshop I'd had before.
-Price. $4500 is not cheap, but is compared to some other programs you could try.

cons:
-Would've liked to have had a new group of students for 2nd session of class
-2nd session is too short. I'd like to see something like 17/13...but if we're going to be screenwriters we need to learn to write faster anyways.
-The level of the other students wasn't as experienced as I had expected, but everyone can bring something to the table.

As far as classroom education goes, I had a good amount before and I still learned a ton.

As far as sample pages, I submitted the first 5 pages of a longer screenplay. I don't think they are extremely picky.

Good luck.


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## thehamm99 (Feb 16, 2013)

Oh, and I see that you are overseas.

We had a guy from Hungary in our class, so that's no issue...except our class start time was 3am for him. Lol.


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