How to Apply to Dodge College’s Showrunner MFA for 2025 Entry

The Showrunner MFA at Dodge College is a stepping stone towards becoming the top-ranking executive on a television or streaming series. The two-year program helps students enhance their writing and set management skills while learning more about both film production and post-production.

By the end of the program, students will learn how to actualize incredible stories for the screen, work with actors, develop a film budget, and more. They must complete 51 credits at the 500 or 600 level and complete the thesis project. Click here to learn more about the program objectives and course offerings.

Take a look at the program overview:

Year 1​

In courses led by showrunners and other industry professionals, students master the fundamentals of storytelling and production. Students take immersive writing seminars, such as TWP 627 -
Seminar in TV Writing: Comedy and TWP 628 - Seminar in TV Writing: Drama, along with courses on story fundamentals and mastering narrative form.

24 credits are taken across the fall, summer, and spring.

Year 2​

The final year focuses on the independent internship and the thesis. Supporting courses, such as TWP 696 - The Writers’ Room, help students learn how to collaborate with screenwriters and transform ideas into movies and television series from the ground up.

27 credits are taken across the fall and spring.

How to apply​

  1. Prepare your application materials: Follow the steps outlined in “Dodge College’s General Admissions Requirements for Graduates in 2024-2025.”
  2. Submit the Creative Portfolio: Upload a one (1) to two (2) page list of activities that demonstrate your potential in production, focusing on creative accomplishments. Include in this list specific items that you could submit, if requested, to Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. Each listing should include a brief description of the work and your role in its creation, like so:
Title: Roger's Car
Position: Writer/Director
16 minutes, Video 2020. Valley CollegeLog line: Unusual circumstances allow a sixteen-year-old to get his first car. I wrote this story for a creative writing class and produced the film with the help of my friends.
  1. Transformational Moment Essay: Submit a one (1) page essay describing a transformational moment in your life that fundamentally changed you as a person. Explain how you gained wisdom and greater understanding of the human condition as a result of this experience. Essays should be typed, single-spaced, 12 pt. Times New Roman font, one-inch margins on all sides.
  2. Narrative Scene: Complete one (1) of the following: In no more than three (3) pages write a compelling comedic or dramatic scene (any genre) based on one of the following scenarios below. This may be written in short story or screenplay format. Prioritize showing your storytelling strengths. Essays should be typed, single-spaced, 12 pt. Times New Roman font, one-inch margins on all sides:
    • Two people who are close experience a sudden calamity that changes their relationship...
    • A person arrives home to find an uninvited visitor...
  3. Screenplay: Submit either 10 scripted pages or approximately 1,000 words of prose that showcase you as a writer. This could be the first act or other section of a feature screenplay (with context), a screenplay for a short film, all or part of an episodic script, a web series, a one-act play or an excerpt from a full-length play, a short story or an excerpt from a novel. This must be written by you without the collaboration of others and should be submitted as a PDF or Word document. Please make sure that your submission includes your name, title, and year it was completed.

Ready to apply?​

Click here to fill out the application.