The first semester was phenomenal. Despite some Covid restrictions on mixers and the like, our class sizes allowed for in-person (masked, with free tests whenever we wanted/needed them) instruction. Two of our classes in the first semester (Elements of TV Writing and Writing the TV Series Spec (where you could choose drama or comedy) were workshop heavy. In the former, we got to dabble in writing sequences for every TV genre and in the latter, we wrote a full spec episode for the series selected by the professor. My class did The Equalizer, Queen Latifah's current series, and it was a blast. The third class was TV History, and it was surprisingly creative along with the academia one would expect from a history class.
Pros
- LMU has three MFA tracks: Writing & Producing for TV (WPTV), Writing for the Screen, and Film & TV Production. Because our program is three years, we get both a deep dive into our track, plus experience in the other tracks. Next semester, I'll have both Production Fundamentals specific to WPTV and Writing the Feature.
- LMU's educators, like many programs, have experience in the business and many are still active. That's a really cool touchpoint.
- LMU wants a robust program that serves the grad students' needs. As such, our end of semester performance review wasn't just about our performance but was an opportunity to provide feedback in what would serve us best in breaking into the industry after graduation.
- We get as much talk about business as we do about craft. That's key and awesome.
- LMU curates cohorts that bring a vast variety of experience to the table. Not everyone studied film in undergrad, and that makes for an incredible workshop experience.
- The School of Film & Television (SFTV) has its own campus in Playa Vista. The editing bays, ADR room, sound stages, makeup/hair studios, theater, and classrooms are top notch.
- LMU fosters an atmosphere where all three programs are encouraged to consider ourselves as one cohort. Plenty of opportunities to work together and dig into the collaborative nature of the film and television process.
- Instructor feedback is designed to help us become the best writers we can be, and that's not just in the words on the page. It's about how we interact in the room, how we accept notes and integrate them, how we work with our collaborators.
- Our Career Development center is handling Covid restrictions incredibly well and the availability doesn't seem impacted too much.
I feel like the only real cons at the moment are Covid specific. I haven't had an opportunity to be on set yet; I'll be doing that next semester. The program prefers that we not do internships or work in the first year (though, I do know there are some who do). I kept a remote development internship from my undergrad program because the studio begged, and they've been really flexible about their expectations. I'm upfront with them about what I can do each week. Grad school is A LOT of work, but it's very rewarding!
