Hi all, I'm also interested in the Professional Program for next year (2015). I can't seem to figure out when applications open though - maybe I'm just missing this somehow, but I don't see an application timeline on the website. Jeremy's sea, could you give us a sense of when we should actually be applying? Thanks!
I'm sorry, I have no idea. I don't have anything at all to do with the administrative side of things. The MFA applications just closed, so I would imagine the PP apps must be going up. If it still doesn't show on their website I would recommend emailing or calling them. The people that run the program are definitely helpful!
Hi Jeremy, Do you think attending the PP ultimately helped your (re)application to the MFA program?
Would hazard a guess your writing improved--which probably has the most bearing on anything application wise--but curious if you think exposure to professors helped, or if you found a mentor, etc. Guessing that not many students jump from the PP to the MFA program right?
Absolutely it helped me. I'm going to stress the "me" part of that though. How? It did make me grow as a writer and I honed my skills both in storytelling and the technical aspects of screenwriting. So I had much much stronger material to submit. I also won a fairly prestigious competition with one of those scripts, and making accomplishments in the real world has to be attractive to any film school because it kind of "proves" you to an extent. I imagine there are a multitude of reasons people wouldn't pursue an MFA (money, time, interest, etc), but they do list the PP people accepted into the MFA from year to year and it is roughly half at any given time who have been through the PP. I'm not sure how many in the PP apply and don't get accepted, we don't see that stat.
You can think of the PP as a year long interview as well, since a lot of the instructors teach in the MFA and some even conduct interviews for the MFA program admittance. They get to see who fits not only the writing requirements, but who fits the culture. Who shows up, who works hard, who supports their fellow students, who can do the work and take criticism and direction in a positive manner, and who will just generally be a "good" person to have around for a few years and represent the school in the industry afterwards.
An MFA like this is not cheap and it's a huge time commitment. It takes a lot of energy and it isn't for everyone. The worst part is, it doesn't matter if you have one or not when getting a job, because it's about the work. It does help open doors though, and gives you some legitimacy, and of course the work and the instruction and the support are incredible. Plus you meet a lot of super smart, funny, caring, and creative future fimmakers in class.
