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Portfolio, Tools, and Network

Julia Louis Dreyfus and Program Founder Dave Tolchinsky during a seminar with the MFA writers.

You will leave this program with a powerful set of tools, which will include:

A portfolio of work, consisting of:

  • At least one play
  • At least one teleplay
  • At least one screenplay
  • A full-length project of your choosing (play, teleplay, screenplay, emerging form)
  • A produced film or video of one of your pieces (optional)

Business acumen for navigating the professional world of writing, covering skills such as:

  • Pitching
  • Taking meetings
  • Understanding contracts
  • Writing agent/production query letters

A network of new colleagues, including:

  • Fellow writers in the program with whom you have navigated through the six core courses.
  • Program faculty, visiting artists, and alumnae with whom you have had deep contact, including the leading voices and rising stars in writing, as well as media executives, agents, and producers.
  • Directing, Acting, and Stage Design students from the Theatre Department’s other MFA programs, as well as Radio/Television/Film undergraduates.
  • Northwestern alumni who are known for their generosity, warmth, and willingness to “give back” to their community.
You will have acquired a broad and deep understanding of media writing, familiarity with production concepts, equipment, and techniques, and, most importantly, an understanding of the universals that connect all media, whether traditional or emerging. You will not only be able to plug into existing writing forms and opportunities, but you will be uniquely prepared to help form the media of the future.