Program Overview
Screenwriters create stories that shape culture, inform audiences, stir hearts and impact lives, and your unique voice can take vision to reality on the big screen and beyond. Storytelling continues to be a critical means by which society asks questions and seeks answers.
With Asbury’s Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Screenwriting, which is a terminal degree, you’ll learn every part of the industry under professionals who have been there and who care about your educational, professional and spiritual journey in the classroom and beyond.
Complete this robust, 42-hour online program full-time or at your own pace in eight-week blocks, fully online, while you continue to prioritize your life outside of school.
The MFA in Screenwriting is a 42-credit hour program. In a flexible online format, students can pursue their coursework at different rates. If you’re a full-time student, it’s possible to complete the program in two years. Other students, especially those with families and professional obligations, choose to spread the program out over three years. And up to three hours of credit for professional experience may be considered in place of a specific course.
This degree has prerequisites of courses or prior experience in Single Camera Production.
Degree requirements to graduate with an MFA in Screenwriting include:
Review complete degree requirements for Asbury’s MFA in Screenwriting
It’s hard to measure and impossible to overestimate the impact on culture that a screenwriter can make, and the ripple effects can last for generations.
Our alumni speak highly of the program, from faculty availability to the overall quality of instruction and course variety, saying that if they were to start their MFA over, they would unanimously choose their Asbury experience.
Asbury’s Screenwriting is paired with one of the nation’s top media communication programs. Our program graduates have been involved in 450 nationally distributed films, and over 700 different television series. Screenwriting master’s students can take any of these highly sought after media courses or cross over into dynamic business courses as electives to complement their master’s coursework.
Ultimately, our art and craft is driven by inspiration and creativity. We seek to glorify Christ, the Master Creator by helping you merge your creative spirit with your work.
We’d love to hear from you.
Email Sean.Gaffney@asbury.edu for more information.
Our +GRAD Program allows you to finish an undergraduate degree, then earn a master’s degree with significant time and cost savings.
Even in a fully online format, the critique and discussion aspects of coursework remain fully intact. In the Screenwriting MFA at Asbury University, creativity is prized and opportunities are afforded through technology that allows active participation even from states away. You will have the opportunity to learn from amazing faculty, connect with industry professionals, and benefit from Asbury’s amazing alumni network, whose involvement in projects spans from documentary and feature filmmaking to script editing.
Our professional faculty care about your educational, professional, and spiritual journey in the classroom and beyond. Asbury’s MFA in Screenwriting has an unparalleled lineup of Christ-focused professionals with hundreds of years of combined industry experience all around the world — from the biggest big screens to the smallest stages. Whether it’s Warner Bros. Features, the Olympics, Act One Screenwriter’s Program, NBC, Disney, CNN, Sports Illustrated, Lionsgate, and many others —you are in good hands with our faculty.
"Asbury's media department offers hands-on experience, which has taught me how to learn and adapt quickly. The professors have served as mentors to me, and I have enjoyed the small class sizes, which allow for personalized instruction. I have gotten so many opportunities here, and I am excited to continue working full-time in freelance media creation."
“My time and training at Asbury really prepared me to be a more effective film storyteller and scholar. The faculty and staff are amazing, intelligent, experienced, kind, and encouraging. The MFA program was rigorous academically, but also enjoyable. Several of us graduates have worked together on indie films after meeting at Asbury.”
Chris is a professor in the cinema-TV Department at Regent University, as well as a professional screenwriter and independent filmmaker, with two decades of experience in the entertainment industry. A graduate of the prestigious Warner Brothers Television Writers Workshop, he has written for Fox, Cartoon Network, NBC, Hallmark Channel, and others.reenwriting professor in fall 2024.
Easterly recently announced a new book titled: Writing, Making, and Distributing Your Short Film: How the Short Film Can Advance Your Craft and Career. Available for pre-order on December 30, 2024, this book is a concise, practical guide to writing and making a successful short film.
“One of Asbury’s MFA in Screenwriting program’s strongest points is that the classes force you to not only learn the concept of screenwriting, but to put it into practice.
During my time as a student in the MFA in Screenwriting program at Asbury I had the opportunity to work on films for Pureflix and Lifetime because of the connections and experience I gained in this program. And I was fortunate enough to be able to write scripts of my own.
When I graduated, my writing portfolio already consisted of a one-hour drama original pilot script, a feature original script, a half-hour dramedy episode spec script and the first four episodes of my very own children’s television show ‘The Adventure of Music’ which I used as my thesis project. Asbury’s courses for students looking to pursue a career in film and television is unmatched. The mentorship students receive in this program is life changing. The MFA in Screenwriting gave me my voice and I will forever be grateful to the program.”
An MFA in Screenwriting unlocks exciting opportunities in film and television production. You might find yourself:
Your impact is imminent as you pursue any other role in the narrative film and television industry .
gradadmissions@asbury.edu
(859) 858-5214