This is a letter of presentation by an Italian student at University of Turin, Piedmont, northern Italy. Please, be aware that you could find grammar mistakes!
My name is Stefano and two years ago I fell in love with screenwriting. Since then, I have been reading scripts and books about screenwriting, and I have written a couple of scripts too, both in Italian and English.
The reasons that led me to read and write in English are basically two. Firstly, a deep fascination with the English language and its literature. But the second and most significant reason is that writing in English, so as to become an English screenwriter, could mean more job opportunities. But first, let's take one step back.
As you probably don't know, the Italian movie industry has nothing to do with the American one (nor the British one). Putting aside political corruption and several exceptions, among the major problems of the Italian movie industry, there's the fact that it is an inaccessible world with few investments and even fewer job opportunities. To sum up: same producers, same actors, same stories. As a result, same screenwriters and no space for new professionals. In Italy, building a career as a screenwriter is not a piece of cake (never said nor thought that abroad it's easier).
Facing the problems of our movie industry, I decided to begin my journey as an English writer by developing writing skills and improving my grammar competence.
Last year, I wondered if attending an MA in screenwriting (in the USA or in the United Kingdom) could help me to improve some technical aspects of screenwriting. By the way, I'm perfectly aware of the false myth surrounding the gurus of "how to write for the screen", and I believe that the ability to craft a story doesn't come just from a well-built structure, but from mastering the language.
Any non-native applicants must possess a language certificate to take a degree, so last month I took the IELTS exam (International English Language Testing System) and I passed it with an overall band score of 8.0 (9.0 is the highest band score). Now I have to create a portfolio (another requirement that applicants must possess).
I wish I can say "so far so good", but I can't. Surfing the Internet I have found lots of courses in screenwriting (both professional and universitarian courses) and I don't know what to do. Some of them seem awesome, others terrible. I don't know which master to choose. In this sense, I wish to know if somebody in this forum has ever attended an MA in screenwriting and/or which are the opinions about it if there are any.
To be frank, I'd love to know your opinions about my future plans. Is a good idea to go abroad? Which are the ideal places to study/work as a screenwriter?
Any comment, suggestion, and even grammar correction to this text will be appreciated.
Thank you to everybody!
My name is Stefano and two years ago I fell in love with screenwriting. Since then, I have been reading scripts and books about screenwriting, and I have written a couple of scripts too, both in Italian and English.
The reasons that led me to read and write in English are basically two. Firstly, a deep fascination with the English language and its literature. But the second and most significant reason is that writing in English, so as to become an English screenwriter, could mean more job opportunities. But first, let's take one step back.
As you probably don't know, the Italian movie industry has nothing to do with the American one (nor the British one). Putting aside political corruption and several exceptions, among the major problems of the Italian movie industry, there's the fact that it is an inaccessible world with few investments and even fewer job opportunities. To sum up: same producers, same actors, same stories. As a result, same screenwriters and no space for new professionals. In Italy, building a career as a screenwriter is not a piece of cake (never said nor thought that abroad it's easier).
Facing the problems of our movie industry, I decided to begin my journey as an English writer by developing writing skills and improving my grammar competence.
Last year, I wondered if attending an MA in screenwriting (in the USA or in the United Kingdom) could help me to improve some technical aspects of screenwriting. By the way, I'm perfectly aware of the false myth surrounding the gurus of "how to write for the screen", and I believe that the ability to craft a story doesn't come just from a well-built structure, but from mastering the language.
Any non-native applicants must possess a language certificate to take a degree, so last month I took the IELTS exam (International English Language Testing System) and I passed it with an overall band score of 8.0 (9.0 is the highest band score). Now I have to create a portfolio (another requirement that applicants must possess).
I wish I can say "so far so good", but I can't. Surfing the Internet I have found lots of courses in screenwriting (both professional and universitarian courses) and I don't know what to do. Some of them seem awesome, others terrible. I don't know which master to choose. In this sense, I wish to know if somebody in this forum has ever attended an MA in screenwriting and/or which are the opinions about it if there are any.
To be frank, I'd love to know your opinions about my future plans. Is a good idea to go abroad? Which are the ideal places to study/work as a screenwriter?
Any comment, suggestion, and even grammar correction to this text will be appreciated.
Thank you to everybody!
