UK
USA
This unique 18-month part-time Professional Diploma in Writing and Producing Comedy aims to enable students to develop all forms of scripted and unscripted comedy including sitcoms, sketch shows and panel shows for radio and TV.
The course is run in partnership with BBC Comedy.
Students will hear from regular industry speakers and get the opportunity to develop and write an original show and make a taster tape.
Since the course started in 2014 several students have gone on to write professionally in radio and television. One student, Laura Major, won a year long Bursary at BBC Radio. Six former students have been commissioned to write regularly for Dead Ringers, and others have been invited to attend the writers’ rooms at The Now Show and The News Quiz. Several projects written during the course have been optioned by TV companies, and at least one has been commissioned as a script. Two students have gone on to write and produce a sketch show for Comedy Central and several others have had material accepted by TV, including The Mash Report.
All NFTS students can attend Masterclasses. Recent guests include David Fincher (Fight Club), Greta Gerwig (Little Women), Steve McQueen (12 Years A Slave), Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz), Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag), Ben Wheatley (Free Fire), Rapman (Blue Story), Louis Theroux, Debra Granik (Winter’s Bone), Denis Villeneuve (Bladerunner 2049), Lynne Ramsay (You Were Never Really Here), Sam Mendes (1917), Asif Kapadia (Senna), Joanna Hogg (The Souvenir), Russell T Davies (Doctor Who) and Ricky Gervais (The Office).
Writing and Producing Comedy commences in January each year. The course is part-time (one evening a week and occasional Saturdays) over eighteen months and is delivered in central London. You will be expected to spend at least eight hours a week working on assignments for the course. You will leave the course with a portfolio of material, which could include a 10-minute taster tape of an idea you have developed, or a full script and some sketches and one-liners.
Students are taught about:
Students graduate able to:
Beaconsfield, 2 Years, Full-Time
Beaconsfield, 2 Years, Full-Time
Online, 10 Months, Part-Time
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Discover your own individual voice and become a better screenwriter.
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Train to keep film and TV productions running smoothly in this integral on-set role.
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Give yourself the skills and know-how to create a high-end television drama series.
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Work with high-end broadcast sound equipment to bring great TV shows to life.
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