On my first day of graduate school, I walked in expecting to learn craft: structure, character and the architecture of a scene. I did learn all of those things. But what I found waiting in that room was something I hadn't expected: a community. The writers and filmmakers beside me became first classmates, then collaborators and, later, friends whom I still call to talk over script ideas or simply what happened in my day. Years later, those relationships remain some of the most important in my life.
That is what I invite you to find at LMU: not just a screenwriting M.F.A. at one of the top five film schools in the country. Not just professional-grade craft. But also, a vibrant community where we support each other as whole people and not only as writers, because here we believe the two are inseparable.
There has never been a better moment to find your own voice. As the industry shifts beneath our feet, the old rules loosen their grip. That leaves room for new forms, new perspectives and new ways of telling the truth. I welcome you to join our community and to help write what comes next.
– Liz Fania Werner, Graduate Director of Writing for the Screen