Academics: Earning a Minor in TV Writing
Learn from faculty who have served as showrunners and writers on your favorite shows and from graduate teaching assistants in Stony Brook University’s prestigious Master of Fine Arts in Television Writing.
Our minor offers a cohesive approach to fulfilling Stony Brook's general education requirements, including SPK, ARTS, HUM, HFA+, and EXP. Even a single course in the art of television writing presents a rich complex of learning opportunities, not only for those in the arts and humanities, but those in any field: hands-on immersion in the narrative, analytical and technical skills required for cinematic expression will enable students to create visual stories about the issues at the core of their own studies, whatever they may be.
Introduction (3 courses)
Your entryway to the 21-credit minor consists of three required courses: FLM 101, Introduction to Filmmaking and Television, FLM 102, Introduction to Film and Television Composition, and FLM 215, Scriptwriting for Film and TV. These three courses, open to everyone, invite you to participate hands-on in the experience of visual literacy and introduce you the nuts and bolts of visual storytelling.
Advanced Seminars (2 courses)
The heart of the television writing experience is two advanced seminars, chosen from TVW 220, TVW 221, FLM 302 or FLM 303. In TVW 220, Advanced Television Writing, students can delve deep into writing, choosing from topics such as Comedy Writing, Writing the Web Series, or Writing the Drama Script. In TVW 221, The Writers Room, students engage in a collaborate writing workshop designed to mimic a professional writers room. Students work together to develop and write a TV show or web series.
Students can choose to enroll in FLM 302, Producing Practices for Film and TV, with topics such as Directing Actors for Film and Television and Understanding the Business of TV, or FLM 303, Podcasting, which explores audio podcasting as the essence of storytelling: listening to and communicating via the spoken word, person-to-person, and visualized exclusively through the imagery conjured via methods and choices specific to the oral tradition.
Theory (1 course)
Minors also take one upper-level advanced theory course, FLM 310 Topics in Film and TV or FLM 320, Story Analysis for Film and TV writers, or an equivalent course from another department. Our FLM and TVW courses are taught by working writers who approach visual storytelling from the ground up, as fellow practitioners.
Capstone
At the conclusion of their studies, students will have the opportunity to choose a final course that best serves their interest. Students can enroll in the Capstone Project, offering an intensive pilot revision workshop, or complete an Internship, or can or enroll in an additional advanced TV Writing workshop.
Declaring
Students should declare the Minor in TV Writing sometime during their sophomore year, at which time they should consult with advisors of both their major and minor to plan their course of study. The objective is to fulfill the TV writing minor's requirements in a way that is coherent and complementary to the major. The minor can be declared online from within SOLAR. Please refer to the Academic Calendar regarding the deadline for submission of the Minor Declaration form.
Current Course Listings:
Click below to find courses for fall 2026.
Course Topics List for Fall 2026
Past Course Listings:
Get in Touch
Karen Offitzer, Director
Filmmaking & TV Writing
Melville Library N3022
karen.offitzer@stonybrook.edu
Chryso Tsoumpelis, Undergraduate Program Coordinator
Creative Writing, Filmmaking, & Television
Melville Library N3019
chrysovalantou.tsoumpelis@stonybrook.edu