Our MFA Programs in Film and TV Writing Are One of a Kind

Located at the Stony Brook Manhattan Center for Creative Writing and Film, our MFA programs in Film and Television Writing draw an inspired community of filmmakers and television writers.

Program Information

When you become a part of our MFA Programs in Film and Television Writing, you join a community of world-class filmmakers: directors, television writers, screenwriters, and producers who gather together in a cutting edge/urban arts incubator. Led by legendary producer and Artistic Director Christine Vachon of Killer Films and our stellar faculty, our mission is to train students in all forms of visual storytelling.

Stony Brook’s MFA in Television Writing, helmed by Alan Kingsberg, is one of the most extensive in the world. Designed to prepare students to thrive in professional writers room as well as to become content creators, its early and immediate successes speak volumes about its effectiveness.

A core course — Acting for Writers and Directors — links the two MFAs and brings all the students together.

No other programs allow you the opportunity to study digital filmmaking and television writing at the core of the indie world — New York City — at Stony Brook University state school prices!

Request Information

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Applications are open MFA in TV Writing & MFA in Film! International deadline May 1, 2025. Domestic deadline July 15, 2025.

Television WRITING WITH ALAN KINGSBERG

Our MFA in Television Writing is among the most comprehensive in the world. Students will graduate with a portfolio of three original pilot scripts; they will also write, direct and produce a micro pilot for an original web series. Additionally, students will learn how to work in collaborative writers rooms with working showrunners to break stories and build season arcs on both open-ended and limited series. Upon graduation, MFA students will be ready to break in and thrive in professional writers rooms as well as succeed as content creators.

WELCOME FROM executive DIRECTOR MAGDALENE BRANDEIS

When you become a part of our MFA Programs in Film and Television Writing, you join a community of world-class filmmakers: directors, television writers, screenwriters, and producers who gather together in a cutting edge/urban arts incubator.

Led by legendary producer, Artistic Director Christine Vachon of Killer Films and our stellar faculty, our mission is to train students in all forms of visual storytelling.

NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

IN THE LOOP is the monthly newsletter for the Film and TV Writing program. Read the latest edition!

THE WRAP put ranked Stony Brook 22nd among the top 50 film schools in the United States - up six spots from last year.

Filmschool.org lists Stony Brook as one of the top 6 screenwriting programs on the east coast.

Alumna Peggy Tserwen Tseng shared her personal journey into filmmaking, shooting her first feature in 2023. To read her profile, check out Bold Journey.

Faculty Simone Pero sends two major projects to premieres this fall. Showing at the Hamptons Film Festival, LILLY tells the story about fair-pay icon Lilly Ledbetter. It stars Patricia Clarkson as the titular character, along with Thomas Sadoski and John Benjamin Hickey. Additionally, at this year's 25th anniversary Woodstock Film Festival, documentary VIVA VERDI! premieres, directed by Yvonne Russo. Stony Brook's Simone Pero served as the film's Executive Producer. For more information on LILLY, read about the premiere on the Hamptons Film Fest Guide. For more on VIVA VERDI!, check out the Woodstock Film Festivals page.

Faculty Member Jennie Allen Completes Filming on "111." Jennie Allen co-wrote '111', a film which traces the stories of characters affected by the Swissair flight 111 crash, which happened off the coast of Nova Scotia, near the entrance of Margaret’s Bay, on September 2, 1998. Principal photography started on September 18 in Halifax moved to Nova Scotia, Zurich, and nearby regions until the end of October. To learn more about the project, read more on Variety.

MFA Thesis Students Makes Program History by Filming in Puerto Rico. Director Yarilis Ramos and Producer Nnamdi Nwosa filmed their project, "Mulata," on the island of Puerto Rico. This project also breaks ground as the first full-Spanish period piece for our program, which explores the story of Puerto Rico’s early mixed-race children. Yarilis Ramos is a scholarship recipient and native Puerto Rican who entered the program as the youngest in her class and has discovered a passion for telling hidden stories. Nnamdi Nwosa, a New Yorker of Nigerian descent, is a stuntman and family man preparing for the next steps in his career.

To learn more about this film visit their social media @mulata.film.pr.

CHRISTINE VACHON was one of several indie producers and executives that discussed the challenges and opportunities in today's cinematic landscape for The Wrap: