How to Become a Professional Screenwriter with Ted Braun and Melissa Rosenberg

WGA-nominated writer, director and USC professor Ted Braun, and TV and film writer and exec. producer Melissa Rosenberg, joined me to talk about reimagining screenwriting education with the MFA in Screenwriting at Bennington College.

Ted Braun is the Program’s Director and the WGA-nominated writer and director of Darfur Now, Betting on Zero, and Viva Maestro. He is a Professor of Screenwriting and Joseph Campbell Endowed Chair of Cinematic Ethics at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and was named one of Variety’s Top Ten Teachers in Film and TV in 2018.

Melissa Rosenberg is a writer and executive producer known for Twilight, Jessica Jones, and a 1986 graduate of Bennington College, where she is now a Trustee. She helped create and showrun Jessica Jones and adapted the Twilight film series, while also serving as head writer for Dexter.

Bennington College will admit just 12 gifted, driven writers—students who are serious about building a body of work and launching a professional screenwriting career—to their inaugural class of The MFA in Screenwriting.

Braun notes, “We’re looking for students with imagination and hunger—those who want to develop a foundation for a decades-long screenwriting career.”

The MFA in Screenwriting at Bennington College prepares writers for a life as creative and professional leaders in the evolving landscape of film and television. This low-residency, two-year program combines the academic depth of a liberal arts education with the rigorous preparation needed for a career in screenwriting.

Learn more at bennington.edu/screenwriting Applications are due by December 1st, 2025.

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In this file Ted Braun, Melissa Rosenberg and I discussed:

How life as a screenwriter starts with material that is unique and alive to you

A one-of-a-kind screenwriting MFA, a low-residency program that yields six major pieces of work for TV and film, and why it is “perfectly suited to our times”

Bennington’s legacy of influential writers

Why we need strong, original cinematic voices now more than ever

And a lot more!

Show Notes:

bennington.edu/screenwriting

Ted Braun on IMDb

Melissa Rosenberg on IMDb

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