Screenwriting minors taught to combine words and images

In 2003, UNC became one of few public universities to offer a screenwriting program for undergraduates.

Nine years later, the Writing for the Screen and Stage minor program remains a rare but often overlooked opportunity for aspiring dramatic writers.

“We really want people who are, in their minds, serious about this career,” said Dana Coen, interim director of the program.

The application period for the ninth class of the program opens Wednesday to sophomores.

The program is designed for students devoted to dramatic writing, Coen said.

Once accepted, students are required to take five courses over their last four semesters — three development, one analysis and one screenwriting history — to hone their skills in television, film and play writing.

Coen said the history class teaches students the story behind screenwriters’ current undervalued positions in the industry and makes them aware of their value as storytellers in the industry.

“They need to come out knowing their worth,” he said. “Movies can’t be made without scripts.

The program also prepares students for the postgraduate reality of entertainment writing.

“Once you graduate from college, it’s a hard world out there,” said David Sontag, who directed the program at UNC until his retirement last spring.

Sontag first implemented the program nine years ago after the University received a $500,000 grant from alum and fellow screenwriter Michael Piller to create a screenwriting program.

He said he wanted to give students a way of expressing themselves through digital and visual media — a form that combines words and images to reflect the human experience.

Sontag said that in novels an author has time to develop a character’s inner monologue, but that’s not the case with dramatic writing or real life.

“We live in a space between the words,” he said.

He also said the five courses were adequate in training while giving students the opportunity to take liberal arts courses.

“That was the proper length for it,” he said. “We’re not a conservatory.”

The program’s professors — all former Hollywood screenwriters — teach their students to become independent so they can succeed.

“You prepare them the best you can, and it’s up to them to go to Los Angeles or New York and prove themselves,” said Scott Myers, a professor in the program.

But the program can provide a head start in the industry.

Ross Maloney, part of the minor’s current graduating class, will work with Scott Free Productions in Los Angeles as part of the Hollywood Internship Program, which places graduating seniors in Hollywood studios over the summer.

Maloney, who knew he wanted to be a screenwriter at age 8 when he started to realize he could improve the movies he watched, said he can’t imagine not being a writer.

“I feel like I would still go back to writing at night and watching movies and thinking, ‘I could do better,’” he said.

Maloney said any part of his life that makes him feel something can be used as inspiration.

“Every day, there’s so much you can take and make story out of.”

Contact the Arts Editor at arts@dailytarheel.com.