Master of Fine Arts in Screenwriting

Some of our recent speakers and teachers include:

• Deborah Amelon
• Sheryl J. Anderson
• Dean Batali
• Lynn Grant Beck
• Dick Blasucci
• Greg Bonann
• Chris Cluess
• Chad Creasey
• Andy Guerdat
• Jarrett Goulding
• Peter Hanson
• Jim Jennewein
• Liz Keyishian
• Ken LaZebnik
• Hans Rodionoff
• Tom Provost
• Randall Wallace
• David N. Weiss
• Stiles White

Pepperdine has 75 years of alums who have worked and are working in every aspect of the industry.

• Visit the Pepperdine Entertainment Network on Facebook

Here is a tiny sampling of what some of our "Waves" are doing in the entertainment industry:

• John Burd was director of development and production at MarVista Entertainment and has produced TV movies for channels such as Hallmark and Lifetime. He now writes screenplays full time.
• D.J. Caruso has directed such films as Disturbia and Eagle Eye as well as such television shows as The Shield, Smallville, and Dark Angel.
• Blaine Chiapetta was coordinator of development and production at MarVista, producing TV movies. He has had many scripts produced.
• Chad Creasey has written and produced such television shows as Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Pushing Daisies, and Castle.
• Greg Fera is an accomplished television director with credits ranging from the Emmys, the Golden Globes, the Country Music Awards, Sid the Science Kid, and Muppets Tonight. (He also has an Emmy.)
• Denise Huth is a producer on such TV shows as The Walking Dead and such films as The Mist.
• Brent Lilly was an agent with Mosaic. He now runs BLI Entertainment and Real Good Touring.
• Harry Lengsfield is an agent with LBI Entertainment.
• Jeff Loveness is a writer for Jimmy Kimmel Live and for Marvel.
• Candace Lowry is a writer/producer at BuzzFeed.
• Jerrid Meikle is working on Nick's Instant Mom (starring alum Tia Mowry).
• Rob Moore is former vice chairman of Paramount and currently CEO of Phoenix1 Esports.
• Taylor Johns is working at Moxie Firecracker Films, producing documentaries with Rory Kennedy. Last Days of Vietnam was just nominated for an Oscar.
• Eric Martin is an Executive Producer with Marvel. He has written for Heels on Starz and Loki on Disney+.
  
• Tia Mowry-Hardrict and Tamara Mowry-Housley are producing and starring in their own TV shows.
• Ted Nitschke was a coordinator at the Kaplan Stahler Agency. He's now in development and a Jr. Creative at Sony Animation.
• Lauren Parsekian and Molly Thompson made the Finding Kind documentary and founded the Kind Campaign; they also do school assemblies and spread awareness about school bullying.
• Jenni Runyan is VP of communications at Comedy Central.
• Steven Sawalich is a director and producer with credits ranging from Music Within, Tales from the Crypt, and Operation Change.
• George Schlatter is a legendary comedy producer of such shows as Laugh-In and many television specials.
• Emmy-winner Michael Waldron wrote and sold the pilot for Heels to Starz. He is the showrunner for Loki on Starz and writes in the Star Wars franchise.
• David Weiss wrote such scripts as The Smurfs and Shrek 2.
• Stiles White wrote such scripts as Knowing,The Possession, and Ouija.
• Tyler Zacharia is an executive producer. His credits include Wildflower, The Ticket, and Martin Scorcese's Silence.

And more!

Yes, we do have scholarships you can apply for. Please email leslie.kreiner@pepperdine.edu for information about the application process.

Yes, we do have teaching assistantships and many other campus jobs. Go to Handshake to apply: https://seaver.pepperdine.edu/career-services/handshake.htm. Keep checking back. Sometimes jobs are posted even after the semester has started. Graduate students interested in applying to teach in the HUM 111, 212, 313 sequence are also encouraged to contact the coordinator bryan.givens@pepperdine.edu.

Our classes meet Monday through Thursday nights 6-9:50pm.

The MFA degree requires that students do an internship and take a corollary class (2 units). Our MFAers have done internships with the following:

• 1895 Productions
• BBC
• Fox
• Freefall Films
• Gersh Agency
• Harmonius Claptrap (Dan Harmon)
• The Idea Factory
• Intrinsic Value Films
• Kaplan Stahler Agency
• Kopelson Entertainment
• Leeding Media
• Lionsgate
• MarVista
• Moxie Firecracker Films (Rory Kennedy)
• NBC/Universal
• Oxygen Network
• Participant
• Resolution
• Revelations Entertainment (Morgan Freeman)
• Roll Call
• T-Group
• Twentieth Century Fox
• The Untitled Owen Wilson Company
• Vesuvio
• Warner Brothers
• The Weinstein Company
• WWF Films

Learn more about estimating costs.

Additionally, please see previous questions above for information on scholarships and teaching assistantships.

Graduate students tell us they feel stress and anxiety. You know what helps with that? Hiking Malibu. Director Leslie Kreiner Wilson leads a pod on all of the most popular Malibu hikes including simple ones such as laps around our track and the Zuma Beach boardwalk. Contact her for more details: leslie.kreiner@pepperdine.edu.

The undergraduates host the Reel Stories Film Festival. DIFF celebrates the best in short films from all members of the Pepperdine community.

We're looking for work that embraces themes related to diversity and inclusion. Submit in the spring semester and attend the show in March. All judging is done by audience vote.

Contact the festival director for more information: leslie.kreiner@pepperdine.edu.

Your voice matters. You can make a DIFFerence.

Pepperdine is a small private university on the cliffs of Malibu. You may want to visit us for campus tours or be your own guide:

• Campus tours
• Explore on your own with our campus maps

Additional queries can be sent directly to the MFA program director:

Leslie Kreiner Wilson, Ph.D.
leslie.kreiner@pepperdine.edu