by Dawn McElligott
As the competition for students can be like a bullfight, Cal State University Northridge, (CSUN), seeks to rival UCLA and USC as the best place to pursue a degree in the entertainment industry. At the university whose mascot is “Matty the Matador,” Professor Scott Sturgeon agreed, “That’s where we want to go.”
Sturgeon explained that Professors Eric Edson and John Stahl had restructured the university’s film studies to be more competitive, resulting in part, in the Master of Fine Arts, Screenwriting Program, a division that Sturgeon now guides as an Associate Professor.
The MFA Program in Screenwriting a 42-unit endeavor, which entails two feature length screenplays and two half-hour scripts. Spec scripts and pilots are expected for both a one-hour show and half-hour shows.