Programme
 

• Screenwriting theory (8 ECTS)
• Script analysis and project evaluation (8 ECTS)
• Writing techniques for audiovisual products: (12 ECTS)
  • Screenwriting practice: treatments, scenes and dialogues, scripts, pitches
  • The writing of genres and adaptation.
    Writing for different formats: comic books, novels, documentaries, entertainment TV shows, advertising, the web, mobile media, and transmedia projects
  • Screenwriting and production of animation projects
• The audiovisual industry: (4 ECTS)
  • Industries and audiences
  • TV acquisition and programming and film distribution
  • The physical production: pre-production, shooting, post-production, contracts and budgeting
• Communication ethics (4 ECTS)
• Workshop and practical exercises (8 ECTS)
• Final project (16 ECTS)

Internship and final Project

Three months before the end of classes, participants in the MISP will choose one of the two following career tracks: screenwriting or production, and invest their time after the end of the classes on their final project or on their internship.

MISP students who choose the screenwriting career will present a script for a feature film or a TV pilot, which can be either an original idea or an adaptation. This script can be written in English, Italian, French or Spanish.

MISP students who will choose the production track will undertake an internship on a film/TV series shooting (or also, if possible, within an established production or distribution company, a TV network or an advertising agency).

For foreign students who do not speak Italian, it can be difficult/impossible to begin an internship for the production track in Italy: in this case either they have to find and internship in their own country or they have to choose the writing track, and deliver a script as their final work.

For a good number of the students who will choose the screenwriting path, at the end of their final projects there will also be the possibility of doing an internship in some production company or network or writers room. This internship cannot be guaranteed in advance for everyone, as it will always depend on the acceptance of the candidate by the employer.
 

Director
Armando Fumagalli, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
 

Scientific Committee
Luca Bernabei, Ceo Lux Vide
Paolo Braga, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Arturo Cattaneo, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Armando Fumagalli, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Luca Manzi, Screenwriter and creative producer

Tutor
Eleonora Recalcati, story editor and screenwriter
Annalisa Gandossi, scritp consultant (Sky Originals Italy)

Teachers and  tutors of the final projects
Marco Alessi, screenwriter (Elisa di Rivombrosa, Rino Gaetano, Immaturi) and producer (Tahrir, Atlantide, Disco Boy)
Robert Amidon, executive producer, Atlas Entertainment (Triple Frontier, What/If)
Francesco Arlanch, screenwriter (Anna Karenina, Doc – Nelle tue mani, Blanca).
Renata Avidano, story editor and screenwriter (La strana coppia, Cosi fan tutte, Before Pintus).
Francesco Balletta, screenwriter (Distretto di polizia, Ris, Alfredino)
Deborah Belford de Furia, script consultant Colorado, Hollywood Gang, Medusa, 
Adam Bernstein, Tv director, Emmy winner (30 Rock, Fargo, Breaking Bad)
Paolo Braga, professor Università Cattolica and screenwriter  (Jules Verne)
Andrea Brusa, writer and director (Magic Alps, Inverno, Le voci sole)
Elena Bucaccio, head of Tv drama, Lux vide and screenwriter (Che Dio ci aiuti, Buongiorno mamma!)
Bobette Buster, script consultant, Los Angeles, and professor at NorthEastern University, Boston, Pixar Animation Studios, etc.
Gianfranco Cordara, Digital Supply Chain Consultant, Crunchyroll, Los Angeles.
Lucia Cereda, head of development, Medusa.
Laura Cotta Ramosino,  TV series development executive, Cattleya (Nero a metà, Tutto può succedere, Circeo)
Luisa Cotta Ramosino, Director, Original Series, Netflix Italy
Craig Detweiler, professor at Gran Canyon University (Phoenix) and documentary director
Jennifer Dornbush, screenwriter and author, Los Angeles
Ryan Dornbush, VP and Director, Operations and HR, Alcon Entertainment, Los Angeles
Armando Fumagalli, professor, Università Cattolica, script consultant for Lux vide.
Jordi Gasull, screenwriter and producer, Madrid (Lope, Tadeo Jones, Atrapa la bandera /Capture the Flag, Mummies).
Giorgio Grignaffini, General Manager Taodue
Nadia Grippiolo, producer (Alex & Co., Come diventare grandi nonostante I genitori, Marta e Eva)
Steve Kaplan, script consultant and founder HBO New Writing Program
Francesca Longardi, producer Cattleya (Io non ho paura, Benvenuti al Sud, Summertime, Petra)
Luca Manzi, screenwriter and creative producer (Don Matteo, Boris)
Emanuele Marchesi, head of development, Sky Originals Italy
Jeff Melvoin, showrunner (Northern Exposure, Alias, Designated Survivor, Killing Eve)
Carlo Micciché, Director, Osservatorio Editoriale, Mediaset
Erica Negri, Head of Commissioning, Scripted Production, Sky Originals, Italy.
Gennaro Nunziante, screenwriter and director (Sole a catinelle, Quo vado, Il vegetale, Belli ciao)
Paolo Paggetta, Coordinator Pay and Svod Department, Mediaset
Alberto Pasquale, Director Umbria Film Commission, Film Business University Lecturer
Mara Perbellini, screenwriter (La vita che corre, Penny on MARS, Marta e Eva)
Erminio Perocco, copywriter (commercials Telecom, Lavazza) and advertising director (Crodino).
Miranda Pisione, screenwriter and lecturer
Valentina Pozzoli, head of development, Onza Partners, Madrid
Eleonora Recalcati, story editor and screenwriter (Che Dio ci aiuti, Maggie e Bianca Fashion Friends, Marta e Eva)
Mario Ruggeri, screenwriter (Don Matteo, Un passo dal cielo, Devils)
Maurizio Sangalli, screenwriter (Love Bugs, Il mammo, Casa e bottega).
Paolo Sigismondi, professor Global Entertainment, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
Lea Tafuri, screenwriter (Coco Chanel, Chiara Lubich, Alda Merini)
John Truby, head of Truby Writers Studio, Los Angeles
Andrea Valagussa, screenwriter (Distretto di polizia, La strada di casa, Fino all’ultimo battito)
Gaia Violo, Screenwriter (Blood & Treasure, Star Trek), and creator (Absentia, In From the Cold), Los Angeles
Nicholas Weinstock, producer Invention Films (Severance, Escape at Dannemora, Thelma)
John Williams, Cinema writer and director, professor at Sophia University, Tokyo
Fabrizio Zappi, Director, Rai Documentari

Special lecturers

Eleonora Andreatta, Vice President, Original Content, Netflix Italy
Giorgio Assumma, Lawyer, President Fondazione Perseus
Pierdomenico Baccalario, author and founder, Book on a Tree
Luca Barbareschi, actor, producer and director (Adriano Olivetti, Something Good, J’Accuse)
Luca Bernabei, Ceo Lux Vide (War and Peace, Medici, Masters of Florence, Doc, Leonardo)
Massimo Bruno, Director DeAKids Channels
Valentina Cambi, Freelance Writer and Editorial Coordinator (Disney Publishing, Rai-Eri, Piemme, etc.)
Alessandro D’Avenia, novelist and screenwriter (Bianca come il latte rossa come il sangue, Ciò che inferno non è, L’arte di essere fragili).
Paolo Del Brocco, ceo RaiCinema
Ilaria Gomarasca, head of First Cut +, Film Festival Consultant, Paris
Giulia Ichino, publishing editor Bompiani, Giunti Publishing Group
Silvia Martinoli, author Disney publishing and journalist for Topolino
Jaime Ondarza, ceo Fremantle Southern Europe and Israel
Carlotta Quattrocolo, Executive Editor, Global Magazines, Disney
Maria Rodriguez Rabadan, Universidad Carlos III, Madrid
Marilena Rossi, director of Italian fiction, Mondadori
Paola Ruggeri, International Tv Marketing Analyst, Mediaset
Andrea Scrosati, ceo Fremantle Europe
Antonio Stefanucci, line producer (La piovra, Ris, Volare, Ognuno è perfetto)
Alessandro Usai, Ceo Colorado Film
David Zannoni, Zannoni Media Consulting, Mexico
Michele Zatta, producer Raifiction (Mare fuori, Il cacciatore)

 
Teachers of the animation workshop

Alfio Bastiancich, head of animation, Showlab.
Andrea Bozzetto, director (Topo Tip)
Robin Lyons, screenwriter and producer, Calon, Cardiff - UK (Hana’s Helpline, YoYo)
Luca Milano, Director, Rai Kids
Evelina Poggi, producer, Lynx Multimedia Factory
Margherita Premuroso, animator and director, Milan and London
Silvia Rigotto, executive producer, script consultant and agent (Rigotz Stories)
Giorgio Scorza, producer and director  (Strappare lungo I bordi)
Maurizia Sereni, head of development Movimenti

Teachers of the workshop “Writing the musical”
Philip LaZebnik, Screenwriter (Mulan, Pocahontas, The Prince of Egypt)
Pippa Cleary, author and musician, London ((The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾, The Great British Bake Off Musical)
Ronald Kruschak, screenwriter and producer, Germany (Snow White and Me, A Little Peace) 

Due to Covid restrictions or difficulties for teachers to travel, some of the classes could be held on line. The aim of the direction of the course is to have as many classes as possible in presence. But in spite of this a total of 5% to 10% of classes on line could reasonably be expected.
 

ALESSANDRO D'AVENIA, Writer (Class of 2007)
Alessandro is the author of Bianca come il latte rossa come il sangue, which sold over a million copies and inspired a feature film. His six other novels and three theatre adaptations have cemented his place as a bestselling Italian writer.

I write to know how it is going to end.

 

AMANDA DEVINE, TV Writer (Class of 2017)
Amanda, a Princeton graduate, has written for Disney Channel’s Penny on MARS and is now a development executive at Novo Media in Los Angeles (A Tale Dark & Grimm for Netflix).

The master programme gave me a firm foundation in story structure and character development, which is critical no matter where you end up in the entertainment field.

 

CLARA DUFAY, Development Assistant (Class of 2023)
After completing her Political Science degree, Clara joined MISP and now works as a development assistant at Federation Studios in Paris and as a writing coordinator for a French TV show on ARTE.

MISP gave me a chance to finally follow my passion. Thanks to this program, I was able to confidently take my first steps into the industry with a strong foundation in screenwriting and story editing and a good knowledge of the International entertainment field. But most of all, I had the opportunity to meet many inspiring professionals and classmates from all over the world.
 

The Specialising Master in International Screenwriting and Production (MISP)
evolved from two post-graduate courses (Tecniche di scrittura per la fiction, 2000-2001) into a Master Universitario di I livello in 2002-2003. Renamed Scrittura e produzione per la fiction e il cinema, it ran biennially until 2014-2015. Since 2016-2017, it has been taught entirely in English under the name MISP.

 

Alumni Achievements
MISP graduates have contributed to over 2,000 hours of feature films, TV series, and prime-time television across major platforms like Netflix, Amazon, and DisneyPlus. Alumni have worked as writers, story editors, creative producers, and even directors.

 

Notable Contributions:

• Head Writers:
  Alumni have led writing teams for top-rating Italian series such as Don Matteo, Ho sposato uno sbirro, Che Dio ci aiuti, Doc – Nelle tue mani, and international hits like Christian, Summertime, and Sono Lillo.
• Screenwriters:
  They have written for series like Medici: Masters of Florence, Gomorra, Tutto può succedere, and Il processo, as well as miniseries including John Paul II, Anna Karenina, Chiara Lubich, and animation like Angel’s Friends and Grisù.
• Story Editors & Creative Producers:
  Credits include Leonardo, Devils, Coco Chanel, Call My Agent – Italia, War and Peace, and more.
• Cinema:
  Alumni have written screenplays for films like Bianca come il latte rossa come il sangue, Padrenostro, and Ride.
• Awards & Festivals:
  Alumni short films have won international awards, including the Emmy Student Award, Venice Film Festival honors, and David di Donatello accolades.
• Other Fields:
  Graduates also excel in advertising, theatre, comics (e.g., Disney Publishing), publishing (Mondadori, Rizzoli), and specialized press (Best Movie).

 

Publishing Success
Alumni novels include international bestsellers like Bianca come il latte rossa come il sangue, translated into 20+ languages. Recent years saw 20 novels published by alumni with top Italian publishers like Mondadori and Rizzoli.

MISP continues to shape the next generation of screenwriters and producers, offering a gateway to fulfilling careers in the entertainment industry worldwide.

Graduates from the MISP are exposed to a wide range of career opportunities. Graduates have both the theoretical knowledge and the methodological tools suited to pursue professional and managerial careers as:

• Screenwriters or creative producers of television series and feature films;
• Authors of TV entertainment programs and documentaries, copywriters, creators of video games and web series, writers of comic books and novels and fiction editors in publishing companies;
• Story editors and script consultants;
• Supervisors of evaluation, acquisition and programming of TV shows;
• Professionals working in different areas of the television and film industry (physical production, distribution, acquisition, product placement, etc.)

Classes begin in September 24^th, 2024 and end by May 2025.

Classes are scheduled from Tuesday to Friday, 4 days a week on campus (10.00 AM - 5.30 PM). A break of 3 weeks will be scheduled during Christmas time.

Attendance is mandatory. In order to graduate, a minimum of 90% attendance is required.

The graduation is expected at the end of November 2025.

SELDA (Servizio Linguistico di Ateneo) organizes fee-paying Italian language courses. For more information contact SELDA from the dedicated iCatt function (in the homepage, box “request for information”), or send an email to selda.lingueper@unicatt.