Television Writing: A Word from Alan Kingsberg

A curriculum that is singularly focused on television writing will put our graduates at the forefront of this rapidly growing industry and art form.

alan kingsburg The opportunity to build a television writing curriculum from the ground up is a chance to do things better – a chance to include only the best practices from the top universities where I've taught for the past 17 years.

This includes the in-depth small-workshop approach I've practiced at some of the country's top MFA programs since 1999 and the unique one-on-one mentoring approach that's been so successful at smaller liberal arts colleges. By adding in the practical wisdom of working showrunners, writers and producers, I believe we have created a unique and unparalleled television writing curriculum at Stony Brook.

The bar has been set high in recent years with series as diverse as Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Transparent and Atlanta. We believe that to reach that high bar a program must be singularly focused. Other graduate programs tack television onto a film-centered curriculum or make television part of a three-legged stool composed of theater, film and television. While we will teach ancillary skills such as directing, editing, sketch comedy and screenwriting, our primary and deep focus will be on episodic television Writing.

Our goal at Stony Brook: to provide an unrivaled television writing curriculum where students graduate with professional television writing portfolios ready to launch their careers in a field that is not only in a golden age of creativity but also of opportunity.

Contact Alan Kingsberg at alan.kingsberg@stonybrook.edu

Alan Kingsberg Bio

Alan Kingsberg received his MFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts where his film Minors won an Academy Award as the top student film in the US. His work in television includes writing the ACE Award winning documentary Buy Me That for HBO, and writing and producing the BAFTA nominated animated series Cubix for FOX. Kingsberg has also written for Law and Order: Criminal Intent, and kids classics like Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Shining Time Station and Doug. He was a showrunner on five animated series for Fox, The CW and Cartoon Network, including the hits Cubix, Pokemon Chronicles and Winx Club. He has written or produced over 250 half-hours of television for major broadcast and cable networks and has written feature films for DISNEY and UNIVERSAL PICTURES. He is currently writing on a new Netflix Original animated series.

Kingsberg originated the popular Television Writing curriculum at Columbia University’s Graduate Film School where he taught for 17 years. He has launched Television Writing programs in Sao Paulo and Prague and was a visiting professor at Sarah Lawrence College. Kingsberg’s students have won numerous awards including multiple first place prizes at the Austin Film Festival, The TV Academy of Arts and Sciences, The Made In NY Fellowship, a Humanitas Award, an HBO Fellowship and a Fox Writers Intensive Prize, all with scripts written in his workshops. After graduating, his students have gone on to write and produce on shows such as 30 Rock, Mr. Robot, Narcos, The Deuce, Stranger Things, Kimmy Schmidt, Mozart in the Jungle, Orphan Black, Quantico, The Sinner, Inside Amy Schumer, Smash, New Girl, Odd Mom Out, The Originals, Vegas, Weeds and Californication.

Testimonials

"Alan is a phenomenal teacher, who taught me everything about TV writing, from story structure to dialogue. In his class, I wrote and revised the scripts that launched my career in the industry."
Vanessa Reisen, Supervising Producer, WEEDS, CALIFORNICATION, Co-executive Producer EXTANT, TYRANT, VEGAS.

"I went into Alan's Workshops clueless and came out with a pilot script that sold to HBO. I landed an agent at CAA and I'm now working with an amazing team of managers and producers. Alan genuinely loves teaching and giving his students the tools and confidence they need to launch their TV careers."
Natalie Prisco, Show Creator/Writer, HBO.

"Alan has some kind of Jedi genius for feedback. He's lightning fast and right on target. This class was invaluable. In all my years working in entertainment, I've never come across someone whose notes are as specific and helpful."
Eden Wurmfeld; Producer: KISSING JESSICA STEIN, THE HAMMER.

"Alan has been an invaluable guide in helping me turn hair-brained ideas into structured scripts. His emphasis on Character, Story and Structure gets TV Writing into your bones, and the nurturing environment of the class keeps you writing. He manages to pinpoint every storyline's root problem, and poses that question you've been avoiding, and need to answer. I cannot recommend his classes more highly."
Nina Bradock, Staff Writer, BERLIN STATION

"I had the privilege of taking several TV writing classes from Alan Kingsberg. Not only is he able to present students with an effective method for building a great script, but he is also an excellent resource on television business as a successful, prolific writer himself. His classes were among the most valuable I took as an MFA student."
Grace Edwards, INSIDE AMY SCHUMER, UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT.