About The Iowa Writers' Room

The Iowa Writers' Room (IWR) grew directly from the University of Iowa’s unparalleled history of literary excellence. Iowa has long been able draw the best creative talent in the country to its graduate writing programs and some of those writers made their way to Los Angeles. Their presence has grown in recent years as alumni have filled the need for intelligent, character-driven scripted television. Indeed, the current demand for creative content is so high that UI alumni are increasingly selling the screen rights for their novels at the same time that the novels are sold for publication.

As Iowa’s impact in the entertainment industry grew, the university saw an opportunity to shorten the path to success for students by creating a value-adding, differentiated screenwriting initiative that is both low-cost and high-impact, and nimble enough to respond quickly to market demands. Thanks to the university’s many writing programs, graduate and advanced undergraduate writers already know how to create a story. This program gives them two options to learn how to tailor those stories to a new and quickly changing medium. 

Keep reading to learn more about the Iowa Writers' Room or click here to Apply.

Writers' Room Fellowships

The IWR fellowships provide time and space during the Fall semester for select post-MFA students to work intensively on one or more scripts, develop ideas for future projects, and receive in-depth professional mentoring by a successful and experienced writer in the field. Fellows will also explore ways to navigate the business of writing for long-form television. Funding for the fellowship is roughly $17,000.

Writers' Room Courses

The Iowa Writers' Room offers three courses. The first two courses are a set, taken together over one academic year:

• CSI:3325 
  During the fall semester, students gain first-hand experience as part of a traditional television writers' room—accepted students select material and show topics, pitch ideas, collaboratively break story, and write and workshop scripts for a limited series television show of student's choosing. This class includes instruction and visits by acclaimed industry insiders.
• CSI:4325 
  In the spring semester, students move beyond the collaborative structure of the writers' room to focus their time on writing an individual television pilot to call their own. Through pitches, outlines, drafting, and workshopping, students will build on the tools of the trade: character action, dialogue, scene hygiene, world-building and, most importantly, tone, with the help of industry pros.

The Iowa Writers' Room also offers the unique opportunity for students across the University of Iowa campus to learn from one acclaimed television writer and show-runner, via The Big Binge:

• CSI:1325 The Big Binge
  Screening-based course in which students develop skills in television script writing, structural analysis, and story craft by conducting an in-depth review of a season of a television show; includes instruction and class visits by acclaimed industry insiders.  

Personnel

Iowa alumni have played a transformational role in Hollywood for decades, and the Iowa Writers' Room has been lucky to work with many of these talented and award-winning writers. Past instructors, mentors, and visitors to the Iowa Writers' Room include Mitch Burgess and Robin Green (The Sopranos, Blue Bloods), Dean Bakopoulos (Made for Love), Rick Cleveland (Six Feet Under), David Kajganich (The Terror, Bones and All, A Bigger Splash, Suspiria), Vinnie Wilhelm (Castle Rock), Lila Byock (The Watchmen, The Leftovers), Sam Shaw (Manhattan), Mark Lafferty (The Right Stuff, Halt and Catch Fire), Josh Parkinson (Eastbound and Down), Dahvi Waller (Mad Men, Mrs. America), Gina Welch (Clipped), and many more.

Hawkeyes have captured our collective imagination and helped shape cultural conversations through their work. Our television-writing alumni have embraced this initiative and have guided the its development through an LA-based steering committee. These alumni contribute to the semester-long class and provide vital industry contacts for students interested in entering the entertainment industry. Their collective credits include: Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, Manhattan, Blue Bloods, Castle Rock, Six Feet Under, West Wing, House of Cards, Mad Men, Girls, The Terror, Coach, Newhart, The Right Stuff, Gossip Girl and Northern Exposure.

Related UI Programs

Iowa Writers' Workshop
Playwrights Workshop (Theatre Arts)
Cinematic Arts
Nonfiction Writing Program
Screenwriting Arts
MFA Program in Spanish Creative Writing
Department of English Creative Writing Programs