Course Leader & Module Leader

John has 13 years of professional and academic experience in the field of media production and screenwriting. This blend of practical and academic approaches to screenwriting is found throughout the MA.

Students are challenged both creatively and intellectually and it gives students the skills necessary to contribute to the industry as well as providing them with a foundation in academic studies to pursue a career in screenwriting research.

Four of John's career highlights

  • Shooting his first short film in glorious 16mm film (as Tarantino would say) at the age of 20 and realising that directing is not for him and pursuing careers in screenwriting and editing instead
  • Winning Best National Short for Still Life, a film he wrote and co-produced in 2013
  • Completing a PhD in Screenwriting Studies at Bangor University in 2017
  • His latest work The Dead Cry Out, an Irish language horror film in development with an Irish-based production team.

A little advice?

Screenwriting is a collaborative craft. Go out and network, find other like-minded practitioners, preferably producers and directors that you can work with in adapting your work to the screen. Read screenplays as well as watching films and television. And play games! Some of the best screen stories at the moment are coming from games.