Raija Talvio, Marja-Riitta Koivumäki

TRAINING PROFESSIONALS: CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD) COURSE IN FILM AND TV DRAMATURGY

Aalto University, Finland

In 2023 Aalto University launched a new form of training for experts of screenwriting: a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) course in film and tv-dramaturgy. The 35 ECTS course aims to develop the skills needed when working as a dramaturge, script consultant or script editor during different phases of script development, production or even postproduction of film and television works. The course is particularly meant for professional screenwriters and MA graduates who already have substantial experience and knowledge of the field. The course can be completed while working.

The training focuses on exploring different approaches to working with writers and producers to support them in developing their projects to a higher level. A lot of attention is paid to analytical skills, and how to give constructive feedback in such a way that it truly enhances the personal voice of the writer and serves the goals of the team. During the course, participants share their knowledge and professional experiences with each other thus enhancing each other’s skills; and contribute to the redefinition and consolidation of the role of dramaturge within the industry.

In our presentation we will give an overview of the course curriculum, details about the planning process (gathering information from the field, discussions with major institutions and production companies), explain the student admission process and the funding, as well as details of the implementation of the training including students’ exercises and assignments.

Raija Talvio, Doctor of Arts, is the current Professor of Screenwriting at Aalto University, Department of Film in Finland. The topic of her doctoral thesis (2015) was the emergence of screenwriting as a profession in 1930s Finland. Talvio has published articles in the Journal of Screenwriting and in other publications. She is also an awarded screenwriter whose credits include the feature films Little Sister (1999) and August Fools (2013), several hours of television drama and a stage play for the Finnish National Theatre. Talvio was a member of a screenwriting research team, ‘Aristotle in Change’ 2008-2012, funded by the Academy of Finland.

Marja-Riitta Koivumäki, Doctor of Arts, is working as a project specialist in screenwriting at Aalto University, School of Art and Design, Department of Film, Finland. She has studied at the Moscow film school VGIK and has worked as a screenwriter, script editor and screenwriting tutor also in the UK and Denmark. She was the Senior Lecturer of Screenwriting at Aalto 2003-2022. Koivumäki was a member of a screenwriting research team, ‘Aristotle in Change’ 2008-2012, funded by the Academy of Finland. Her dissertation (2016) is titled Dramaturgical approach in cinema: elements of poetic dramaturgy in A. Tarkovsky’s films.