Script to Screen with Matthew McConaughey

Students come to UT Austin from far and wide for various reasons: its top-ranked programs, to experience living in the beautiful city of Austin, and most importantly, to be a member of Longhorn Nation. Not many know this, but being a part of Longhorn Nation means you have special access to its notorious mascots. And no, this is not Bevo we are talking about, but Hollywood star Matthew McConaughey. 

World-renowned actor and professor of practice Matthew McConaughey has been teaching at the Moody School of Communication since 2015, where a handful of lucky students learn a unique, behind-the-scenes view of each stage of a film's production straight from the master himself.  

McConaughey joined the Department of Radio-Television-Film in the fall of 2019, co-teaching the "Script to Screen" film production class with processor Scott Rice. Specifically, students examine "scripts, shot lists, storyboards, shooting schedules, visual effects, and behind-the-scenes footage” (utexas.edu). This class will return in the fall of 2023, but for now, students can look forward to the same course with a new topic of commercials taught by the same academy award-winner Matthew McConaughey.

However, this previously coveted class, available on a first-come, first-served basis to students who hold an upper-division standing and are a part of a specific major within the RTF School, will now be broadening its horizons to …drumroll…. Advertising students as well. 

The course, also coined "Script to Screen," will be open to undergraduate non-majors with specific upper-division standing. Throughout the course, Current professor of Script-to-Screen and associate professor Laura Bright will guide students with the "production of commercials and the development and distribution of advertising campaigns from the ad agency perspective" (kxan). According to the class description, "commercials are an essential 'how-to' for students serious about advertising, marketing, producing, or directing" (kxan).

Also, on a first-come, first-served basis, the students who get the opportunity to study under McConaughey will be the 20 students who can sign up the fastest. Many students are excited and eager to get into this well-sought-out class taught by a real Hollywood star.  

Alright, May the odds be ever in your favor…