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Development · Stage 1

Development Intern at a Production Company

Read everything, write it up well, and become the person a production company cannot do without.

Development is where films begin: scripts are read, rights are optioned and money is found. How a UK production company gets a film from first read to green light, script coverage done properly, the rules on unpaid placements, and your CV, first approaches and plan for Stage 2.

2 hours · 6 modules · 19 lessons

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What you’ll learn

  • Explain how a UK production company develops a film from material to green light, and who does what in the office.
  • Write script coverage in the standard format: header, logline, synopsis, comments and a verdict a producer can act on.
  • Know the UK rules on work experience, internships and pay, what Pact is, and the questions to ask before you say yes.
  • Have a one-page Stage 1 CV, a cover email and three real routes to development experience this month.
  • Say the five Stage 1 statements honestly and know your next step on MFJF.

Where this leads

By the end you will have written your own Stage 1 plan, checked yourself against MFJF's five Stage 1 statements, and know exactly what to do next: a mentor clinic, an Academy workshop, and Stage 2, the HotList.

Finish the course and you can build your personal plan: MFJF's three-stage planner for this role, ticked from Your Profile and your CV, with dated next steps and the CV line each one becomes.

Module 1

The production company and the development process

20 min

What a production company is, who sits in it, what the intern does all day, and how a film gets from a first read to a green light.

  1. readWhat a production company actually is8 min
  2. readFrom first read to green light: the development process8 min
  3. checkCheck: the office and the process4 min
Module 2

Before day one: coverage, skills and the words

20 min

The core skill of development taught properly, then the software, the personal skills and the vocabulary, and two things to do before you close the tab.

  1. readScript coverage: the format, line by line8 min
  2. readSkills, kit and the words you need5 min
  3. taskScore yourself: the development skills audit3 min
  4. taskStart your first script report4 min
Module 3

Getting experience at Stage 1

20 min

Where development experience really comes from, the rules on pay, hours and unpaid work, what Pact is, and three routes you will choose this month.

  1. readWhere development experience really comes from8 min
  2. readThe rules: pay, hours, unpaid work and Pact7 min
  3. taskFind three routes this month5 min
Module 4

Your CV, cover email and first approaches

20 min

What a Stage 1 CV for a development office contains, the 150-word email, how to phone without annoying anyone, and what a reference really is.

  1. readYour Stage 1 CV, cover email and first approaches8 min
  2. taskDraft your CV outline and one cover email7 min
  3. checkCheck: the CV and the approach5 min
Module 5

The industry around the office

20 min

Who rings a development office, the calendar it runs on, the career path and the site's three-year plan, where else the skills go, and what the people in the case studies did.

  1. readWho you will deal with, and where this goes7 min
  2. resourcesThe library for this course8 min
  3. checkCheck: the industry map5 min
Module 6

Your plan: Stage 1 to Stage 2

20 min

Your plan in one place, the five statements as a self-certification, and what to do next on MFJF.

  1. plannerYour Stage 1 plan10 min
  2. readHow you know you are ready for Stage 25 min
  3. checkCheck: are you ready?5 min
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Sources and references

Where this course comes from. Open any of them yourself.

What this course was written from

Every link checked 19 September 2026.

You are not doing this alone

You have your own personal career mentor

That is us, the MFJF team. Book an MFJF Mentor Session with us every month: we guide you through this journey and answer all your questions, from which job is yours to your CV and your next application.

Book my MFJF Mentor Session

Where next

Your recommended next steps

Picked for Development. Signed in, they follow your stage and the roles your answers point to. See your whole MFJF journey, step by step →

  1. My MFJF JourneyOne page for everything MFJF has built, in the order you need it.
  2. My Reading ListThe books, blogs and bodies you have saved, in one place.
  3. Start the Stage 1 course: DevelopmentTwo hours on what the job is, how people get in and what to do first.
  4. Get on the HotListPut yourself in front of productions looking for crew.
  5. Join MFJF DayPlayersDay work on productions for crew with the credits and the skills.
  6. The career planner: DevelopmentWhat to do, learn and be able to do, from no experience to paid work.
  7. The career guide: DevelopmentThe job, the day, the way in and the pay, in one guide.
  8. See how it all fits on the career maps17 maps of how films get made: the people, the process and the departments.
  9. Who works whereEvery department on a shoot and every kind of film company: who is in each and what they do.
  10. Industry EssentialsThe books, industry bodies, websites and blogs worth knowing, department by department.
  11. Read the MFJF Survival GuidesStraight answers to what everyone starting out asks: how long it takes, what you get paid, and what to do every day.
  12. MFJF Academy workshopsLive sessions with people who do the job, and the monthly career clinic.
  13. Build your CV with the CV BuilderThe industry's format, built from your profile and your current CV.

Matching Development right now

Live from the job board, the mentor programme, the Industry Essentials, the film course directory, Industry News and the competitions open now.

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