Writing the Film

This course is for the emerging screenwriter, including those initiating a new screenplay/project, adapting original material into the screenplay form, rewriting a screenplay, or finishing a screenplay-in-progress. A review of screenwriting fundamentals during the first few weeks, as well as a discussion of the state of each project, will be followed by an intense screenwriting workshop experience. Students are expected to enter the course with an existent screenplay, a strong idea, an outline or narrative roadmap of their project, and the capability of “talking out” the story. The expectation is for students to finish a first-draft, long-form project. Published screenplays, several useful texts, and clips of films will form a body of examples to help concretize aspects of the art and craft.