You’re hundreds of miles from Hollywood, California. Or maybe you’re just around the corner, but it seems far away. You want to break into the film business. But how? This class gives you a road map to get you from here to there. With Barri Evins. Barri has taught at Pixar, DreamWorks Animation, the UCLA Producers Program and the American Film Institute.
This class puts the spotlight on creating and crafting compelling characters so you can write a savvy screenplay that will grab both the Hollywood and independent film world’s attention. Each critical element that comprises a screenplay will be covered (plot, dialogue, structure, and genre), detailing how your protagonists, antagonists and minor characters can shine in each of these categories.
Every great script from “Casablanca” to “Citizen Kane” to “Godfather” to “World War Z” is based off a formula developed by Shakespeare & Aristotle. Learn the Formula! 50-60 Scenes, 1 A-Story, 3 B-Stories (sub-plots), with 5-6 Back-Stories all intertwined. Then learn how to write the “Great Script” in 3-weeks, typing only 10-minutes per day, and sell it.
A good pitch can get you through the door, but what makes the sale is a script with a great story. It turns out that very specific story techniques are found in the Blockbuster scripts Hollywood is desperate to buy. John Truby, considered "the best script doctor in the movie industry," tells you exactly what these story techniques are, and how to execute them.
Listen to this podcast to learn the five main reasons people fail at screenwriting and come away with specific insights and hands-on tools to help give you the best possible shot at success. Perfect for experienced screenwriters as well as beginners.
When writing a script it is important to know what each department of film production requires to best represent your story and still fit it into the budget. Julia Stemock will speak on this as a cross-section of all the fields you need to be familiar with; including Development, Preproduction, Production and Post.
You know you have to rewrite your film or TV script, but where do you begin? Pilar Alessandra, author of "The Coffee Break Screenwriter" can help you figure out exactly what your script needs ... and show you how to fix it. Among the Top Ten of screenwriting consultants in the industry, Pilar will help you tighten the story or polish the prose, give you techniques that helps you fix your script without going completely insane.
MARK ROBERTSON trained as an actor at Edinburgh’s Queen Margaret University, after which he appeared in numerous stage plays and London West End musicals. Since turning to writing full time, Mark has become a prolific writer on various UK television series, including SHAUN THE SHEEP and CHOP-SOCKY CHOOKS (Aardman Animation); DENNIS AND GNASHER (Red Kite/CBBC); and MY SPY FAMILY (Kindle/Cartoon Network). He recently optioned his pilot, Charles Dickens' Ghost Club to Eclectic Pictures, with Indomitable Entertainment co-producing. The ISA’s Development Program was directly involved in setting up Mark’s Dickens pilot with Eclectic and Indomitable.
The ISA’s inaugural Fast Track Fellowship Competition awarded two winners meetings with six industry executives – Melissa Birks was one of the grand prize winners with her project, Uncaged – a thriller set in the 19th century, and touted as a light origin story of Jack The Ripper. Melissa has worked as a journalist for many years, spending her time traveling to multiple American cities, mostly small, un-urban locations to follow up on local mysteries, archeological discoveries, and then some. She has lead a fascinating life thus far, and is looking forward to a successful move into the world of screenwriting.
Grand Prize winner of The ISA’s inaugural Fast Track Fellowship Competition, Martin was a professor of law at UC Hastings College and professor of psychiatry at UC Medical Center, and the Langley Porter Institute. As a career forensic psychiatrist he has interviewed over 300 killers in his multiple decades of work, often just hours after the crime had been committed. Dr. Blinder lives in Marin County, outside of San Francisco, and though he entered the screenwriting world late in his career, he is already making strides with his multiple historical and thriller-based projects.
Despite Lucy’s young age, she has been lucky enough to learn directly from the “big ones” such as, Syd Field, Robert McKee, Linda Seger, Michael Hauge, and John Truby. As well as from the Mexican Academy Award nominee, Guillermo Arriaga, and was Paula Markovitch’s former student. Lucy recently graduated from the New York Film Academy’s Screenwriting Conservatory, and is currently working on a few projects while her script, Sophie & Valentina, which was a Table Read My Screenplay Contest Best Drama Winner.
With her script Mouth, Kimi won the Grand Prize at the prestigious 2015 Blue Cat Screenplay Competition. MOUTH explores the notion that in a sense, all relationships are somewhat transactional. The title is derived from Sam Shepard and Patti Smith’s play Cowboy Mouth, which is featured in the script, about two alcoholic lovers disintegrating in the Chelsea Hotel. Kimi was drawn to the idea of two people who were irrevocably in love, yet at war with one another. That was the main impetus for the script––examining relationships that, despite their toxicity, were also nourishing. A rising star, Kimi is currently repped by Industry and pushing multiple projects out around town.
Edward Klau is from Miami and has lived in Los Angeles since 2000. When not working as a producer in reality television, he has written twenty six screenplays including Brights, the Grand Prize Winner of the Table Read My Screenplay Sundance contest. Other scripts including Invisible Scars, Criminal Element, Pyramid and Plan have also placed highly in other screenwriting contests. Klau has developed screenplays with different production companies around town and reliably writes multiple scripts every year. His interview is an insightful one as we discuss the ins and outs of working freelance, and how to find a job in this crazy industry.
A Harvard grad, Derek Asaff pursued a general business degree in college but quickly realized that writing and literature was his real passion. Eventually gravitating toward the screenwriting realm, Derek focused nearly all of his time on educating himself on the craft and improving his own writing ability through mentorships and continual classes. His focus on education and practice lead him to win the Table Read My Screenplay Contest, London. Winning Table Read opened up numerous doors for Derek, eventually getting him signed to the Gotham Group for management, and recently signing a development deal with Original Film (Furious 7) for his Table Read winning comedy script, The Wheelman. His comedy feature is now considered as a possible vehicle for Melissa McCarthy. It’s onward and upward for Derek and The ISA is proud of his recent success.
As an actress, she recently recurred as Trixie in season 3 of FX's Emmy-winning show Justified. She works frequently in independent film, and projects she's appeared in have screened at dozens of festivals, including Tribeca, AFI, New York International Film Festival, Starz Denver, etc. She is attached as a large supprting role in the upcoming drama/thriller Chagrin. Valerie sold her first feature screenplay to Sunrise films at age 22, and joined the WGA immediately after. Her scripts have been honored by the Nicholl Fellowships, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, the Scriptwriter's Network, and many other organizations. Valerie's feature-length directorial debut, Lola's Last Letter, was recently an official selection at Dances With Films, and the LA Film Review nominated her for best actress for her leading role in Lola’s.
Crushing to learn: Nobody wants to read your stuff, unless it's your mom. You are duty bound to give the reader a document that is 1.) clear and 2.) easy to read. Will Akers will show you how to clean up that first draft. Will has written scripts and series television for studios, independent producers, and television networks.
There are many ways to get noticed in Hollywood. Spielberg started working in an open office on the Universal lot. Trey Parker and Matt Stone got South Park on the web. Diablo Cody wrote a funny blog. However you do it, you have to get yourself out there, even without an agent, a manager, or so-called "connections." Producer/Writer David Silverman will delve into real-life example of how famous writers and some of his friends got jobs writing in Hollywood.
There are many ways to get noticed in Hollywood. Spielberg started working in an open office on the Universal lot. Trey Parker and Matt Stone got South Park on the web. Diablo Cody wrote a funny blog. However you do it, you have to get yourself out there, even without an agent, a manager, or so-called "connections." Producer/Writer David Silverman will delve into real-life example of how famous writers and some of his friends got jobs writing in Hollywood.
Writer/Producer/Literary Consultant Brad Brad has written for all media, done consultations for worldwide clients when he was V.P. at Chris Vogler’s Storytech, and has been writer-producer for PBS. Brad created the series North Mission Road, which ran six seasons on truTV.
A five-minute pitch meeting is plenty of time to impress an executive as long as you don't pitch for the full five minutes. In 90 Pages/90 Seconds, the founding team behind the Great American Screenwriting Conference & PitchFest will discuss how to maximize your time to deliver an effective and efficient pitch.
In this insightful teleconference, Dr. Melody Jackson, founder and Chief Smart Girl at Smart Girls Productions, will break down a variety of distinctions in screenwriting that have always been thought to be subjective. She turns them into a list of measurable checkpoints for evaluating your script's "saleability".
In this interview, some of the points she will cover are:
So many writers are seeking a formula for success, but don’t know the truly essential ingredients. Combine a powerful concept with self-knowledge and industry awareness for a real recipe for success. Discover and develop these components and then harness the extraordinary power of using them in concert to advance your career to the next level in this teleconference with producer Barri Evins.
From the industry's top stars to first-time comedy screen and TV writers, producers, directors and performers, Steve Kaplan has worked with and coached the best. His Comedy Intensive offers proven and practical methods and principles that help you reveal and understand comedy from the inside out.
There have been enough prequels, sequels, reboots and remakes. It is time for new, authentic screenplays to be written for the collective consciousness. Laurie Scheer has a writing method that assists you in successfully preparing, writing, and pitching your screenplay. The secret is learning how to master your genre.
Listen to this webinar with Candace Kearns Read and learn how to: Identify the theme of a true story; Use a story’s themes as a springboard for the development of plot and character; Translate real life into dramatic action; Develop engaging characters from real people; Choose what to leave out in the interest of dramatic craft.