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The creation of characters begins with well thought out
psychological back stories. Developing backstories for characters
involves many decisions on the part of the writer. Whether your
protagonist has a personality disorder, mental illness, or just a loveable
quirk can make all the difference in selling your script. Character
flaws are what make your characters believable and relatable. Such
psychological flaws can often be traced back to childhood and the
environmental conditions one grew up in. These flaws are then
exacerbated with the stresses of adulthood and are what make your
characters jump off the page and onto the screen.
At the conclusion of this
course you will have gone through the process of developing
psychological backstories for your protagonist and supporting
characters. You will also have created an environment in which your
characters come to life as their personalities either mesh with their
environment or thrive in spite of it.
"This course is a MUST for anyone who is serious
about better characters and a more fluid screenplay." -Former
Student
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- How to find and
identify the best character flaws for your characters
- How to peel back layers
of a personality and carefully introduce seeds of a disorder
- Where to find resources to a plethora of
personality flaws, whether they be little quirks,
emotional/psychological conditions, or full blown personality
disorders
- How to assign character flaws to supporting
characters and enhance relationship drama
- and much
more!
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Course Starts Thursday!
September 17 -
October 15, 2020
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Instructor:
Donna Dannenfelser
Dr. Donna Dannenfelser: psychotherapist, hypnotherapist,
and most recently Co-Executive Producer on USA’s hit series Necessary Roughness is
the expert on Psychological Backstories as she consults with writers
concerning psychological profiles and character flaws for pilot
development, TV series, and movies. USA Network’s hit show, Necessary Roughness,
was based on the life of Dr. Donna when she served as the mental health
clinician to the New York Jets. Serving as a writer herself,
Co-Executive Producer, and consultant to the writing staff of Necessary Roughness,
Dr. Donna combines her psychotherapy knowledge with writing skills as
she assists writers in developing psych bio’s that are complicated,
interesting, surprising, and based on realistic personality disorders
that bring characters to life.
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Whether you're completely new to writing screenplays or
you're an experienced screenwriter looking to add a new skill, Script
University has a course for you, all from the comfort of your home!
Click
here to view
the full course schedule >>
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Courses
Starting This Week:
Beginning Television Writing
Instructor:
William Rabkin
In this four-week course, an established
executive producer/showrunner will give you an inside look at the world
of dramatic, episodic television. You will explore—and practice—the
actual process involved in successfully writing a spec episodic script
that will open doors across Hollywood.
How To
Develop Psychological Backstories For Your Characters
Instructor:
Donna Dannenfelser
Developing backstories for characters
involves many decisions on the part of the writer. Whether your
protagonist has a personality disorder, mental illness, or just a
loveable quirk can make all the difference in selling your script. At
the conclusion of this course you will have gone through the process of
developing psychological backstories for your protagonist and
supporting characters.
Ten Weeks
to Your Feature Film
Instructor:
Paul Peditto
The world of the feature film is booming and you are gushing with
ideas. This workshop will give you the tools to get the ideas out of
your head and into a completed screenplay by introducing you to the
methods that professional screenwriters use to write under deadlines.
The
Fundamentals of Screenwriting: Give your Script a Solid Foundation
Instructor:
Donald H Hewitt
Have an amazing idea for a movie, but don’t know how to begin writing
it? In this course, you will gain the tools to structure your scenes,
your acts, and your plots. This four-week workshop is the perfect
introduction to the fantastic world of writing a script, from the
fundamentals of the story down to the revision process.
Write
Your Drama Pilot in Six Weeks
Instructor:
William Rabkin
In this workshop, you will learn the tools professional screenwriters
use to finish high-quality scripts under deadlines. By the end, you
will have completed and received professional feedback on a script for
your drama pilot.
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Upcoming
Webinar:
Loglines: How to Sell Your Script in One Sentence
with Jon James
Miller
Thursday, October 15, 1:00 PM PDT
Loglines are more art than science. They
are a promise to the reader that a script is not only worth their time
but going to change their life. Because if successful, a logline will
stick in a reader’s mind and motivate them to read and become a
champion of our work. This webinar demystifies the process of creating
an exciting and utterly irresistible logline.
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EXPERT INSTRUCTORS | CONVENIENT ACCESS
INVALUABLE FEEDBACK
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A Special Offer from our Trusted Partner
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🔥 Judges from MGM, Agbo and
Lawrence Bender Productions
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Announcing
the 2020 Jury for the ScreenCraft Action &
Adventure Screenplay Competition
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Since the dawn of Hollywood, action-packed
movies and TV series have been the backbone of the entertainment
industry. Experiencing heart-pounding action from the
safety of a cinema or your living room is an experience
we all love. If you’re writing a great action or
adventure script, we’d love to read it. This year’s jury
is stacked with industry professionals who love action,
and who have experience producing some of Hollywood’s
best recent film and television content.
Introducing
the Jury
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🔥 JANET JEFFRIES
Development & Production Executive,
Lawrence Bender Productions
Lawrence Bender Productions is the production company
behind global action/adventure blockbusters including
INGLORIOUS BASTERDS, HACKSAW RIDGE, the Tom
Hardy-starring CAPONE as well as 2019’s GRETA and Martin
Scorsese’s SILENCE. Through TV Division Bender/Brown TV
they have produced the Netflix series SEVEN SECONDS,
FLESH AND BONE on Starz, and ROSWELL, NEW MEXICO on CW.
🔥 SANDINO MOYA-SMITH
Director of Development, MGM Studios
After working for Gary Ross on all HUNGER GAMES films,
Moya-Smith became Director of Development at MGM Studios,
the iconic film studio behind such film franchises as
JAMES BOND, TOMB RAIDER, G.I. JOE, ROBOCOP, and CREED.
🔥 JOEY DIZON
Creative Executive, Agbo Films
Joey Dizon is a Creative Executive at Agbo Films, founded
by Joe and Anthony Russo. After working on AVENGERS: AGE
OF ULTRON, INFINITY WAR, ENDGAME, etc he joined the Russo
Brothers and writers Christopher Markus and Stephen
McFeeley at Agbo Films. Joey recently worked on acclaimed
horror film, RELIC, and Netflix’s hit action film,
EXTRACTION. He is currently developing Disney’s HERCULES,
GRIMJACK, and BATTLE OF THE PLANETS among others.
🔥 JASON LUBIN
Manager-Producer and Founder, First Story
Entertainment
First Story Entertainment represents a diverse roster of
writers and directors with fresh voices in all genres.
Prior to starting First Story, Jason was Head of
Production & Development at Lynda Obst Productions,
credits include INTERSTELLAR, CONTACT and TV GOOD GIRLS
REVOLT and THE HOT ZONE.
🔥 EMILY CARMICHAEL
Screenwriter
The acclaimed writer of PACIFIC RIM: UPRISING and
JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION.
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Early Deadline: August
31
Regular Deadline: September 30
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Also, if you have a
great pitch, consider our Virtual Pitch Competition.
You can submit your written pitch now. The next deadline
is August 31st.
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If
you're ready to submit your written pitch now, you can do
so by the regular deadline on August 31st (the
final deadline on September 30th).
Here’s how it works:
1. Submit a written
pitch for your screenplay.
2. Semi-finalists will be asked to submit a 2-minute
video pitch.
3. The Top 10 finalists will then pitch live and online,
to a panel of A-list industry professionals.
All rights and
ownership of intellectual property remains with the
original rights holders. This competition claims no
rights nor right of option on your story.
The
2020 ScreenCraft Pitch Competition Jury Includes:
🏆 WENDY
CALHOUN, Peabody-award winning TV Writer, Exec
Producer and Showrunner Wendy Calhoun’s work includes
Fox’s PRODIGAL SON, EMPIRE, ABC’s
STATION 19, NASHVILLE, REVENGE, and FX’s
JUSTIFIED, as well as over fourty hours of unscripted
television including MONSTER HOUSE and HELL'S
KITCHEN.
🏆 AMY
RETZINGER, literary agent and partner at Verve,
the agency with writers and directors behind some of
Hollywood's top film and TV including JURASSIC WORLD:
FALLEN KINGDOM, THE WALKING DEAD, ALADDIN
and many more!
🏆 MARC
MANUS, formerly an award-winning photojournalist and
manager at Zero Gravity (Netflix’s OZARK), Marc
Manus is now a partner at World Builder Entertainment,
the company behind the TROLLS animated franchise,
where he guides a select roster of writers and directors
from around the globe.
🏆 ERIC
HEISSERER, Oscar-nominated Screenwriter of iconic and
mind-bending films such as BIRD BOX, LIGHTS OUT
and ARRIVAL (for which he was nominated for an
Academy Award). He is now Exec. Producer and
Showrunner for upcoming Netflix fantasy series SHADOW
& BONE.
The grand prize winner, as determined by this panel of
industry judges, will receive $1,000 in cash,
introductions to literary managers, one-on-one career
development consulting with the ScreenCraft team and
circulation of your pitch or screenplay to our industry
judges, mentors and partners.
Past ScreenCraft winners have been hired by
producers, optioned their projects to studios, and signed
with top representatives at CAA, WME, 3 Arts
Entertainment, United Talent Agency, Anonymous Content,
Paradigm Talent Agency, Untitled, ICM, Bellevue
Productions, Lit Entertainment, Writ Large and many
others.
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Also,
don't miss this year's incredible TV jury:
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Our 2020 TV Pilot Script Competition is
open now!
The Jury for the 2020 ScreenCraft TV
Screenwriting Competition includes:
⭐ Betsy Beers,
Executive Producer and Chief Content Officer, Shondaland
(GREY’S ANATOMY, PRIVATE PRACTICE, SCANDAL, HOW TO GET
AWAY WITH MURDER, FOR THE PEOPLE, and STATION 19) which
has an unprecedented overall deal
with Netflix.
⭐ David Knoller,
Executive Producer, TV Writer & Director (HBO,
Starz, FOX Television): POWER, HBO's
LOVECRAFT COUNTRY with Jordan Peele and JJ Abrams, HBO's
HERE AND NOW, BIG LOVE and many more. With an overall
deal at HBO, he develops boundary-pushing drama for
television.
⭐ Crystal
Holt, Director of Development & Scripted
Programming at AMC Networks, with such shows as
REBEL, THE TERROR, FEAR THE WALKING DEAD, WALKING DEAD:
WORLD BEYOND and CREEP SHOW in addition to shepherding
new scripted works for AMC Television.
⭐ Alena
Smith, Creator, Executive Producer and
Showrunner of Apple TV+’s critically acclaimed
series DICKINSON, which recently won the Peabody Award,
and was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award. A playwright
turned television writer and creator, she previously
served as a writer/producer on Showtime’s THE AFFAIR, and
HBO’s THE NEWSROOM. Smith recently signed an overall deal
with Apple TV+.
⭐Naren
Shankar, Exec. Producer & Showrunner of the
critically acclaimed Amazon Prime series, THE
EXPANSE. He was also Writer and Exec. Producer of NBC’s
GRIMM and of the most-watched show in the world, CSI:
CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION. Nominated for EMMY and WGA
awards, he began his career as a writer and science
consultant for STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION and holds a
PhD in Applied Physics & Electrical Engineering from
Cornell University.
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