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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. If successful, a logline will stick in a reader’s
mind and motivate them to read and become a champion of your work.
Great loglines create a question in the reader’s mind that can only be
answered by reading the script it defines. Whether a character piece, a
genre-busting drama, or a dark comedy – a successful logline will
entice a reader to take a chance and believe in your vision.
This
webinar demystifies the process of creating an exciting and
utterly irresistible logline. Both successful and unsuccessful loglines
will be deconstructed to illustrate the working parts, hierarchy, and
transformative elements necessary to grab hold of your reader’s
attention, no matter what the genre, budget or medium.
Jon has written several award-winning screenplays and
assisted dozens of other screenwriters in getting their loglines ready
for prime time. He has been a professional reader for studio
executives, having written coverage for hundreds of original spec
scripts, and knows a great logline when he sees one. Jon will help you
find your voice and teach how a logline should be treated as the very
first line of a story.
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- How to structure a
logline to get your screenplay read
- How to include
character, genre, plot, setting, and the stakes in a 25 – 35 word
logline
- How to write a logline that actors, directors,
and producers will remember
- and much
more!
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Live Thursday!
October 15,
1:00 PM PDT
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Join long-time favorite instructor Dave Trottier to
discover and develop your writing creativity in just three weeks!
You'll tackle blocks, block fears, and liberate your inner writer. Best
of all, you'll have loads of fun as you embark on your creative journey!
This workshop will help you achieve higher levels of creativity leading
you to excellence in your writing.
Lessons Include:
- Finding your ideal
“creative state of mind”
- What the Sistine Chapel
and the movie Psycho have in common
- Creating your writing
mission statement and quest
Check out
all lessons here >>
Each week’s session ends with a creative writing assignment. In
addition, there will be many in-class activities and exercises. Think
of this as a workshop rather than a class.
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October 22 - November 12, 2020
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Instructor:
Dave Trottier
Dave Trottier has sold several screenplays and developed
projects for The Walt Disney Company, Jim Henson Pictures, Hill Fields
(for ABC), among others (some credits: Igor’s Revenge, The New
Musketeers, A Window in Time, Hercules Recycled, The Penny Promise, and
A Summer with Hemingway’s Twin.) As a script consultant and teacher, he
has helped clients sell their work and win contests, including two
Nicholl Fellowships and a National Play Award. His book, The
Screenwriter’s Bible is now in its sixth edition and is a top seller.
He was honored with the Distinguishing Teaching Award by the
University of Phoenix and has taught writing courses, workshops, and
seminars at over 30 American universities. He has written his
“Ask Dr. Format” column for Script magazine since 1989 and is the
friendly host of keepwriting.com.
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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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This Week's
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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Courses
Starting This Week:
Mastering
the Conventions of Horror Writing
Instructor:
Neal Stevens
Horror has been one of the staples of
film ever since the medium was invented. This genre is truly a writer’s
medium: If you can present a new version of an old concept and scare us
on the page, your script can sell. Plus, there is always room for
innovation and creativity within the field. That’s why horror is a
natural choice for many a screenwriter.
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.
The
Fundamentals of Screenwriting: Give your Script a Solid Foundation
Instructor:
Lynn Grant Beck
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.
The Nitty
Gritty of Spec Scripts: Writing Strong Action and Dialogue
Instructor:
Dave Trottier
This one-week intensive workshop focuses on the specifics of writing
compelling action (description) and dialogue. At the end of this
course, your expert instructor, Dave Trottier, will evaluate five pages
of your spec script!
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Upcoming
Webinar:
Ha! Aaah! The Painful Relationship Between Humor
and Horror
with David
Misch
Thursday, October 29, 1:00 PM PDT
From 1920’s “Haunted Spooks” to “Zombieland,” the genre of
horror-comedy has never really, you should excuse the expression, died.
Using video clips and examples ranging from Freud & Kant to Abbott
& Costello, David Misch explores how horror and humor share a
mordant view of our relationship to pain; an obsession with the human
body and its multifarious fluids; and a subtext of death and
transcendence underlying the eviscerated flesh and fart jokes.
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EXPERT INSTRUCTORS | CONVENIENT ACCESS
INVALUABLE FEEDBACK
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From 1920’s “Haunted Spooks” to “Zombieland,” the genre
of horror-comedy has never really, you should excuse the expression,
died.
Yet humor and horror seem pretty different; one’s a pie in the face,
the other’s an axe in the skull. It’s obvious why watching someone
being torn asunder would be horrible but why is the endless suffering
of the Three Stooges funny? Could there be congruences between funny
and fear, snickers and screams, gore and gags, slapstick and slaughter?
Yes.
This talk proposes – carefully, while remaining alert and well-armed –
that the two genres are not mortal enemies.
For one thing, people in pain are a perennial part of every art; to be
fascinated with human suffering is to be human. Both comedy and horror
can show us how to live. (And, of course, die – from “Psycho” we learn
that Death can come at any time. Also, to always shower with a friend.)
We’ll see that both genres love loss of control, anarchy – the beast
within us set free. And both exploit our paradoxical feelings about
helplessness: seeing someone out of control can be hilarious (a clumsy
person falling) or horrifying (a clumsy person falling into a snake-pit
suspended over a shark-pit next to a zombie zoo).
Using video clips and examples ranging from Freud & Kant to Abbott
& Costello, David
Misch explores how horror and humor share a mordant view of
our relationship to pain; an obsession with the human body and its
multifarious fluids; and a subtext of death and transcendence
underlying the eviscerated flesh and fart jokes.
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Instructor: David Misch
David Misch has been a comic folksinger, stand-up
comedian and screenwriter; his credits include the
multiple-Emmy-nominated “Mork & Mindy,” the Emmy-losing “Duckman,”
the Emmy-ignored “Police Squad!,” the Emmy-engorged “Saturday Night
Live,” and the Emmy-ineligible “The Muppets Take Manhattan.” David’s
written Funny:
The Book and A
Beginner’s Guide To Corruption; he blogs for HuffPost and
his play “Occupied” is in development at the Skylight Theatre in Los
Angeles.
David’s taught his own comedy courses at USC and UCLA; and spoken at
Yale, Oxford University, the Smithsonian Institute, University of
Sydney (Australia), the American Film Institute, Raindance Film
Festival (London), 92nd St. Y, Second City (Chicago),
Actors Studio (NYC), New York Public Library, Burbank Comedy Festival,
Grammy Museum (Los Angeles), Lucasfilm, Sony Pictures, Walt Disney
Studios, Austin Film Festival, Midwest Popular Culture Association and
VIEW Cinema Conference (Torino, Italy). More at davidmisch.com.
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