SCREENWRITING WORKSHOPS

Created by Matthew J Gunn

Full Member of Writers Guild of Great Britain Membership Number - 006964 Re!resented b" Stray Monkey Productions imited Company Number - !4"9#90

$-Mai% Mobi%e

straymonkey&hotmai%'com 0!() "60 !(*(

Screenwritin+ ,orkshops #0*4 -

WORKSHOP # $%&'( Formattin)( Ideas* Wednesday 15th January

% & ' +it, -ommissioned s-reen+riter
I introduce myself and brief over-view of my commissioned work Explain what the 'workshops' are going to cover 'Open the floor' to the class/students for a brief Q ! with me so they can ask specific "uestions about becoming a full-time screenwriter etc

Industr" Soft+are
#o through various $cript $oftware %ackages which are available &examples to show 'inal (raft) *eltx and + $prockets, $uggested $creenwriting -ooks

S-ri!t Formattin) for Film to Sta)e to Gra!,i- No.el

Examples of formatting with commissioned $cripts &'ilm) ./ and .heatre, 'ormatting $tructure shown for $cenes) !ction) *haracter) (ialogue and *uts

Student/s Stor" Ideas0Course+or1

!sk/0elp the $tudents to come up with their own ideas for either coursework or own scripts they want to develop &to start this can be 1ust a sentence) a title) a character) which we will then expand upon each week to full outline, Interact with students with their initial ideas to get them thinking about potential stories and how they expand upon them

Screenwritin+ ,orkshops #0*4 -

WORKSHOP 2 $Stru-ture0Outline "our Stor"* Wednesday 22nd January

Stor" Stru-ture 3 Writin) a S"no!sis
Explain how 2!ct $tructure works using $yd 'ield 2-!ct 3otes ./e0erence C%ose $ncounters1 Star ,ars1 2he 3eer 4unter5 Explain how an !lternative $tructure works ./e0erence Pu%p 6iction7 p%ays with structure order1 a Samurai7 minima% dia%o+ue1 Memento7 back to 0ront narrati8e1 2he imey .9se o0 monta+e editin+ to chan+e structured time-%ines5 and :nce 9pon ; 2ime <n ;merica .use o0 sound and 8isua%s to creati8e a%ternati8e structure by p%ayin+ with memories5 0ow you take this into writing an initial $ynopsis and $tep Outline

Student/s Stor" Ideas0Course+or1

.alking to each of the students about their ideas &either coursework or personal ideas, to help they show they would structure there story as a start) middle and end for both a $ynopsis and $tep Outline 4ey !rea - Interaction with students ideas in relation to $tory $tructure

Screenwritin+ ,orkshops #0*4 -

WORKSHOP 4 $Creatin) "our C,ara-ters* Wednesday 29th January

Stru-turin) "our C,ara-ters $C,ara-ter Bio/s*
Explain a *0!5!*.E5$ !5* / 6O753E8 Mention as re0erence 0or Character ;rcs7 Pat Garret = >i%%y the ?id .start and end se@uence51 4eat .2wo %eads meet in ca0A5 Explain how an ensemble of characters work in scripts9 Mention as re0erence7 P%atoon .2he two separate BtentsB stoners 8 hi%%bi%%ees in essence5 2rue /omance . how supportin+ cast is Cust as important as main cast5 9nusua% Suspects .<n the prison ce%%1 as settin+ up ensemb%e piece5

Student/s Stor" Ideas0Course+or1

(eveloping each of the students ideas with their characters by getting them to answer a list of "uestions to help create their main characters 4ey !rea - Interaction with students answers they write for the character "uestions I list on the screen to help them build a character biography Explain how to place these character traits they're building into their coursework and step outline Explain how to place the character traits into written scenes

Screenwritin+ ,orkshops #0*4 -

WORKSHOP 5 $Pit-,es( Media Pa-1a)es( Contra-ts* Wednesday 5th February

Creatin) "our Treatment 3 Pit-,
.he importance of writing a %itch for $cripts $how %itch Examples .Darious Genres5

Intera-tion +it, Students

!sk them to write/think off a short sentence 'elevator pitch' for the story or outline that must 'sell' me the concept in one sentence9 Interact with them giving feedback how to improve their 'pitch'

Media Pa-1a)e
Importance of a :edia %ackage 0ow to create 'the package' / what goes in it

6e)alities
Essentials to know before sending your script idea anywhere $cript *ontracts) Options and (evelopment 'unds 6oining the ;riters #uild

W,om and ,o+ to a!!roa-, to sell t,e s-reen!la"7

;hat %roducers / companies look for in scripts 0ow to !pproach %roducers) !ctors) %roduction *ompanies 0ow to approach ./ *hannels

Screenwritin+ ,orkshops #0*4 -

WORKSHOP 8 $Readin) "our Stor" +it, '-tors* Wednesday 12th February

% & ' +it, Professional '-tor
.he actor will talk about how to approach actors9 0ow to use a read through with actors to benefit rewriting your script9 !nd will open the floor to a Q ! with them9

Student/s Stor" Ideas0Course+or1 Read Ba-1 to t,em

.he !ctor will read one small dialogue scene from each persons script so the student can
hear the dialogue read back .he !ctor will then give feedback

NOTE 3 <0 on%y (workshops < cou%d +et rid o0 workshop ( Bthe actors workshopB and mo8e the producer workshop to 6eb *#th1 ;dam may sti%% be a8ai%ab%e 0or *# th1 i0 not there are other producers < can brin+ in' < do think thou+h that it wou%d be bene0icia% 0or the students to ha8e 6workshops and inc%ude the Bworkin+ with actors workshopB as hearin+ a sceneEscript read back makes a hu+e di00erence'

Screenwritin+ ,orkshops #0*4 -

WORKSHOP 9 $Wor1in)3Pit-,in) +it, Produ-ers* Wednesday 26th February

Ho+ Writer +or1s alon)side Produ-er
Q ! $ession with professional %roducer %roducer will talk about working with writers 0ow to fund films $how footage of their work

Student Intera-tion : C,an-e to Pit-,

.he students can $howcase/%itch their idea direct to the attending %roducer %roducer will give direct feedback to them on their idea

NOTE / < know this proposed 0ina% workshop is a0ter ha%0-term1 both ;dam and myse%0 are happy to be 0%eFib%e with whate8er day-time suits you best i0 your timetab%e a0ter ha%0-term has chan+ed' So a chan+e o0 day or time 0or this 0ina% workshop wi%% not be a prob%em'

Screenwritin+ ,orkshops #0*4 -