Intro to Screenwriting and TV

In this 4-week workshop, writers will learn the art of script writing while working on either a feature-length film or a pilot for a television show. The streaming industry has completely reshaped the boundaries between TV and feature films. Television shows have evolved into long-form movies lasting dozens of hours and told over the course of years. Whether your movie is two or fifty-two hours long, a movie is a movie, and this class seeks to break down the barriers between television and the movies (or better, show that they have already gone away).

Students will learn about the differences and similarities between film and television, explore new media, and discuss how the medium is evolving. We will discuss screenplay formatting, as well as how to structure a scene, create compelling characters, write dialogue, and overcome writer’s block. During the class, we will analyze the structure of several films and television episodes to gain a complex understanding of stories that follow the Hollywood paradigm as well as those that defy it. Students can expect to leave the class with a detailed outline, several completed scenes crucial to the screenplay, and either a completed first act of a feature-film or the first half-hour of a television pilot.

Writers we will study include:
Hayao Miyazaki: Castle in the Sky (1986)
Guillermo del Toro: The Shape of Water (2017)
Craig Mazin, Neil Druckmann: The Last of Us "pilot" (2023)
David Lynch: Twin Peaks (1990)

Class Format

This is an Online: On-Demand class that will take place on our asynchronous online learning platform, Wet.Ink. Weekly lessons and assignments open each Wednesday. Students will receive an invitation to Wet Ink before 5pm on the first day of class! All video lectures for Online: On-Demand courses have closed captioning available. To enable, click "cc" on the toolbar of each video lecture. 

*NOTE that while our handy dandy "Schedule" tab states a 6-7pm class time, there are actually no live meetings for this class! Assignments and deadlines will be given by your instructor. Students will have access to the online class portal starting at 5pm on the first day of class. Instructions for logging onto the online portal will be emailed to registered students before 5pm the first day of class.

Scholarship Information

Thanks to the excellent literary citizenship of our donors, scholarships are available for all GrubStreet classes. To apply, click the gray "APPLY FOR SCHOLARSHIP" button. In order to be considered for a scholarship, you must complete your application at least one week before the start date of a class. Please await our scholarship committee's decision before registering for the class. We cannot hold spots in classes, so the sooner you apply, the better. Scholarships cannot be applied retroactively.

For more detailed information about GrubStreet scholarships, including how to contribute to scholarship funds for other students, click here.