Screenwriting for Film & TV: Providence

Class Description

In this interactive workshop, writers will learn the art of script writing while working on either a feature-length film or a pilot for a television show. With Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and YouTube redefining what the word “television" means, the boundaries between TV and feature films have become less clear. Television shows have evolved into long-form movies lasting dozens of hours and told over the course of years, creating some of the most compelling stories of our time. 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 episodic television, explore new media, and discuss how the medium is evolving. We will discuss screenplay format, as well as how to structure a scene, create compelling characters, write dialogue, and overcome writer’s block. Students will work on creating a backstory (or “show bible”) to help make the world of their story more complex and populate this world with fascinating and believable characters.

During the class, we will analyze the structure of several films and episodic television shows to help students gain a complex understanding of stories that follow the Hollywood paradigm as well as those that defy it.

Writers we will study may include:

Jordan Peele (Get Out)

Jenji Kohan (Orange is the New Black)

Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot)

Christopher Nolan (Inception, Memento)

Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation)

Sarah Gertrude Shapiro (Unreal)

Donald Glover (Atlanta)

Kumail Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon (The Big Sick)

Guillermo Del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, The Shape of Water)

Alejandro G. Iñárritu (Birdman, The Revenant)

Jill Soloway (Transparent)

Rashida Jones (Nosedive)

Please note: Class does not meet October 31st.

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