Screenwriting for Film & TV: Revision Focus

Class Description

Works of art are never finished, only abandoned, but there comes a time when every screenwriter has to stop working on their screenplay and start submitting it (or making it).

This eight-week in-person workshop will help you polish your screenplay or TV pilot for submitting to contests, fellowships and managers. Through a series of in-class exercises, we’ll learn skills on how to revise smartly and share your work with students to receive peer-to-peer and instructor critique.

We’ll read well-crafted screenplays and study them for word choice and format. We’ll work on finding your voice, discuss how to take dialogue to the next level, learn how to write clean and clear action/description lines and cover where and how to submit the final draft.

For screenwriters who have completed at least a first act or more of a screenplay or TV pilot.

Works discussed:

Charlie Kaufman (Adaptation)
Jane Campion (Power of the Dog, The Piano)
Boots Riley (Sorry to Bother You)
Alejandro Iñárritu (The Revenant, Birdman)
Bong Joon-ho (Parasite)
Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)
Greta Gerwig (Ladybird)
Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine)
Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag, Killing Eve)
Jordan Peele (Get Out, Us)

Class Format

This class will take place in-person at our Center for Creative Writing in Boston's Seaport neighborhood. Please note that proof of vaccination against COVID-19 is required to attend this class. Please submit your proof of vaccination here at least 48 hours before your class begins. Read on to learn more about GrubStreet's vaccine protocol and find information about where to get vaccinated below.

GrubStreet Vaccine Protocol

Please submit your most recent proof of vaccination, which requires a booster shot for those eligible, here at least 48 hours before your class begins. If you have previously submitted a proof of vaccination that did not include your booster shot, you will need to resubmit your updated vaccine card. If you are not able to fill out our vaccination form 48 hours before your class begins, please bring your vaccine card (or a photo of it) with you to the building. Please note that if you arrive for class and you have not filled out the form and do not have proof of vaccination with you, you will not be allowed to participate in the class. And don’t forget your mask! In accordance with the City of Boston, masks will be required at all times while inside the building. Click here to read GrubStreet's full Vaccination and Masking Policy.

Vaccination status: For in-person classes and events, your vaccination status is considered up-to-date until the time you are eligible for a booster—which is 5 months after the second dose in a two-shot series. Boosters are required for all visitors on our second floor if your second shot was more than 5 months ago.

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.