Work directly with a 25-year Hollywood producer and literary agent!

2 spots remain for this mid-July lab. Don't let someone else take yours.

Payment plans available at checkout or email edu@stage32.com for more info!

Crime is dominating right now, in 2026. Crime 101 hitting No. 1 on Prime Video to Dead Man's Wire pulling a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes with critics calling it gripping, funny, well-acted, and skilfully constructed, audiences and critics alike can't get enough of crime stories right now. Streamers and networks are hungry for the next great noir thriller, the next gripping procedural. If you've got a crime story in you, this is your moment to actually write it, develop it, and make it sellable this summer!

But let's be real — you might already know how hard this genre is to nail. You've got a great premise, but your characters feel thin. You're juggling too much plot and not enough gut-punch. Your inciting incident lands soft, your structure sags, and Act Two stalls before it even gets going. Sound familiar? You're not alone — and you're exactly where this lab can help you most.

You'll be working directly with Nikita S. Adams, who's spent 25 years on every side of the table — producer, development exec, literary agent — and who's actively shaping crime content right now under her deal at Warner Bros. Television. She's developed crime dramas with Viola Davis and Jamie Foxx, sold to Amazon, MAX, and Paramount, and produced HBO's Life Support with Queen Latifah. She knows exactly what makes a crime script sellable — because she's the one buying, building, and selling them.

Over 8 weeks, you'll build your script from the ground up. You'll nail your subgenre and high-concept hook, create characters with motivations that actually drive your story, master three-act structure, and craft an inciting incident that hits hard. You'll learn how to pace your plot with real emotional depth — and you'll get one-on-one feedback directly from Nikita on your pages, so your script gets exactly the attention it deserves.

By the time you're done, you'll have a fully developed outline or draft screenplay in hand, a real command of genre craft, and the confidence to write crime stories the industry is actually looking for.

You'll also get your own Stage 32 Educator Nikita on email for the full lab — like having a mentor on demand — plus recordings if you miss a session, and a lounge to connect with fellow writers in the lab!

Session 1: Introduction to Crime Stories & Idea Development 

Objective: Understand the crime genre and generate strong story ideas. • Define and discuss crime subgenres—mystery, thriller, comedy, noir, procedural. This will take the majority of the time. 

• Explore themes: justice, morality, power, corruption, loyalty vs. Betrayal.  o The first two points will take the majority of the class. 
• Brainstorming activity: “What if” crime scenarios. Connect an unlikely character  to a crime. 
• Homework: Develop a logline and brain dump outline of the general story you  want to write.  

Session 2: Building Compelling Characters 

Objective: Create believable protagonists, antagonists, and suspects. • Review Assignment from Week 1 

• The detective, the criminal, the victim, and the suspect pool. 
• Character motivations, flaws, and secrets 
• Creating tension through conflicting goals 
• Internal vs. external conflict 

Activity: Character profiles – Let's discuss how your character got into this  situation and how he/she will rise to the situation.  

Homework: Write out all of your characters to get to know them and further  develop the 2 main characters. 

Session 3: Structure of a Feature Screenplay - What makes a crime concept  “high-concept” or marketable? 

Objective: Crime Structure and Set Pieces 

• Review the assignment from week 2 
• Three-act structure in crime films  

Act I: Setup + Inciting incident (The Crime)  

• How does crime function in this world? 
• Who holds power in this world? 

Act II: Investigation, escalation, complications, twists, and red herring ▪ Avoiding clichés, cultural gray areas, ethical tension, and  Hollywood inaccuracies  

• Incorporating real procedures (police work, legal processes,  criminal operations) 
• Using details selectively (don’t overload the script) 

Act III: Confrontation and resolution 

• Reveals and Consequences 
• Common screenplay problems (pacing, stakes, clarity) 

Homework: Rewrite your outline incorporating the character break down and map  out the general structure of your story.  

Session 4: Building the Crime World 

Objective: Building the narrative engine and creating a believable, immersive crime  universe. 

• Review the assignment from week 3 
• What Is the Narrative Engine - the force that keeps the story moving forward that  comes from:  
  • A central question (“Will they get away with it?”)  
  • Escalating stakes - Propulsion 
  • Constant obstacles and reversals  
• Types of engines in crime films – Some of this will be a review: 
  • Investigation (detective solving a case)  
  • Pursuit (cop vs. criminal chase)  
  • Heist (planning → execution → fallout)  
  • Moral descent (character transformation through crime) 

Assignment – Assign One-on-One's to get feedback on writing assignments. • Homework: Rewrite if necessary

Session 5: One-On-One's 

Session 6: Sharpening your inciting incident 

Objective: Further defining the rules of this world and the main character’s objectives • We will spend this class further discussing the inciting incident and the engine. I  have found that this element is often extremely soft in scripts from new writers. • Homework: Write your first 10 pages. 

Session 7: The Plot 

Objective: How to pace your plot 

• New writers usually have too much plot and not enough emotion. We will  discuss the difference and the detriment of having too much of one and not  enough of another. 
• Assign final One-on-One's to get feedback on writing assignments. 

Assignment – Rewrite the first 10 pages and start on pages 11-20. 

Session 8: One-On-One's

WHAT TO EXPECT:

PLEASE NOTE: This exclusive Stage 32 lab will be booked on a first-come, first-served basis. The opportunity to work this closely and for this long with an expert in the field is an incredibly unique and valuable opportunity. If you are interested, please book quickly. Once the spots are gone, they’re gone for good.

• This is an intimate, in-depth, practical, and detailed class held on Zoom where you will be interacting with your instructor.

• This class consists of 8 sessions roughly two hours in duration and offers significantly more in-depth content than a standard Stage 32 webinar.

• ***Your instructor will be available on email during the entire duration of the lab to answer any questions you have about your project.***

• To stay motivated and inspired you will have access to a dedicated Stage 32 Lounge post where you can meet, connect and communicate with your fellow classmates throughout the length of the class and beyond. Let Stage 32 help you find your tribe!

• Can't make it live? Don't worry, each session will be recorded and you can watch it on demand at your convenience. 

• You will be held accountable to take the lessons from each week and move your work forward.

• Payment plans are available at checkout through Shop Pay

• Aspiring Screenwriters who have always wanted to write a crime feature but aren't sure where to begin — and need a clear, structured path from idea to finished screenplay
• Emerging Writers who have a crime story idea but struggle to develop compelling characters, build a solid three-act structure, or keep their narrative engine moving forward
• Produced or Unproduced Writers who have written a crime script before but know something isn't working — whether it's pacing, stakes, character motivation, or an inciting incident that just isn't landing
• TV Writers looking to expand their craft into feature film writing and want to understand how crime storytelling translates across formats
• Writers seeking industry-level feedback who are tired of working in isolation and want personalized, one-on-one notes on their actual pages from a producer with credits at HBO, Amazon, MAX, and Paramount
• Anyone who has ever started a crime screenplay, gotten stuck, and abandoned it — and is finally ready to finish what they started with the right guidance behind them