Breaking Down the Elements of a Pitch that Secured Funding & How to Apply Them to Your Project (Case Study: BYPASS, Nominated for Best Film at Venice Film Festival)
Other education that may be of interest to you:
How You Can Simplify a Complex Script
In this exclusive Stage 32 webinar, we will be focusing on how to take your script and simplify it, while keeping the elements of the script complex, so it's easy for the reader (an executive, producer, manager) - and ultimately the viewer - to be able to follow your story. Your instructor, Samm Haillay, has produced films which have red carpet premiered at Cannes, Sundance, Venice, Toronto and more! Samm will share a simple/complex theory which he had developed called “The Story Rainbow”, which will examine the relationship and interconnectivity between Story, Narrative and Plot. We will be focusing on how to keep your script simple - yet complex - rather than confusing and complex. Of course, structure is vital, but we’ll be weaving a “Story Rainbow” through the elements of your script. You will be given the tools to approach the development of your film from a different angle. Clearly, it's worked for Samm, having had such success with his films screening at some of the world's top festivals!
From Script to Set: Getting Ready For Your 1st Day on Set
The script is finally ready…now, how do you prepare for your first day on set? There are a lot of factors that go into preparing for your film shoot. We’ve brought in producer, Samm Haillay, to talk about the process from script to set. Samm is an eight-time feature film producer, whose films have premiered at Cannes, Venice, Sundance, SXSW and who’s film Island of the Hungry Ghosts won best Feature documentary at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. He’ll be going over everything from schedule, budget, casting, locations and more to get you prepared for day one. He’ll be sharing his decades of experience and helping you avoid common mistakes made, as you get ready to shoot your film.
Write Now Webinar - Writing Using Limited Dialogue or Creating a Meltdown
Using the investigation scene from The Wire or the AI & Wu scene from Deadwood as inspiration, craft a scene where characters communicate using as few words as possible. As a second option, use the initial meeting between Sean and Will in Good Will Hunting or Annie's wedding shower meltdown from The Bridesmaids, and write a scene where your character snaps!
Get In the Writer's Room: Becoming a TV Staff Writer
Breaking into the Television industry is tough, but perhaps the most difficult area of the TV business to enter is the writing staff. And yet, it’s not impossible. In fact, many people from all walks of life and from different educational and professional backgrounds find their way onto writing staffs everyday and go on to build lucrative careers in this cutthroat enterprise. In this Stage 32 Next Level Webinar, TV Writer/Producer Charlie Charbonneau will teach you how you can too! Your host, Charlie has worked on the writing staffs of three different CW genre shows, including The Secret Circle, The Vampire Diaries, and its spin-off The Originals, and he has mentored many eager young writers desiring to write for TV. In this webinar, he will explain why it’s so notoriously difficult to ‘get staffed’ by identifying the budgetary, political, and practical craft constraints of the television writing landscape. Then, he will detail the wide array of different tools, methods, and pathways to surpassing these obstacles. Among other topics, he’ll discuss the benefits of different educational institutions and industry work-shop programs, how to get your foot in the door with different entry-level jobs, which support jobs in a writers’ office lead to paid writing, as well as what material to write and how to get the right people to read it. No matter your background or level of experience, all students will come away with a deeper understanding of the obstacles and the many surprising solutions to getting and keeping a spot at that big scary table in the Television writers’ room.
Navigating The U.K. Film Market
Learn directly from Laurie Cook, Producer and Head of Development at Bigscope Films, who's produced 4 feature films that have sold theatrically worldwide! Lured by generous tax incentives, many of Hollywood's biggest films have shot in London or are planning to head to the U.K. There is over $500,000,000 worth of public money to be spent on films each year in the U.K., and in 2012 there were over 250 films shot in the U.K. and over 600 films released there. It's a wonderful place to get films made, but the competition for finance and distribution is stronger than ever. What makes the film market different in the U.K than in Hollywood? How do you get your foot in the door as a writer, director, or producer in the U.K. film industry? Once you're in, how do you stand out from the crowd? In this Stage 32 Next Level Webinar, host Laurie Cook will guide writers, directors and producers through the independent U.K. film market from an insider's point of view: how to get funding for your script and film, how and why certain projects stand out against the rest, and how to boost your chances of success. This will be your go-to guide to navigating the U.K. film market and getting your film made in the U.K. You will leave with an agenda to make you and your project focused and well presented for maximum impact. Your host Laurie Cook is a Producer and Head of Development at Bigscope Films, where he produced the films Pressure (starring Matthew Goode & Danny Huston) and Don't Hang Up (starring Gregg Sulkin) releasing this year, as well as Hangar 10 and Outpost, which were released in 2014. He knows the ins and outs of the U.K. film market, what executives are looking for when taking on projects and how to make your mark to get your script and films made.
Crafting Scene Descriptions: Make Your Prose Leap Off the Page!
Writing is rewriting but that doesn’t just mean dialogue. Scene description is a crucial part of screenwriting, but far too often, it’s not given the attention that it deserves. The reality is, many screenplays are marred by static, wooden scene description. But powerful scene description can help your story to leap off the page and give your screenplay the “pop” it needs. Your scene description is where your writer’s “voice” comes in… And the way you write this prose can make or break your script. In this Stage 32 Next Level Webinar, professional screenwriter Steve Desmond will help you to elevate your descriptive writing to a professional level. He’ll help you to develop the tone of your story right on the page, long before it hits the screen. And he’ll dispel myths and go over how not to write scene description. Whether you’re working on an existing script or getting ready to start a new one, this webinar will help you to unleash your potential in prose writing and make the most out of every word in your screenplay. Your host Steve's latest script, Orb, was recently voted by industry executives as the #1 entry on the annual 2016 BloodList, honoring the top horror/thriller/sci-fi scripts of the year.
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