Introducing a Major Character
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Webinar hosted by: The Write Now Challenge
Allen James Roughton is the Stage 32 Script Services Coordinator, a screenwriter, reader and development researcher who has consulted on over 100 projects, scripts, books, comics and films and conducted research on life stories, exposés, professions and locations for development at major production companies. Nick Assunto is part of the Stage 32 script services team and a repped screenwriter himself. He was previously a reader for the Austin Film Festival, a writer for the 2017 CBS Diversity Sketch Comedy Showcase, co-host of the Sunday show B.Y.O.T. at UCB, and dabbled in acting, having been featured on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, an eHarmony commercial directed by Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst (for real), and is infamously known as Tony, the annoying party member from the 'Four Friends' Elder Scrolls spots. Full Bio »
Webinar Summary
A great story starts with great characters and every great character starts with a great introduction. We challenged you to create or rewrite a scene where a major character is introduced.
What You'll Learn
This month, we challenged you to rewrite or polish a scene where a major character is introduced in one of your scripts. You had to think carefully about the characters actual description, what they do in the scene, how others react to them and their presence, their first few lines of dialogue, and anything else that impact their introduction.
We discussed character introductions on the last Breakdown webcast, so be sure to watch that if you want to see how produced screenplays achieve great character introductions, and always remember that what makes a character interesting is the subversion of expectations (creating a unique character) and giving them nuance (most great characters contain both good and bad, and have their reasons for both).
We broke down some of the best submissions received from our writers and discussed best practices on how to break through the sticking points associated with the challenge.
About Your Instructor
The Write Now Challenge
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