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One Day Introduction to Screenwriting with Adam Simpson

A single session on campus, Saturday 12 December, 10am - 4pm

Overview

Spend a day learning the craft of screenwriting with Adam Simpson, a working professional who writes for primetime TV drama. This one-day intensive introduces you to the essential tools of the trade, offering a fast-paced, inspiring and practical guide to writing for film and television. Whether you're a complete beginner, a curious creative, or an emerging writer looking to sharpen your skills, this session is designed to get you thinking like a screenwriter from the very first minute.
You’ll explore the fundamentals of script format, character development, story structure, and the unique visual language of the screenplay. Through real examples from Adam’s own broadcast work and well-known (and lesser-known) films and shows, you’ll gain insight into how screen stories are built, how scenes are shaped, how to write dialogue that crackles with subtext and intent, and the everyday realities of being a working screenwriter.

Adam’s a firm believer that the way to encourage writing is to take away the fear and the mystique. With that in mind, there’ll be short exercises, plenty of discussion but no jargon. Expect practical advice drawn from years in the writers’ rooms of some of the UK’s best-loved TV dramas.

By the end of the day, you’ll leave with a clear understanding of what a screenplay is, how to start writing one, and how to develop the habits, mindset, and confidence to keep going.

Syllabus

A practical, inspiring day with a working screenwriter

  • Session 1: What Even Is a Screenplay?
  • Morning Break
  • Session 2: The Shape of Story
  • Lunch Break
  • Session 3: Characters Who Drive Plot (and vice versa)
  • Afternoon Break
  • Session 4: Writing Dialogue that Works
  • Session 5: What Now?

Course lecturer

Represented by Alexandra Cory and Julia Wyatt at Berlin Associates, Adam is a playwright and Royal Television Society Award-winning screenwriter. His TV drama, One More Unfortunate, was short-listed for the Red Planet Prize.  The subsequent stage adaption was performed nationwide. His next play, Saved by the Bell Jar, was shortlisted for the Bruntwood International Prize for Playwriting and is in development with BBC Radio Drama North and the Liverpool Everyman. He has penned episodes for continuing dramas across multiple platforms and has written for Jimmy McGovern’s MOVING ON for BBC1. Adam’s first episode, BEATEN, was Sunday Times Critic’s Choice. He’s written extensively for the Guardian and worked with both the Guardian and Faber on The Secret Teacher Book. Adam is currently writing for Waterloo Road (BBC1) and Hollyoaks (C4, E4) as well as working on original projects and a new, Liverpool-based Netflix drama.

Course fee

  • Standard fee: £60