Overview
Conflict, action, relationships, killer lines. They all begin at the writer’s desk. You'll be introduced to the concepts behind screenwriting by a professional working screenwriter, exploring key principles as they're expressed in a range of TV and film scripts, including Adam's own broadcast work.
Videos, script excerpts and discussion steps will offer you the opportunity to learn about script layout, loglines, pitching, intention and obstacle. You'll also focus on story structures and their unifying shape, character development, arcs, dialogue and the rhythm of speech patterns, developing good writing habits and understanding how a comfort zone can be the enemy of creativity.
The course is ideal whether you're a beginner, aspiring creative writer, or an experienced writer looking to take your work to the next level By the end of the course, you’ll understand what’s necessary to write an effective screenplay and be fluent in the language used to discuss the medium.
Syllabus
- TV and script layout, intention and obstacles
- The writing process, getting started, writing dialogue
- 'Show, don’t tell' and an introduction to character development
- Developing characters
- Rules of a story and story structure
- Writing scenes and story ideas
- Research, audience, and developing good writing habits
- Re-writing and responding to notes
- The big elevator pitch.
Course lecturer
Represented by Alexandra Cory and Julia Wyatt at Berlin Associates, Adam Simpson 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: £155
- Concession fee: £80.
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