Sunday 26 October 2008:

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Learn the absolute basics of storytelling for the screen.

In this seminar you will not be introduced into how to best use your creative energy or artistic inspiration. This is all about what structure works on the screen and how are successful movies told. The seminar is targeted to anybody who is serious about learning a craft that can help you connect with millions of people.

And guess what: once you understand and apply the principles taught in this seminar, you will be ahead of 90% of the screenwriters out there. This is the best kept secret in successful screenwriting.

The structure of success doesn’t end with the three-act structure, yet this is where you need to start as most people with any understanding of structure use it. An abundance of examples from a variety of genres will show you how successful movies apply the exact same structural principles in wildly different ways.

Sunday 9 November 2008:

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The Hero’s Journey is the singled most important story theory.

Not only does it apply to screenwriting, but to any type of storytelling. It has its roots in ancient myths, legends, parabels and it lives on in any type of story we communicate.

Looking at the most successful screen storytellers such as Pixar, you will learn that a solid mastery of this structure paradigm is absolutely essential to cut it in today’s competitive screen industry. Whether you are a writer, director or producer; whether you work in live action, animation, feature film or television.

To be successful today, it is not enough to understand and apply the Hero’s Journey to your overall story. Great movies have the journey on each level, it is the DNA of good storytelling. Some key examples from hugely successful family films will show you how the Journey operates on the level of story, sequence and scene.

Sunday 16 November 2008:

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An adaptation can be your way into the industry.

A huge proportion of successful movies at the box office are traditionally adaptations of existing works. For a budding screenwriter, for many reasons it often helps your career to start with an adaptation.

But reading a book is one. Adapting it into a movie is another.

What are the principles at play when you translate a literary work, a true story, a song etc. to a feature length movie?

Which movies were successful and how did they achieve that success. Which movies failed and how could that failure have been avoided?

During this one day seminar, we will look into a structural analysis of adaptations in various genres and from different source forms. This will show how the core structure of cinematic storytelling applies to the adaptation just the same, except in some vary rare occasions, which you may never find yourself in.

Sunday 23 November 2008:

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When the structure is done, it’s time to focus on the script.

Structure is the most important factor in telling a story that will resonate with an audience. You can get away with mediocre dialogue, the occasional typo or even a overly literary description. But sooner or later you will need to refine your scripting skills.

Once you have that razor sharp concept, you’ll need to magically work it into a brilliant read for the producer, executive or reader who will decide on your future.

The big players primarily look at screenplays with a powerful concepts, so once you make it through the first hurdle, your competition will most likely have a story that is on par with what you have on offer.

At this point, it will depend on how elegant you have told your story.

A brilliant read can get you a long way in this industry. This seminar tells you about many well-known and lesser known tricks to shape your screenplay and present it in a way that will astound the reader.

How to be your own script editor, proof reader and general devil’s advocate. A whole day full of invaluable basic information as well as a bunch of tips, tricks and checklists.

Your screenplay may not be perfect, but you can surely make it look the part.