DURATION/TIME  12 weeks September 6 - November 22 Online chats: Thursdays, 9:30 - 10:30 pm EST LEVEL  Intermediate ONLINE CLASS INFO See our eClasses info page.  PRICE $610 ($575 for ) more info

Course Details

You've had a great idea for a screenplay for years. You can write and have a good eye for a story. But you just can't seem to get from concept to finished product. What you is need an in-depth look at structure, dialogue, character, and development. And what do you need the most? To finish your script!

In this intense, 12-week workshop, you'll work with like-minded classmates under the guidance of a seasoned screenwriter to finish and workshop a complete draft of your screenplay.

• The three-act punctuation structure of screenwriting
• How to enhance your storytelling abilities and create more drama in every scene
• How to format and structure your screenplay
• How to create effective, memorable characters
• What to do with your screenplay when it's finished

Admission requirements:
Please submit a letter of interest (including a brief work history) and a writing sample (less than 2,000 words).

The online classroom has several interactive components:

• Instructors post lectures once a week. You can read them online, print them, or download them at your convenience.
• Students post completed assignments for feedback and discussion by the instructor and class.
• Weekly chats allow your class to get together via instant message. Transcripts are available for review if you can't attend. 
• Technical support is available from mediabistro staff.

Instructor Bio

Michael Zam's Courses

Michael Zam is a screenwriter, script doctor, and writing coach. For five years he ran NYU's adult creative writing department, where he created and developed the program's very successful screenplay certificate program. His screenplay, Lizzie Walker Slept Here, is currently being prepped for shooting next summer in Ireland. He's written comic essays and articles on film and media for a variety of publications, including Time Out, Details, INDIEwire, and as a pop culture critic he has been quoted on everything from the Golden Globes to sex on film sets in The Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning Sun, USA Today, and CNN, among many others. He studied filmmaking at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and holds a Master's Degree from the American Film Institute, where he also won the top screenwriting prize, among several of his screenwriting citations.

Testimonials

I emerged from the 12-Week Screenwriter with a screenplay that I was very happy with and a very solid idea of how I could improve it. Michael provided us with a framework that helped me see the gaps in my original concept, and find ways to fill them. His comments and those of my classmates were consistently insightful and thought provoking, and helped me push the story much further than I could have alone -- and the chance to watch other people's screenplays come to life, as well as the opportunity to think about their evolving work critically, taught me a lot about story telling and the writing process. -- Jean-Francois Chenier

"After working on a novel for more than a year, I took Michael Zam's class, and was able in a timely fashion to evolve a structure for the same material. Rather than floundering around, I was able to apply his system to pinpoint my rather complicated story and discover an ending I couldn't know in advance. Michael was consistently kind, accurate, insightful, encouraging, and pragmatic -- not just about our work succeeding, but our chances in the real screenwriting world. I recommend this class to anyone with a story and a committment to realize it." -- Susan Weinstein

"At the start of the class, I was dubious that we would really be able to crank out a draft by the end of the session, but almost everyone did. The upfront character and plot development work that Michael had us do in the first few weeks really helped when it came to actually writing the screenplay. His insightful feedback and constant encouragement also played a big part in motivating me to finish it. And, we all enjoyed the class so much that we lobbied mediabistro to create a new one specifically to revise the first drafts we now had in hand. If that doesn't say something about the quality of the class, I don't know what does." -- Elizabeth Kricfalusi

"Michael Zam is great. He's EXTREMELY supportive and also quite knowledgeable about screenwriting, and he made himself highly available to all of us, had positive constructive criticism throughout for everyone involved." -- Daniel Tynan