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The 12-Week TV Writer: Start (and Finish!) Your Spec Script in 3 Months!

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DURATION/TIME
12 weeks
Saturdays
September 11-December 11
(Skips September 25 for Yom Kippur and November 27 for Thanksgiving)
2-5 p.m.

LEVEL
This class is taught at an intermediate/advanced level. This is a time-consuming and intense workshop. Students must have the time and willingness to commit.

LOCATION
West Hollywood

PRICE
$610 ($575 for )
more info

Course Details

You want to write for TV, but you know you shouldn't take a beginner's class. After all, as a media professional, you've already mastered the basics: meeting deadlines, mastering wordcount, editing. Why take a beginner course that will teach you just that? If you keep up with this workshop, you'll start and finish the first and second drafts of your sitcom or one-hour drama script. Each week, you'll be required to bring to class a certain number of pages for your spec script. Each student will read his or her work (with the help of fellow "actors" in the class), and the teacher and students will take turns critiquing the piece, adding suggestions for making it tighter. The entire last class will be devoted to reading final drafts and learning how to get your script into the right hands. Class is also heavy on TV clips and sample scripts.

In this class, you can expect to learn:

  • Everything there is to know about the TV business from an industry expert
  • The rules for creating characters that ring true
  • Structure: How to "break for commercial," find a good ending, wrap things up seamlessly
  • The secret to perfect dialogue
  • Subplots: Where to put them, how to tie them in


By the end of class, you can expect to have:
A complete spec script for a one-hour drama or sitcom.

Admission requirements:
To apply, you must submit a letter of interest (including work history) and a fiction or nonfiction writing sample that should not exceed 2,000 words.

Instructor Bio

Aury Wallington's Courses

No courses available at this time.

Aury Wallington
Aury Wallington's television writing credits include Sex and the City, Veronica Mars, Courting Alex, and Pure Sunshine, an hour-long drama pilot she wrote for Sony Television. She is the author of four books in the series adaptation of The O.C. She is a judge in the annual Writer's Digest screenwriting competition, is a frequent contributor to Writer's Digest's "Scripts" column, was a finalist for the Sundance Writer's Lab, and was the winner of the 1999 MTV Fiction contest. Her first novel, Pop!, is being released by Razorbill Books this October. She is currently writing for the new Fox drama Wedding Album.

Testimonials


I have been to several writing/journalism seminars in the city, and none have been as helpful or interesting. She is very straightforward, funny, and approachable, which are great qualities to have when trying to engage people for three hours. -- Carol Bernard, freelance writer

"As a writing teacher and ex-development hussy, I thought Aury's presentation style was just fabulous -- encouraging, fast-moving, and pragmatic. I went to kick my ass in gear about finishing my spec, which her class clearly did, but I got far more than I expected." -- Martha Garvey, writer/interactive designer

"I flew up from Florida to attend Aury Wallington's seminar. It was well worth the trip and certainly answered many of the questions I'd had about writing TV scripts. Thorough and engaging, Aury proved to be an excellent speaker and a great teacher. I truly enjoyed her class, which was well put-together, quite interesting, and very informative. She was generous with inside tips and advice, and I really enjoyed her amusing stories about her own experiences working in television. I'd recommend any class she's teaching to any journalist considering branching into television." -- Kristin Harmel, freelancer, part-time reporter for People magazine and columnist for American Baby and NYC Pulse

"Aury was awesome-funny, candid, totally approachable. She broke down the writing process in easy-to-understand steps and made me realize, 'Hey, I can do this!'" -- Heather Wood, magazine freelance writer

"This was my first mediabistro seminar. I absolutely loved Aury. Everything she talked about was relevant and extremely helpful. My writing partner, Ariana Meyerson, and I now have direction. We felt lost, but now we are found." -- Penelope Giaouris, aspiring sitcom writer

"The seminar was really wonderful, from your opening remarks to Aury's very informative, friendly presentation. I haven't been to a writing seminar for many years, but this one was far and away the best, in a practical, nitty-gritty sense. It was also inspiring, and reflective of Aury's generosity of spirit." -- Julienne Marshall, freelance newspaper and travel-book writer

"When I began Aury's class I'd taken many screenwriting courses and read many books. Her course is a triple threat: the practical how-to of television writing, great insight into the super-tough TV business, and finally, tremendous encouragement from a professional who simply doesn't have to do it. I would never have become the writer I am now without her." -- Tracy Grant, 2006 Disney Television Writing Fellow

"Aury presented helpful, useful information in a down-to-earth way that made the class fun and worthwhile. The course content gave me good ideas on how to proceed in my current writing projects and where to go when I'm ready to deal with the business of getting my YA novel published." -- Patricia Wilkinson

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