WHEN 10 weeks, Mondays, September 22 - December 1, 7-10 pm WHERE Beverly Hills, CA LEVEL Intermediate MORE INFO Email us or call 212-547-7890 PRICE $610 ($575 for ) more info

Course Details

You want to write for TV, and you've mastered the basics of meeting deadlines, wordcount, and editing. Now you're ready to get your script off the ground. In this class, you'll start and finish the first draft of your sitcom or one-hour drama spec script. Each week, you will bring in the amount of pages for your spec script that your instructor requires. 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 while 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 will learn:

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

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

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

Related Courses

Instructor Bio

Chad Gervich's Courses

Chad Gervich is a television producer, published author, and award-winning playwright who spent five years as a development executive and producer with the Littlefield Company, former NBC president Warren Littlefield's production company with Paramount Television. Chad developed and produced the Style network's hit comedy/reality series, Foody Call, and recently executive produced Celebrity Drive-By, a talk show pilot for E! Entertainment. He's currently working on Dirty Laundry, an internet soap for FOX, and writing on staff for The Daily Grind, an online comedy for Warner Brothers.

Prior to joining Littlefield, Chad worked in development at NBC Studios, Sony Pictures, CBS Productions, and Twentieth Century Fox. He's been instrumental in the development, production, and maintenance of countless pilots and series such as Love, Inc. (UPN), Malcolm in the Middle (FOX), Like Family (WB), Time Tunnel (FOX), Star Search (CBS), and Do Over (WB). His plays have been produced across the country, and his writing appears regularly in Daily Variety, Fade In, Moving Pictures, Writer's Digest and Orange Coast, as well as in several other nationally available books and magazines.

Testimonials

I started this class with a blank writing tablet and ended the course with a spec script that I would be proud to submit to an agent. That's worth the time and the money. -- Dylan Conroy, assistant to Bruce Nash, Nash Entertainment

"I thought the seminar was valuable - Chad was a dynamic speaker and took his time to make sure that everyone in the class participated and got their questions answered. I will definitely take another class with him. " -- Angie Truschel, Research, Marketing, and PR Assistant

"The seminar offers a great overview of the TV writing and production landscape and how the business works. Chad is a very energetic and charismatic speaker with a non-judgmental, supportive teaching style. He outlined a well-prepared, step-by-step approach to determining the kind of spec to write and how to break down a script; explained the structure of the TV business, writing staff hierarchy and hiring practices; and offered various strategies to landing a job. I felt like I left the seminar with tangible tools to move forward with the next step." -- Sue Karlin, freelance journalist Newsweek, Forbes, Esquire

"The seminar is well-organized, entertaining, and packed with information. Chad has valuable insights to share about the TV business and the craft of writing pilots. Whether you're a rookie or a professional, you'll feel focused, smarter, and ready to write after these 3 hours." -- Wendy Calhoun, staff writer, Raines NBC-Universal/NBC

"The course content was fabulous. Exactly what I expected in terms of starting from scratch to getting into the minute detail. What more can you do in 3 hours really? For a 3-hour seminar it was just perfect. We went overtime because there's just so much to know about this subject." -- Georgia Cassimatis