Basic Screenwriting
with Andy Craft

In this class we study the fundamental principles of writing for the screen. We look at how this accelerated form of storytelling affects the emotional pitch of the experience we have of watching a movie. We study screenplay format and why it is the way it is. We study character and its effect on plot. We look at conflict and its motor function. We will study theme and premise and how they underpin the whole movie.

Each week a series of lectures addresses these indispensable tools. Students will be expected to watch movies at home, take part in online discussions and complete a variety of assignments designed to familiarize them with these essential elements of screenwriting. Students will be expected to begin work on developing a full-length original script. (No adaptations, please!) The second half of the course will be devoted to workshopping these ideas.

By the end of the course students will be prepared to work on a full-length original screenplay.

Admission requirements:
You should submit a letter of interest, including a brief work history, previous courses and a writing sample of no more than 15 pages.

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Andy Craft has written and produced musical theater in London and New York. He has worked as a script consultant and story developer for TenPaces Productions, Maniac Films, Longfellow Pictures and Ariel Semmel productions, among others. He has taught screenwriting at beginner, intermediate and master-class level at New York University for five years. He currently has a movie in development and is also working on a novel.