Half-Hour TV Intensive I

SCRIPT X 421.1N

Develop story documents and an outline for a script for an existing half-hour TV series in this fast-paced, intensive workshop.

Not Currently Available

What you can learn.

How to apply act structures to writing for half-hour television
Apply what you learn to craft an episode outline for an existing series
Draft two complete story documents you can use to write a script
Experience the process used in writers’ rooms in pitching and drafting your episode

About this course:

Network and cable half-hour comedies are experiencing the new Golden Age of television, and the key to creating a strong script of an existing series—regardless of the genre or outlet—is an airtight story and outline. In this intensive workshop, you learn how to turn the classic three-act story structure (beginning-middle-end) into a three act show, and more specifically how to use the tools of storytelling in a way that meets the demands of an existing half-hour television show. You make use of the time, effort, and creative resources involved in writing a half-hour comedy episode of television, up to the point of completion of the outline and just prior to writing an actual script. In short, the hard part. By the end of the course, students have written two complete story documents, a blended story document and beat sheet, and a complete outline that allows them to easily construct an episode of television. This is modeled on the process used in countless writers' rooms. All student projects must focus on current half-hour shows; animation is okay, no pilots.