Los Angeles-based screenwriter, producer and director, Alan Denman, presents this inspirational weekend course that will teach you the key principles of writing for the screen and help you unleash your creative juices.

With the advent of new, low cost technology there has never been a better time for writers and filmmakers to express themselves and get their stories up on the screen.

Both practical and packed with ideas, this intensive weekend course is designed to inform and inspire new and aspiring writers to the exciting possibilities of screenwriting and filmmaking in the digital age. Come and learn how to write your screenplay!

Day One will be divided into four parts with breaks between each.

1. What Really Drives Us
What fuels our imagination and animates our creativity? How can we utilize that magic moment when ideas burst forth and develop them into an original story? This opening session looks at the hidden processes within film viewing and storytelling and the qualities required to be a great screenwriter.

2. The Secrets of Great Storytelling
The five key principles of storytelling and how to get an audience to engage with your Protagonist, draw them into your story world and keep them there. Invaluable tools for screenwriters and an instant test to see if your story has the necessary components.

LUNCH

3. Think Like A Producer
To be in the business you have to know the business. This session will provide you with a clear overview of the production process from dream to screen plus tips on how to raise your status as a writer and think like a producer.

4. Make Your Story Universal!
The most successful screenplays have great themes that address the major questions of human existence and also utilize ancient primal story patterns. A grasp of archetypes will enlarge your power as a storyteller and give your script greater commercial potential.

The course includes film extracts, handouts and exercises. Come along with an idea, treatment or script you are working on.

Day Two is practical workshopping to help you develop your own screen story: who is your protagonist? what is their goal? what stops them? what is your theme? how can you add surprise and unpredictability to make your story stand out?