What is Screenwriting?

Want To Be A Screenwriter?

Film Connection Will Hook You Up With A Professional Screenwriter To Be Your Private Mentor.

The Film Connection Screenwriting School will teach you both the creative and the business sides of the screenwriting process. You will train, one-on-one, under the direct supervision of your mentor, an active screenwriting professional, in private sessions while you work on creating, polishing and marketing your screenplay.

If accepted into our film program, you will be matched with a senior mentor who is a working professional screenwriter located within 90 minutes of where you live. The screenplay is the initial vision, the guiding light, the starting point of any film project. Just as it is the director’s job to transform the screenplay to the big screen, it is up to the screenwriter to capture the original concept and idea in words.

What Will I Learn?

If accepted into our Screenwriting Program, you will learn all aspects of how to create the perfect script, and how to pitch that script to the industry. Just as the plays of Shakespeare were written in iambic pentameter, the screenplay has its own formatting rules, and your Film Connection Screenwriting School mentor will guide you through them. You will learn basic screenwriting structures from the three-act play to the hero’s journey to the plot point and sequence approaches.

What is Screenwriting?

Screenwriting is the art of creating stories for film, television, and more. Screenwriters are responsible for crafting the screenplay — which is a narrative blueprint for the story that is told through visuals and dialogues. The screenwriter must also consider how their work can be adapted to fit different media such as stage, radio, or animation. Strong screenwriters have an extensive understanding of character development, plot structure, and storytelling techniques..

What does a Screenwriter do?

Obviously, to be a success as screenwriter, you need to know how to write. You need to have an ear for dialogue, as much of what is written for the screen is the spoken word. You need to understand how writing for the screen differs from writing for print. (Have you ever noticed how many great books make lousy movies because the screenwriter was unable to capture the book on the screen?) You have to be able to gauge how many screen minutes each scene you write will need. You absolutely must know how to write under pressure, as last minute rewrites are the rule, not the exception.

Are you ready to meet some of our mentors and read for yourself how our unique screenwriting program works? Well, here’s one for starters.

Tips from a Professional Screenwriter

“I went to a good film school, but the day I graduated I had no idea what to do. No one wanted to hand me thousands of dollars to direct or produce anything so I had to figure it out on my own. The Film Connection does the figuring out for you. Learn while you network, I don’t understand why more film schools don’t adopt this type of program. It makes a ton of sense.”

— Evan Astrowski

Screenwriting School Alternative

Go to any major bookstore and you’re likely to find dozens of books on screenwriting. From knowing the fundamentals to surviving Hollywood, everyone claims to have the “secret” that will help you make it as a screenwriter. Why, then, are there literally thousands of screenwriter wannabes and only a select few who actually succeed in the business?

Unlike the popular stereotype, real screenwriters don’t just follow their “inspiration” or answer to some kind of elusive “muse.” The truth of the matter is that screenwriting is a very real craft and, like any other craft, it is one best learned on the job and taught by active professionals.

That’s where the Film Connection comes in. Most regular film schools will sit you in a class taught either by people who’ve never had a movie made, or past players whose knowledge of the business dates back to a three-year run on Alf. The Film Connection, on the other hand, is an exciting mentor/apprenticeship program that puts you under the direct guidance of a professional screenwriter who is working in the industry here and now.

Truth be told, this isn’t a new concept. In television, where the writer literally runs the show, the Writer’s Assistant is a coveted position that gives on-the-job training from script to screen. After working intensively to support the show runner and his team — while learning the ins and outs of creating actual episodes — a talented Writer’s Assistant will eventually go on to pen his or her own scripts. Why, then, shouldn’t a real-life mentorship approach also apply to screenwriting?

Well, it does. And here at the Film Connection, we take the externship idea seriously. If accepted into our program, you will train one-on-one with a professional screenwriter who is located within 90 minutes of where you live. Everything the screenwriting “gurus” discuss – from story, characterization, theme, and dialogue to revising, polishing and marketing your script – will be covered. But instead of the cold information of a book, or even the fragmented attention of a class setting, you will have real personal, interactive feedback from someone who has moved beyond theory into the practical world of screenwriting. Writing can be a lonely pursuit, but not when you have a seasoned professional to bounce your ideas off of–someone with a trained eye and ear who can help you avoid the mistakes of an amateur. Someone who can breathe life into your great concept, move you through writer’s block, help you get your ideas onto the page, and help you hone your own screenwriting until it shines.