ABOUT THE WORKSHOPS

The Academic Screenplay is a series of four workshops created for emerging and interested screenwriters at McMaster University to learn, enhance, and grow their storytelling techniques for the TV and film screen. The workshop consists of four online sessions featuring writing exercises and guest speakers fro successful writers in the Canadian film and television industry.

What we cover:

Here’s what you can expect in the four workshops.

1. The first workshop will focus on genre. Screenplays and various other screen scripts, along with other forms of creative writing, are defined by genre. You’ll learn the definitions of genre, techniques for adhering to (or breaking) a specific genre, and how to incorporate genre into your writing process.

2. Next, we’ll shift to character development. The second workshop will focus on how to craft compelling, credible and living characters - one of the essential skills of screenwriting. You will come away from this session with a better understanding of how to write different characters and their corresponding dialogue.

3. The third workshop discusses the structure of your screenplay. The most common one is the three-act structure: the beginning, rising action, and final resolution of the story. You will be able to break down these three acts in great detail and understand what you should - and should not - incorporate into each to make your story flow.

4. The fourth and final workshop focuses on the academic screenplay. We take up the differences between academic and commercial screenplays and you’ll reflect on your position as an undergraduate student and how that can impact your screenplay process.

How to join:

Email: hanlos2@mcmaster.ca