Event Details
Monday
April 5, 2021 5:00 pm
via Zoom
RSVP
Write Your Pilot!
Few script formats are as difficult to pull off as writing an outstanding pilot. You must introduce a cast of fresh characters, a series-worthy mission, a consistent format for each episode, and an exciting mystery—all within less than half the page count of a feature. Whether you’re writing a half-hour comedy, an hourlong episodic, or any other genre/format, I’ll break down the process into bite-size, feasible mini-projects—giving you all the tools you need to build a show everyone will want to buy and binge.
Some of the topics and techniques we’ll cover include:
• Understand the new landscape of immediate hooks and constant cliffhangers
• The 4 types of loglines you MUST write before you pitch
• Why your pilot should “burn story” like nobody’s business
• Create uniquely compelling characters worth following for 100+ episodes
• 3 pilot templates to steal for a foolproof structure
• Why mysteries and secrets are always your friend, no matter what the format/genre
• Set up multiple mysteries that’ll pull in execs and viewers
…and a whole lot more. Hope to see you there!
Timothy Michael Cooper is an award-winning filmmaker, comedy writer, and script consultant. He wrote and directed the Writers Guild Award-nominated Concierge: The Series, starring Kate McKinnon. His short comedy Lemon premiered at Tribeca, played at dozens of international festivals and on United Airlines, and is currently in development as a sitcom. Plus, he’s been part of the writers’ room for the Writers Guild Awards for the past six years, writing monologue jokes and sketches for numerous hosts/presenters.
Through his company, Blueprint Screenwriting Group, he’s taught hundreds of writers. His clients and students have sold their scripts to major studios; staffed on multiple network and cable TV shows; screened/won at SXSW, Sundance, Tribeca, Cannes, etc.; and got their movies and shows made across the globe.
Timothy is a proud member of the WGAE, the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective Writers’ Workshop, the Hollywood Radio & Television Society, and the WGAE Softball Team.
About The Fundamentals of Screenwriting Series
The Fundamentals of Screenwriting with Timothy Michael Cooper is a WGA East seminar series that aims to live up to its name – to teach the fundamentals for screenwriters that need a refresher or journalists and other screenwriting novices looking to learn for the first time.
Watch the previous installments of the Fundamentals of Screenwriting series here.
