Event Details
Thursday
September 9, 2021 5:00 pm
via Zoom
RSVP
Great Scenes: The Secret Sauce
We all remember them—iconic, earth-shattering, tense, visually unforgettable scenes that define a film or TV show, or even an entire era. Using some of the greatest scenes ever written as examples, you’ll learn how to build stunning set pieces, derived organically from your story, your characters, and the seeds you’ve planted earlier in your structure. Go for broke with unexpected yet vital scenes that no one will ever forget!
Some of the topics and techniques we’ll cover include:
- Build a showstopper by upping the stakes beyond the audience’s wildest imagination
- Why making us care about your main character is THE key to every memorable set piece
- Heighten our investment by…actually letting your lead fail!
- 3 simple questions that’ll instantly improve every single scene
- Amp up the tension! Customize the jeopardy for each specific character
- Disguise exposition through action, comedy, and more
- Build a totally unique sequence we’ve truly NEVER witnessed onscreen
…and a whole lot more. I 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.
