Event Details
Monday
August 1, 2022 5:00 pm
via Zoom
RSVP
The latest installment of the Fundamentals of Screenwriting Series with Timothy Michael Cooper.
To create a great sci-fi, fantasy, horror, supernatural, historical, or superhero script (among other genres), first you’ll need to build a clear, well-defined world for your readers. We’ll use tons of good AND bad examples from historical, sci-fi, and fantasy films/series, from JOHN WICK and HIDDEN FIGURES to DOWNTON ABBEY and SEVERANCE, as well as plenty of fun group games to expand your story’s scope!
Some of the topics and techniques we’ll cover include:
- Creatively establish the details of your setting’s societies, classes, and rules
- Build multidimensional characters to take advantage of all aspects of this new world
- The 5 worst clichés of each genre and how to fix them
- Top techniques for convincing producers to take a bet on this project right now
- 7 way-too-common issues with fantastical premises to avoid at all costs
- Cleverly disguise backstory through action, comedy, and other high-level techniques
- Why the emotional journey should be your #1 priority every time, no matter what the genre
…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.
