Course Objective

Transforming your premise into an engaging narrative

Course Cost

¥5,000

Course Description

The greatest challenge facing all screenwriters today, whether novice or professional, is the process of transforming a premise into a compelling, sustainable story.

This intensive workshop focuses solely on the art of the story, with an emphasis on such fundamentals as:

• Character Development
• Super-Objective
• Rising Conflict
• Scene Work
• Three-Act Structure

Participants will learn how to spot critical mistakes often made in the initial development of a screenplay’s narrative. The final goal of the workshop is a greater understanding of what makes a story work and a series of tools that participants can immediately apply to their current screenplay.

Class Schedule

October 17 (Thurs), 19:00-21:30

About the Instructor – Steven Wolfson

Steven Wolfson has taught screenwriting, playwriting and creative writing at The Writers Program at UCLA for the past 20 years and holds the distinction of having created the most new classes, workshops and seminars of any instructor in the program’s history. He has been awarded The Outstanding Instructor of the Year award twice, in both screenwriting and creative writing.

As a highly sought-after story consultant and dramaturg, Wolfson’s clients span the worlds of film, television, theatre and prose. He has worked one-on-one with several A-list Hollywood writers and directors, shepherding new projects from inception to production. Wolfson’s series of unique writing exercises have been secretly passed throughout Hollywood for years.

As a screenwriter, Wolfson has sold projects to Fox, Lions Gate, TNT, MTV, Langley Entertainment, Beacon Films and producer Arnold Rifkin. Wolfson wrote the independent romantic comedy, Dinner and Driving, which premiered at The Austin Film Festival and went on to win audience awards at several film festivals and was sold to HBO. Wolfson also wrote and co-produced the critically acclaimed Lionsgate feature, Gang Tapes, a coming-of-age drama set in South Central, Los Angeles. Gang Tapes played to sold out audiences at film festivals in both the United States and Europe.

Wolfson is a founding member of the Mark Taper Forum’s Mentor Playwrights Project. His original plays have been produced and workshopped at The Mark Taper Forum, Taper Too, The Getty Museum, Cornerstone Theater Company, The Virginia Avenue Project and The Geffen Contemporary. His most recent play, The Absence of Wanting, premiered in Berlin.