UK FILM COURSES

The most frequently asked question in the development process is ‘what’s at stake?’.

This one-day workshop offers a concentrated examination of how to maximise the stakes across every element of your screenplay.

The impetus to write is unique and precious to each writer and our personal connection with the material is often what keeps us going through the long dark months of drafting and redrafting. But from the earliest idea stage through to the final polish, it’s essential to keep evaluating how to invite the audience to share that passion for your story. Even if your story is not literally a matter of life and death, learning how to frame your characters’ stakes as critical is the foundation to shaping a story that audiences can emotionally invest in.

We will explore how to elevate the stakes within your premise, interrogate the dramatic tension within your scenes and sequences, and sharpen the motivations of your characters.

Whether you are a writer embarking on a new project, or a producer making the case for funding, our training gives you the tools to analyse why your story demands to be told and the skills to translate your excitement about the material into on-screen action infused with jeopardy.

WORKSHOP CONTENT
1. A Reason to Watch

This session will examine how to identify the most compelling stakes within a film idea and ensure that the story you develop lives up to the full potential within the premise. Does the conflict demand an urgent response? Is the character grappling with a challenge or dilemma that is universal to the human experience? Is the story dealing with an age-old conflict but in a fascinating new world? Or shedding light on a familiar story in an original way?

2. And Reasons To Keep Watching

Is your protagonist’s problem hard enough to solve that it genuinely takes ninety minutes of screen time for them to do so? This session explores how you ensure that your character’s predicament is embedded with enough layers of conflict to sustain tension, deliver satisfying turning points, and keep the audience hooked for the length of a feature film.

3. The Dramatic Question

The single most important ‘key’ to unlocking your story structure is knowing what dramatic question is driving your narrative. What precisely are we watching to find out? This session illustrates how to organize your story around a clear dramatic question: how to pose it at the end of your first act, restate it throughout, and finally answer it with an ending that has real impact and meaning.

This one-day workshop takes place at Pushkin House, 5a Bloomsbury Square, London WC1A 2TA and runs from 11am - 5.30pm with the opportunity to stay on for networking drinks with your fellow course attendees. The course costs £115.

As all shooters know, short films are an essential building block in your film-making career. This is increasingly true for screenwriters as well as writer/directors.

A tantalising dive into another world. An intimate revelation of human truth. A seductive tale with a twist. The best short films leave an imprint far beyond their final frame and are often more powerfully resonant because of their brevity.

Having worked extensively developing shorts in recent years, we found that many writers approach the design of their short films by adapting feature film principles rather than working fro… more

An essential guide to the practical process of script development: hone your analysis skills and refine your creative working process. This one day course is especially designed for script readers, developers and producers who want to explore the best practice of giving feedback and running development meetings with writers.
We all know that it’s true: writing is rewriting. But maintaining the inspiration and enthusiasm for repeated redrafts is an acquired skill and where a good script developer really proves their worth. Drawing on over twenty years experience of working with writers, we … more