This course focuses on the most important step in learning to write a screenplay: rewriting. The class is designed to help students embrace the difficult lesson of "letting go" of material from their first drafts to improve their work. The semester begins with students casting a critical eye on their fellow students' screenplays by writing coverage that will break down scripts into their fundamental elements and offer notes for improvement. Using feedback from fellow students and the instructor, students will then devise a new game plan (in the form of a detailed outline) for their second drafts and then execute it by meeting a series of writing deadlines. Equipped with an understanding that rewriting does not end with a second draft, students will receive detailed notes from the instructor to write their third drafts and beyond. Ultimately, students will learn that "writing is rewriting," a lesson they can apply to any discipline in order to transform good work into great work.

Course Requirements:

Group Coverage of Fellow Students' Screenplays - 10%. Revised Step Outline - 10%. Participation - 10%. Final Rewritten Screenplay - 70%, Minimum 90 pages; Maximum 110 pages

Intended Audience:

A maximum of 14 students who have been recommended by their Screenwriting 310 instructor. Seniors and juniors in FTVM will be given preference. A space or two is sometimes held open for non-majors who have been recommended by their FTVM 308 instructor.

Class Format:

This course will meet one night a week for three hours. Class time will be split between lecture, discussion and the workshopping of student scenes and sequences. All students are required to attend special lectures (or film showings) by visiting artists and producers sponsored by the Screenwriting Program