Screenplay Writing Do’s and Don’ts: Formatting & Character Development – Workshop, March 20th

Imagine the weary script reviewer.  He or she is probably a recent college grad assigned to read as many as 5 scripts a day at the We’reDesperateForAHit production company.  Your’s appears on his/her desk.  Will it show the professionalism, engagement and clarity to wow that reader, prompting him or her to recommend it for possible option/development?

Maybe you DO have a great story, whether it’s based on true life experiences or your imagination. But if you haven’t mastered the craft of screenwriting, the way that your narrative is translated into the blueprint for a film, who will take you seriously?

How do you set up your characters, create proper slug lines and action that reflect every scene and describe what the actors should be doing?  In this workshop we will discuss all of this, looking at examples from hypothetical film situations and from your own projects.  We’ll also explore the many common mistakes that screenwriters make and there are lots of them!

Act structure for films and TV

Formatting do’s and don’ts

How to create a screenplay that is not overcrowded with words

Why your ending is important

The role of the logline

Developing backstories for your key characters.

Please bring a pad and pen.

Genine Amada Tillotson is the director of Harvard Square Script Writers and is the principal of Magic Lantern Multimedia, based in Newton MA.  She has been writing, producing and directing award-winning video and multimedia projects for over 25 years.  Ms. Tillotson worked for Action for Children’s Television as a development intern, helped outline a TV series at ABC, and wrote treatments for Harvey Weinstein.She has written and directed programs, supported by the NSF and US Dept. of Ed.  and has created an assortment of video projects for broadcast, web and large-scale events.

Her clients have included Mattel; Fisher Price; the Boston Museum of Science; The San Francisco Exploratorium; Sacred Heart University; MIT’s CSAIL; Harvard University; Emerson Umbrella for the Arts, and Partners Healthcare, to name just a few.

She has been the script doctor on a variety of PBS programs and the IMAX film, Coral Reef Adventure.

Her awards include a Silver New York Film Festival, a Gold Muse Award, three Gold Nebbys, including two “Best Overall Achievement,” and three ITVA Gold awards, among others.

Ms. Tillotson has been a guest speaker at NAB  (National Association of Broadcasters) and has lectured at both Lesley University and Emerson College.

In 2016 Ms. Tillotson founded the Different Faces, Different Voices Film Festival in Cambridge, MA featuring the Flicks4Chicks short film contest.

She is currently in pre-production on her own short comedy Next Great Hire and offers script review services to interested screenwriters.

Ms. Tillotson graduated with a BA in English and Psychology from Rutgers College and holds a Masters and CAS from Harvard University Graduate School of Education.

RSVP to admin@hsswriters.com