The Master Class

Approach

At The Screenplay Workshop, we teach the craft of screenwriting with a straightforward, no-nonsense approach. We give you concrete feedback you can actually do something with and techniques and tools that you'll take with you and use forever.

All of our programs focus first on STORY STRUCTURE, because if your story doesn't work, your script doesn't work. Easily 99% of spec scripts fail to tell a story. What they do instead is present a situation. Knowing the difference is critical for becoming a successful screenwriter! The first thing you'll learn with us is our exclusive "NUTSHELL TECHNIQUE," a simple, organic method for getting straight to the guts of your story and insuring that it works dramatically.

Our programs all build on the Nutshell Technique and continue to provide you with new tools that will bring you toward mastering the craft. For example, we'll give you tools to help you write:

CHARACTERS that are compelling and that we want to join on this journey, no matter how flawed or complicated they may be

DIALOGUE that actually sounds how people talk, that drives the story forward, and that pulls the reader right into the scene as if they were another character

SCENE AND ACTION DESCRIPTION that comes alive and has purpose, and that doesn't drive the reader nuts by trying to dictate how it should be shot

TRANSITIONS that make it impossible to put the script down. Forget the "SMASH CUT" and other amateur gimmicks! We'll show you how to make the story pull the readers into the next scene and make them utterly unable to resist turning to the next page.

Whether you are a complete beginner or a seasoned professional, you'll leave with a toolbox full of brand new tools that you'll be able to use forever.

"I loved the Nutshell approach! Once I grasped it (and it takes a little bit of time to do so), it was super helpful looking at films and structure. I found the worksheets for both the Nutshell and the beat sheet very helpful."

– Kat Candler
Filmmaker / UT RTF Faculty


"The Nutshell technique is very illuminating. It's a great way to organize the way you think about your story."

– Chad Nichols
winner of the prestigious Michener Fellowship in screenwriting


"I can't begin to tell you how much the Nutshell Technique helped me with outlining my screenplay idea. THIS is why it has taken me ten years of NOT finishing it: I didn't have a clear and straightforward technique to work with."

– Mary Mansfield


"The Nutshell technique is fabulous. Itreally helped in identifying what worked (and didn't) in my screenwriting."

– Susan Slattery
Artist/Writer