WRITE YOUR MOVIE TREATMENT! 


WILL YOUR STORY SINK OR SWIM?

Why is it that writers or their stories often hit a brick wall before they reach the mid-point? Or even before they reach the end of Act 1?

One of the main reasons is that they haven’t written a treatment first to lay down the tracks, therefore they are more likely than not to box themselves into a corner. The process of writing a treatment helps screenwriters lay out a solid foundation for their screenplay and save valuable time in the writing and rewriting process. Outside of a few so-called “pantsers” who like flying by the seat of their pants and making up their stories as they go along, most professional writers do a great deal of pre-writing (an outline, a treatment, etc.) before starting to write their actual scripts.

This hands-on workshop gives you the opportunity to map out your plot and develop your characters and theme before you start writing the actual script.

​A companion course to our popular WRITE THAT SCRIPT! Series, WRITE YOUR MOVIE TREATMENT! is perfect for those who are exploring a brand new story or feel an existing script needs re-designing from the ground up.
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By the end of this workshop, you will have a fully developed 4-6 page treatment and a solid logline for your screenplay.

This workshop has limited seats (up to 8 writers).

During each class, the writers receive 20 minutes of feedback from three peers and the tutor.

Before they join the course writers should have an idea for a feature film ready to be developed into a 4-6 page treatment.


Who should take this workshop?

  • Returning students who have taken the Writing the Low Budget and/or Writing the Contained Feature Film workshops with Stéphanie Joalland.
  • Writers and writer-directors working on bigger-budgeted projects and spec scripts.
  • Writers and writer-directors who would like to develop a brand new idea.
  • Writers and writer-directors who feel that their existing script would benefit from a complete re-imagining.
  • New or experienced writers who seek the support of like-minded creatives to develop their characters and stories in a workshop environment.

The course is workshop-oriented. The assignments will be due no later than midnight the following Wednesday. You will be expected to read three of the students’ work per week in order to give them notes in the class. In turn, you will benefit from the feedback and support of the tutor and three of your peers that will allow you to develop your treatment in-between each session.

Course handouts on craft issues supplement the workshop.


SYLLABUS 

WEEK 1 - Ease into your story.

During the first session, you will pitch your story and write your logline. In class, we will explore:

  • Your logline to make sure the key structural components are in place.
  • The genre of your story.
  • How your film begins.
  • The climax and resolution.

WEEK 2 – Breaking the story

In this class, you will bring the rewritten logline and a one-page treatment you wrote following session 1. In class, we will explore how to:
  • Structure your plot.
  • Heighten key narrative beats.
  • Choose visually exciting settings.
  • Play with the genre and conventions of screenwriting.

WEEK 3 – Develop your characters

Following Week 2, you turn your one-page treatment into a two-page treatment. During this session, you workshop your two-page treatment and look into how to:

  • Firm up the foundations of your script and identify any weak points.
  • Strengthen the mid-point.
  • Ensure your protagonist remains proactive.
  • Make sure your protagonist has an arc.

WEEK 4 – The 4-page treatment

Following Week 3, you turn your two-page treatment into a four-page treatment. During this session, you zero in on:

  • Subplots.
  • Set-ups and pay-offs.
  • Secondary characters, who is necessary, who isn’t.
  • Arcs of the secondary characters.

WEEK 5 – Smooth sailing from here on in.

You submit a 4-6 page treatment for the final class. Before you begin writing the script, you will be looking into:

  • How your story may have changed thematically.
  • Next steps: longer treatments, beat sheets, and step-outlines.
  • Commercial treatments vs. development treatments.
  • Expressing your voice in a treatment: tone and writing style.


By the end of the workshop, you will have:

  • A well-developed 4-6 page treatment ready to be turned into a feature-length script.
  • A network of supportive writers.
  • Practical tools that will support the development of your script and your writing practice in general.
PRICES
STANDARD: £275
CONCESSION: £247
*We offer the concessionary rate to all Concessions as well as to members of these affiliated organisations.  If you are a member of one of these organisations, please book at the concessionary rate and show your membership card to the course tutor at registration.
DATES & TIME

5 x Thursday evening sessions:
May 13, 20, 27 
June 3, 10
7pm-10pm BST 

(With some prep work required, in-between dates)

ONLINE PLATFORM
The sessions will be run on Zoom. All attendees will be sent the Zoom login information upon registration.

EVENT CAPACITY: 8
Book your place early to avoid disappointment.
FOR FURTHER DETAILS
Email or phone:  07958 244656
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ABOUT STEPHANIE

​Stéphanie is a writer-director. She runs Frenzy Films, a London-based production company which specialises in contained elevated genre films. 

Originally from France, she began her career in story development at TF1 International and Canal Plus. She then worked as a story editor and screenwriter for French TV, creating among others a Sci-Fi animated series for Luc Besson’s Europa Corp: VALERIAN & LAURELINE. 

After studying film at UCLA she wrote and directed her first feature film, THE QUIET HOUR, a sci-fi thriller starring Dakota Blue Richards (The Golden Compass, Skins, Endeavour). THE QUIET HOUR  premiered at Galway Film Fleadh, was nominated Best British Film at Raindance Film Festival, won Best Film at Kansas City Film Fest, showcased at Newport Beach, premiered on Sky Cinema in the UK in 2016 and sold to Amazon Prime in the U.S. 

Stéphanie is now developing ICE,  a grounded sci-fi thriller which was selected for the 2020 Filmarket's UK Online Pitchbox, Sofia Meeting, BiFan's NAFF Project Event and Frontieres co-production market at Fantasia. ICE has also made the Top 50 in the 2020 ISA Fast Track Fellowship competition and was a finalist of the 2020 ScreenCraft Sci-Fi & Fantasy Competition and Creative Screenwriting Unique Voices Competition.

Stéphanie lectures on screenwriting at the London College of Communication, Central Film School and works as an industry mentor on the Raindance MA in Filmmaking with De Montfort University. She is an alumna of Berlinale Talent and IFP Emerging Narrative in NYC. 
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