Hopefully after the last two online class, Choosing a Marketable Concept and Before You Begin To Write Your Screenplay, you now have a solid, marketable story concept and a detailed outline and you’re ready to begin writing your screenplay. The next batch of classes being offered at Selling Your Screenplay will be all about helping you write a better screenplay.
One of the keys to getting your screenplay produced is getting high quality name talent attached to the project. With the right cast, it becomes much easier for a producer to raise the money to shoot your script. And getting the right cast all comes down to writing great roles that actors want to do.
To attract great actors and high power producers you’ve got to make your characters distinct and compelling. The dialogue must do more than just push the story forward, it must be memorable and define who the character is that’s speaking it.
In this class we’re going to teach you exactly how to write great characters and great dialogue.
This class will be taught by actor/director/writer Paul T. Murray and me, Ashley Scott Meyers. We’re both professional screenwriters (Paul is a director and actor, too) with real verifiable IMDb credits.
During this online class you will learn…
- You will learn how to write great, memorable characters that actors will love to play.
- You will learn how to write crisp dialogue that people will be quoting long after they’ve seen your movie.
- You will learn how to make even the small roles in your screenplay memorable, and why that’s so important.
In this online class we will…
- We will be illustrating what we teach with real movie examples.
- We will explain our process for creating compelling characters.
- We will show you exactly how we create crisp, memorable dialogue in our own screenplays.
- We will give you several exercises that will help you craft great characters and dialogue.
You should take this class if…
- You should take this class if you have a solid concept and outline for a screenplay and are ready to start writing.
- You should take this class if you struggle to write compelling characters or memorable dialogue.
- You should take this class if you often get the note that all your characters sound alike.
- You should take this class if you’ve written a screenplay or two (or three) but are having a hard time attracting interest in it.
- You should take this class if you want to give your screenplay the best possible chance of selling once it’s done.
About Paul T. Murray, Actor/Writer/Director
Mr. Murray wrote and Directed Boiler Maker starring Arie Verveen, Jack McGee and John Savage. It won Best Feature at SFVIFF and VFF.
Some of his other career highlights include co-writing What Doesn’t Kill You starring Mark Ruffalo, Ethan Hawke and Amanda Peet; writing and starring in Very Mean Men with Martin Landau Matthew Modine, Ben Gazzara, Charles Durning, Burt Young, and Louise Fletcher; writing Cruel World, starring Edward Furlong and Jaime Pressly; writing Scorched, starring Gary Busey and Andy Dick, and many many more.
As a Playwright, Mr. Murray penned; The Big Bad Brutal Biz, The Pen, Two-Nite Show and an acclaimed one-man show, Let’s Get The Hell Atta Here!
His acting credits include Formula 51, The Black Rose, Cajun Justice, Seth, Tales From The Crypt, Beauty & The Beast, Sledge Hammer, City Scrapes, Mancuso: FBI, and award winning MOW, News At Eleven. He plays Jimmy in the upcoming feature A Holiday Heist.
Mr. Murray grew up in South Boston and now resides in Studio City.
You can find him on IMDb here: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0615209/
Class Details
The original class took place in November 2013. The class was recorded so you can take the class anytime by joining Selling Your Screenplay Select.