Monday, October 30, 2006

Q. Is there a site out there which evaluates all the screenwriting courses, seminars, workshops that are offered. Do you know anything about the hands-on screenwriting workshops offered at www.theworkshops.com in Maine, or the 1 yr online professional screenwriting program at UCLA which they started few years ago. Gotham workshops also keeps coming up now and then, but how to find out how good all these are?

I don't keep track of screenwriting courses, but maybe you readers would like to comment on screenwriting programs and classes that you've taken?

Labels: school

9:56 AM

6 Comments:

I have taken both the UCLA professional program and 6 (yes 6) UCLA Extension classes. Knowing what I know now, I would recommend taking one of the extension classes first if you are really just stepping into the screenwriting pool. While the Professional Program (which is modeled on the famed 434 class of the MFA program at UCLA) does teach the fundamentals, having some grasp of them first can help you get more out of the program. I took all classes on campus, but feedback I have received from the online students was the the program was effective and valuable. Also, cost difference -- the extension classes range between $300-500 a semester depending on the class. The professional program is a chunk of change for the whole year. Think about how much time you want to commit to the program before you decide what to take. But I do highly recommend both, especially for the connections you will make.

By  Shawna, at 12:27 PM  

Hi, I see you attended UCLA's professional program. I was just accepted into UCLA's professional screenwriting program. (I applied for the MFA but it was full).
A newer film school (Chapman University) offered me into their MFA Producing program because their MFA Screenwriting was full.
I'm having a hard time choosing which school to attend. My main concern is making connections in the industry. How exactly do you make connections to sell your scripts? Is it your fellow students, professors? Because Chapman has many more students in their film program as opposed to UCLA's professional program. So, how and from whom I make connections will weigh on my decision.
If you have read this, please respond: i have to decide very soon.

Thank you thank you.

-Dan Zechmeister.

By  Dan, at 1:57 AM  

My impression is that UClA is far and away better than Chapman. But that may be old information.

By  Alex Epstein, at 8:02 AM  

Alex, thanks for the prompt response. I ended up choosing UCLA, and I'm very happy with my choice.

By  Dan, at 2:50 AM  

Apart from the UCLA professional program there is a free screenwriting software available online


you need not be an expereinced screen writer to use it.

Also no installation isrequired its a browser web based application where yoou can write,print and save your script right in your browser.

By  carter, at 12:16 PM  

Yes,there is also another Online screenwriting software
available for the screenwriters

Plotbot writes the screenplays directly to the browser
The best reason to use Plotbot is to collaborate with other writers—partners or strangers!

Its a great collaborative screenwriting tool. The public projects are a lot of fun, and
the private projects allow people to write together more productively than traditional
screenwriting tools.

By  carter, at 11:11 PM  

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