Beginning Television Writing with William Rabkin

Description

In this four week course offered through Writers University, two established executive producers/showrunners will give you an inside look at the world of episodic television. You will learn--and practice-- the actual process involved in successfully writing a spec episodic script that will open doors across Hollywood. You will learn how to analyze a TV show and develop "franchise"-friendly story ideas. You will develop and write a story under the direction of the instructors, who will be acting as showrunners... and then, after incorporating their notes, you will be sent off to write your outline. Finally, you will develop and refine your outline with the instructors, leaving you at the end of the course ready to write your episodic spec script...the first step in getting a job on a TV series.

Here is just a general breakdown of subjects you will be learning in-depth in this course:

Week 1: Learning How To Sell a TV Story

* What is a TV series?
* How to identify the "franchise"
* What is a TV story?
* The 4-Act sctructure and servicing the franchise

Week 2: TV Story Basics

* Developing your premise
* What stories not to write
* The importance of conflict
* The one-pager

Week 3: Writing the Rough Beat Sheet

* Breaking the story - figuring out which scenes will make up the episode

Week 4: Rewriting and Refining the Outline & Going to Script

* Writing the beat sheet
* Feeback on beat sheets

Created and conducted by:
Lee Goldberg and William Rabkin, authors of best-selling book SUCCESSFUL TELEVISION WRITING, are veteran showrunners whose executive producing credits include "Missing," "Diagnosis Murder," and "Martial Law." Their writing and/or producing credits also include ""SeaQuest," "Spenser: For Hire," "Hunter," "Baywatch," "Sliders," "The Cosby Mysteries," "Nero Wolfe" and "Monk," to name a few. Both are former journalists who covered the television industry for Newsweek, American Film, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Los Angeles Times syndicate, amongst others. In addition, Rabkin has directed episodes of "Diagnosis Murder" and has taught a popular television writing course at UCLA. Goldberg is also a mystery novelist (BEYOND THE BEYOND, MY GUN HAS BULLETS) and the author of a definitive book on television series development (UNSOLD TV PILOTS). He has taught writing seminars in Seattle, Miami, Denver, and Edmonton, Canada.

To enroll, or for more information, click here