New Live Course from Script University

Script University is excited to introduce our brand new LIVE course, Comedy Pilots 101! This class will meet on Zoom every Sunday from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM Pacific Time, beginning on September 4th and ending on October 16th.

You will be required to attend the live class to see the lectures and participate in discussion - there will be no refunds offered for missed class sessions.

Comedy Pilots 101 will teach you how to create a TV comedy outline--the critical first step in writing a strong half-hour comedy pilot script. You will learn how half-hour comedy shows work, study main characters, and identify the core elements central to writing character and story. You will then focus on your own script, finding the story and identifying the comedy in it, learning how to pitch it, and creating a workable outline from which to write. Instruction also covers business aspects of the current TV landscape and writer’s room basics--how comedy writers work on staff, how freelance writers get staffed, and how writers collaborate "in the room."

In this fast-paced course, you will take your idea for a half-hour comedy series and turn it into an outline, write intensively, and get feedback from the instructor and fellow participants every week. Throughout this process, you will learn how to envision the world of your show; create characters and conflict; break (build) a story; and nail down your show's structure, tone, story, and act breaks. By the end of the course, you will have a full beat sheet and outline for a half-hour comedy pilot.

Space is limited for this interactive live course, so make sure to register before this session is full!

The course objective is to gain understanding and experience in how to write an original comedy pilot. During this course, you will…

Explore the major comedic elements of a TV pilot - genre, character, format, structure, beat sheets, outlines, as well as the current TV comedy landscape.
Choose a comedy pilot to write
Create a story that expresses your original voice
Develop collaborative feedback skills
Create a consistent writing schedule
Work toward outlining your pilot with weekly assignments
Conceive and pitch a producible idea for a sitcom.
Assess others’ work in order to give constructive notes via class discussions.

By the end of this course, you should be able to:

Develop an idea for a comedy pilot
Pitch your pilot idea
Give and receive constructive feedback
Write a Beat Sheet (2-4 pages)
Write an outline (5-10 pages) that can written as a Pilot in future Script University courses.

Learn from an expert instructor!

Paul Peditto is an award-winning screenwriter and director. His low-budget film Jane Doe starring Calista Flockhart won Best Feature at the New York Independent Film & Video Festival. Six of his screenplays have been optioned including Crossroaders to Haft Entertainment (Emma, Dead Poets Society). He recently wrote and produced the micro-budget feature Chat, currently being distributed by SG Global Media.

Over the past decade, Mr. Peditto has consulted with over 1,000 screenwriting students around the world. He has been Featured Speaker at Chicago Screenwriters Network, Meetup.com, and Chicago Filmmakers. He has appeared on National Public Radio and WGN radio, and reviewed in the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, L.A. Times, and the New York Times.

Peditto is an adjunct professor of screenwriting at Columbia College. Under his guidance his students have written and produced films that have appeared in major film festivals, have semifinal placings at Nicholl Fellowship, and have won awards and screened at film festivals around the country. His new book, The D.I.Y. Filmmaker is available through Self-Counsel Press.

ENROLL TODAY! This class will meet on Zoom every Sunday from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM Pacific Time, beginning on September 4th and ending on October 16th.