Script University December 2025 Courses and Live Events

Check out this month’s course offerings led by Script University’s industry experts!

Check out this month's course offerings led by Script University's industry experts!

Let Dave Trottier (Dr. Format himself) show you the necessary techniques and currently accepted standards that will set your script apart from the heap. Not only will he teach you the rules of script formatting, he will show you when and how to break them. By applying Dave’s formatting techniques, you will write more compelling description and sharper dialogue. That’s because formatting is not just a box to dump your story into but part of the story itself—it’s a writing tool that will enhance your story and help you create a reader-friendly screenplay. The course includes four lessons and several exercises to sharpen your skills. In addition, Dave will provide a complete critique of your three-page writing sample.

With successful short film examples to watch and study, as well as real-world advice from the low-budget filmmaking trenches, this 4-week class will lead you through the process of writing a short film you can produce on a budget, as well as touch on the pre-production, production, and post-production process. Lastly, you’ll learn techniques to get your film out into the world through film festivals, traditional distribution deals, and online distribution models that you can do yourself.

This course will examine plotting a screenplay from premise to story. You'll learn how to take your screenplay from the early stages of building an idea to a full story, ways to structure the story to keep tension and investment high, and strategies to build not only structure but texture in the world of your film. You'll work to discover how to create an experience of the world, including what the events and the world of the story mean for characters and audience alike, rather than just building up a point-by-point plot.

Screenwriters today must have a marketable screenplay that a producer, executive, manager or agent reads and says “I can sell this,” and that begins with a concept in a commercially-proven genre that fits into today’s global marketplace and doesn’t feel dated, cliched or irrelevant.

In our complex entertainment landscape, there is one genre that top writers and filmmakers keep turning to because it consistently fills cinemas and generates great numbers on streaming.

Horror.

No matter the story or the setting, there is something for everyone in this genre, and a point of entry for every type of storyteller, whether this is your chosen genre or not. If you want to write, direct, produce, or all three, this webinar will give you the tools to first identify a great concept and whether it’s more fit for film, television or other media, and then walk you through a powerful, easy-to-learn structural roadmap that you can follow to execute your own scary story.

Professional screenwriter, writing coach and former major studio story analyst Daniel Calvisi has taught writers with credits that include all of the top networks, streamers and studios in the industry. He will demonstrate how to use his Story Maps method to break down your hot concept into its most crucial dramatic elements and key signpost story beats so that you always keep your screenplay on track. Using the methods detailed in this webinar along with bonus materials, you will learn the exact steps to follow to generate a fantastic concept, killer logline and undeniable screenplay that can break you into the industry at exactly the position you want to be.