Two Saturdays, 10/25 & 11/1, 10 a.m to 5 p.m.
$185 members/$215 non-members; Location: Berkeley
Many student writers, after taking Terrel Seltzer’s nine-week "Calling Card Script” class, are asking for more. “They’re motivated and want to keep the dialogue going about screenwriting in general and their scripts in particular," Terrel. "The last day of session, I always feel protective. Like a mother bird nudging her fledglings out of the nest to fly on their own."
Advanced Screenwriting is for students who have taken the nine-week class (or equivalent} and are ready to excavate below the three-act structure surface to delve deeper into the thorny and poetic mechanics of dramatic storytelling. "Simple stories with complex characters is one of my writing mantras," says Terrel, "and these two days will be devoted to finding the true and meaningful story inside your plot, by concentrating on the main character’s transformational arc."
Students should come with 13 copies of a one-page synopsis of their script, using Dara Marks’ book, Inside Story: The Power of the Transformational Arc” as a guide. The books is available on Amazon or on Dara Marks’ website. (Note: There will be a one-hour lunch break; a lovely cafe is located on the premises.)
Terrel Seltzer is a self-taught screenwriter. She learned the craft by watching and outlining literally hundreds of movies. Her career started in the Bay Area, working with SF director Wayne Wang, for whom she wrote the screenplays for the independent films Chan is Missing and Dim Sum. Her two produced Hollywood screenplays are How I Got into College (with Lara Flynn Boyle and Anthony Edwards) and One Fine Day (with Michelle Pfeiffer and George Cloony). Currently, she has two projects in development: FoolProof, a spec script optioned by Cherry Road Films, and Rule #1 optioned by Panther Films.