Screenwriting
 

Posting the question to the board asking for some help regarding the screenwriting thang...

I am looking to improve, build, and move my ideas onto the paper, and then to the screen.

Can anybody recommend a screenwriting class/ongoing, or group of people collaboration on various projects, in NYC?

I could nail three things at once, work on my screenwriting, network/collaborate with other writers, and launch a project.

If you have any ideas, please post away.

Anybody ever done this?

Cheers!

Derrick

You don't need to follow a class to write a screenplay. Normally what I do when I have an idea and want to turn it into a screenplay I make a timeline. In this timeline I describe what kind of things happen to the main characters and the other characters to progress the story. Two things I keep in mind when writing is 1. What would I do in such a situation and 2. How does this scene help tell the story. Before writing work the story out in your mind, try to work out the beginning and the end before you write anything.

There is a great screenwriters forum that I follow. It has been a great resource for me:

http://www.scriptsales.com/

You will find a great deal of information here. As I mentioned, the forum on this site is top notch.

If you haven't already, read all the columns and letters at Wordplay, the web site of Terry Rossio & Ted Elliott, writers of Aladdin, Men in Black, The Mask of Zorro, The Road to El Dorado, Shrek, and more recently, Treasure Planet and Pirates of the Carribbean. The forums are occasionally helpful, but too often they're closed for no reason, which gets frustrating because it seems like they're never open when you have time to read them on weekends. Moreover, it's better to spend time working on researching, watching movies, and improving your writing than reading other people's script questions.

(Politicization was an unfortunate side effect of the IMDb's growth, and now they no longer publish the names of uncredited writers working on guild films. Prior to the year 2000 or so, you could look on IMDb and find out who really wrote your favorite movies. Now it takes a bit more research. In any case, this is why you won't find mention of Elliott & Rossio's defining roles in shaping MIB, but they are credited on Godzilla, a project for which the shooting script bore no resemblence to the movie Elliott & Rossio wrote for the studio.)