Story Mapping Oscar-Winning Screenplays!

ABOUT THE WEBINAR

Learn the storytelling secrets of those films that have been honored by Oscar, including some of the greatest films of all time AND this year’s nominees. Films such as The Godfather, The King’s Speech, Juno, The Sixth Sense, The Social Network and The Silence of the Lambs may seem to have very little in common, but once they are broken down to their main dramatic elements, the structure reveals itself to be quite similar.

But award-winning screenplays also have unique characteristics that give them more depth and emotional impact than other Hollywood movies. These secrets will be revealed in this webinar.

Daniel Calvisi will introduce you to the story map, which is used by 95% of commercial movies, including most of the Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay winners. The story map breaks down a movie into its clear, concise dramatic elements and plot points. These are the building blocks of your story and the “signpost” beats of your plot. They must be in the proper order and desired page range, no matter the genre, if you want to blow away the reader. It was first developed by Daniel Calvisi while working as a Senior Story Analyst for major studios like Miramax Films and Twentieth Century Fox, and later honed as he coached hundreds of writers and worked as a script doctor. This structure is what readers look for on the page and how movies are edited for the screen.

The screenplays that have been graced with Academy Award nominations and awards utilize a wide range of genres and storytelling devices, yet all adhere to a crucial list of basic and advanced screenwriting techniques. Daniel will offer many writing tips as he provides detailed analysis of the structure of award-winning films, including As Good As It Gets, Gladiator, Slumdog Millionaire, Inception and Sunset Boulevard.

This webinar includes a free, exclusive story map of Zero Dark Thirty, one of this year’s Academy Award-nominated screenplays, and a critique by Daniel Calvisi on your work. (The free story map will be included in the post-webinar e-mail package.)

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN:

• How to write a story map for your screenplay
• How to break down major, award-winning movies and identify what makes them work
• How to develop a new concept from scratch or diagnose problems in your existing script
• What readers look for in a spec screenplay
• How to use goals, theme and conflict to strengthen your protagonist’s pursuit of their dramatic goals
• The detailed characteristics of each crucial story beat—where to place them and how to use them in your narrative

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

• Writers who want to utilize the structure used by Hollywood pros
• Writers who aspire to Oscar greatness
• Writers looking for a more practical, industry-based approach to screenplay structure and outlining that applies to all genres
• Writers who are developing a new concept and want to begin with the strongest foundation possible
• Writers with a completed feature screenplay who want to locate issues that are holding the script back from reaching the “submission-ready” level