Filmmaking & Screenwriting

Click here to see Screenwriting workshops on the schedule!

Writopia Lab’s filmmaking and screenwriting programs are driven by the students’ creative vision. They are story-based programs elevated by professional instruction. Our programs, described below, vary by age and location.

• Screenwriting or TV Writing Workshop
• Screenwriting or TV Writing Seminar
• Feature Film Screenwriting
• Script to Screen Summer Elective

Screenwriting or TV Writing Workshop

Young screenwriters work under the guidance of a professional screenwriter in the style of Writopia’s creative writing workshops. Screenplays or pilots are devised, developed, and polished over the course of the workshops. Writers will also delve into film and TV show analysis with screenplay excerpts and explore the ways in which acting, production, and directing all influence the choices one makes when crafting a script. All finished screenplays result in a table read.

Screenwriting or TV Writing Seminar

This teen seminar is a more advanced approach, offering a concentrated workshop experience with deeper insights into structure, concept, editorial work, and critique. Teen screenwriters work under the guidance of a professional screenwriter in the style of Writopia’s creative writing workshops over the course of the sessions. All finished screenplays result in a table read.

Feature Film Screenwriting

Calling all teen screenwriters. Come join us for a semester of feature film screenwriting!

Watch film clips from across the globe, read screenplay excerpts, play screenwriting games, and pursue writing an original, feature-length narrative script. Open to all writers with an interest in film, no experience needed!

Writers will learn the mechanics of the screenplay itself as well as develop original characters and plotlines to create long-form storytelling with the vividness that novels and short stories contain. Emphasis will also include shaping rhythms and tones of dialogue, creating contrasting perspectives of characters, and location-centric writing to help give voice to their pieces.

Screenwriting games will focus on building narrative through photography, art, soundscapes, and other audiovisual elements. Techniques of montage and genre will also be explored!

Script to Screen Summer Elective

As part of our full-day camp, Fiction & Fun, writers get a chance to spend an hour and a half each day working on their own collaborative film, from the genesis of the idea through to the editing, in just a week.