Course Description

An advanced screenwriting course. Students utilize the fundamentals of dramatic criteria learned in Writing for Entertainment Media to develop and pitch an original television-entertainment series. Students are required to write a TV pilot and accompanying show bible.

Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will be required to complete supplemental assignments pertaining to TV writing, such as, but not limited to, a research paper on current TV shows; breakdowns of TV pilots; designing a visual pitch deck; or providing coverage of the scripts developed in class. These assignments will be designed in consultation with the instructor.

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Athena Title

Writing for Television

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Undergraduate Prerequisite

EMST 3210 and EMST 3320 and permission of department

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Graduate Prerequisite

Permission of department

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Semester Course Offered

Offered fall and spring

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Grading System

A - F (Traditional)

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Student learning Outcomes

• Learn differences between writing for feature films and writing for television.
• How to develop ideas from logline, to outline, to first draft.
• How to design a series summary document to pitch.
• How to analyze television entertainment shows (but not the 30-minute multi-camera sitcom, which is a both a different format and genre).
• How to collaborate in a workshop writers-room environment.

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Topical Outline

• 1-hour Drama Pilot: Structure, Character, Subplots & Theme 30-min Dramedy Pilot: Structure, Character, Subplots & Theme Building the Franchise Goal vs. Task Formatting for Professional TV Writing Workshopping Pitching, Series Summaries, Show Bibles, & Lookbooks Dialogue, Subtext & Scene Writing Industry & Careers

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Syllabus

Select Faculty / Instructor to download syllabus:   Evans, Matthew (63561) M/W 11:35AM–12:55PM

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Public CV

Select a file to download:   EMST4130_Evans_CV.pdf

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