- UNDERSTAND HOLLYWOOD -

COURSE SYLLABUS

DAY 1

●   How do you sell a script in Hollywood? For how much? Why do some writers make millions of dollars, and others starve? What is “development”? How do you get “attachments”?

●   What do agents and managers really do? What does a Producer really do (and not do)? What’s an “Executive Producer? How is power measured in Hollywood, and how can you move up the food chain quickly?

●   How are the studios structured to take decisions, and why do they choose one project over another? After your film gets a green light, then what?

●   What makes your script or pitch sellable? Introduction to: POWER PITCHING.

●   How are films and shorts distributed around the world, and why is it vital that you understand this business? How do the different divisions of a film studio work together to make an international mega-hit? 

●   What is studio marketing all about? Why do studios focus so much on the “log-line”? What’s branding, tie-ins, cross-promotions, product placement, co-op advertising?

●   Why does the internet play such a vital role in film marketing, and how can you best use it to promote your films? How does licensing work? Why the emphasis on a soundtrack?

●   How does the Independent Film Industry work? How are indie films financed? How can you get a production loan? What’s a co-production, and how does it really work? How do you write a Single Picture Business Plan?

●   Once you’ve finished your film, how do you get it into film festivals? Which ones? How can you sell your film to a studio or distribution company for millions of dollars? How can you parlay your first feature or short film into a lucrative directing career in Hollywood?

CONGRATULATIONS BOGOTA CLASS of AUGUST 2005!

DAY 2

●   What are the key elements of a commercial script? What kinds of concepts will Hollywood really buy? How do you get a meeting?

●   What are the biggest mistakes young writers, directors and producers always make? How can you turn a good concept in a great pitch and/or script?

●   How do you create great protagonists? Antagonists? How do you translate archetypal stories into sellable screenplays? What are the psychological subtexts of each fim genre, and how can you make them work for you?

●   How do you create great characters, sub-plots, conflict, tension? Why are the best scripts derived from what people "know"?

●   What are the conventional structures of comedy, thriller, action movie, thriller, horror, and the indie film? How do you give Hollywood "the same, but different"?

●    “POWER PITCHING” – with class participation. Each student will pitch in front of the class using a rigorous one-sentence method that guarantees you will create a powerful and sellable log-line.

●   The student gives his “Pitch” using only one sentence that contains seven key elements.

●   The class and the teacher deconstruct the pitch, add new elements, correct mistakes.

●   The student gives their pitch again, or as many times as it takes to create a sellable film premise.

●   The pitch can now be developed, written into a treatment, script, short film, etc.

CONGRATULATIONS MEXICO CITY CLASS APRIL 2005!