Workshop: So You Want to be a Screenwriter? – July 21st

SO YOU WANT TO BE A SCREENWRITER

Have you ever wanted to try out screenwriting but just weren’t sure where to start? Maybe you don’t want to move to Los Angeles, but don’t know how to break into the industry here in Texas. Or perhaps you are an author who wants to adapt their own work! Four MFA Screenwriters from the University of Texas at Austin will be hosting workshops this summer through Lark & Owl. Every other Thursday night, on June 23, July 7, and July 21, they’ll cover different topics and types of screenwriting to provide you with a solid starting place.

Summer is the best time to get started! Why now? In the spring, writing fellowships and script competitions are in full swing, so if you want a solid script in time to apply, there’s no time like the present to get going! Bring questions, ideas and enthusiasm, and this workshop series will set you up for success!

This Workshop:

How to Write for TV — July 21, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m., with Lindsay Howard and Jana Henson.

The final workshop will build off of the Feature workshop, but it’s not required that you attend both in order to understand or participate in this session. In this workshop, we will break down both comedy and drama pilots and the different structures you can choose from for each kind. We’ll discuss Show Bibles and outlines (and how those differ from preparatory documents for feature films), how to write a spec script, and which “rules” you must (or should) stick to in order for your script/show to be successful. Scripts will be sent in advance for this workshop as well, and we encourage attendees to read at least one prior to the workshop if possible.

INSTRUCTOR BIOS:

Lindsay Howard is an author and screenwriter from Georgetown, Texas. After earning her Bachelor of Arts in English from UT Austin, she completed a certificate in Publishing from the University of Denver. She worked in the publishing industry for about five years (and spent over two of those years as one of the first booksellers at Lark & Owl!). Her love of storytelling led to an interest in screenwriting, so in 2017 she completed a Certificate in Drama Writing for Television through UCLA.

Lindsay is about to graduate from UT once more, this time with a MFA in Screenwriting. While there she has worked as a teaching assistant, as the writing coach for RTF undergraduates, and helped organize the 1st Annual Student Screenwriting Festival. She is currently a script competition reader, has two projects in pre-production at UT, and will be moving to Los Angeles this fall. Her writing has been recognized by the Austin Film Festival, and typically explores sociology and different relationship dynamics, either through original works or adaptations of YA and non-fiction texts.

Jana Henson is a screenwriter based in Austin, Texas. She writes stories with themes of vulnerability, metamorphosis, race, and mental health—all informed by her experiences as a Black woman living across the American South.

Jana is an alumna of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she studied international relations, Spanish, and screenwriting. Her undergraduate studies reflect her natural curiosity about the world and love of exploring social phenomena through storytelling.

Currently, Jana is a Michener Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin and is pursuing her Masters of Fine Arts in Screenwriting.