Based on a "True Story"

SCRIPT X 465.9E

Learn to adapt a true story into a screen story that will emotionally engage your audience.

What you can learn.

Capitalize on industry tends adapting current events into screen stories that sell
Learn to develop a coherent story structure for the screen from true events
Understand the difference between "based on" and "inspired by" stories
Develop an outline and beginning pages of your script

About this course:

Some of the best and most successful movies and series of all time are “Based on” or “Inspired by” true stories or events. These can be adapted from historical/true events, real people, true crime or non-fiction books. Popular examples include Titanic, The Social Network, Oppenheimer, Baby Reindeer, Inventing Anna, The Dropout and Dahmer, to name a few. However, real life doesn’t always lend to the coherent narrative and story structure necessary for these visual mediums. This workshop helps you adapt and craft a screen story that can emotionally engage an audience, even if they are unfamiliar with the subject. First, you identify whether a situation, event, or person is worthy of a film or TV adaptation. You are then guided to find the best genre and logline for your story and learn how to avoid the common pitfalls in adapting true stories. You also determine whether your story would be better suited as “Based on” or “Inspired by.” By the end of the course, you have an outline for your story and the beginning pages of your feature film or TV pilot script.