Writing for Screen

This course is now full. Please join our waiting list and we will contact you if a place becomes available.​​​

Ages 18+

Course Dates & Times

Wednesday evenings on 27 September, 4, 11, 18, 25 October, 1, 8 and 15* November 2023

7pm-9pm

*The final session (15 November) will last 2.5 hours.                                               

About Writing for Screen 

This eight-week evening course will develop your creative writing skills and provide you with inspiration to translate an idea into a screenplay. The course, which will be taught by writer and actor Emma Dennis-Edwards and screenwriter Katrina Smith-Jackson, will focus on the techniques required for screenwriting for Film and TV.

Emma, who has a wealth of experience in the industry, will share her knowledge of writers rooms, how to pitch and write treatments. 

Who is the course for?

For writers at a beginner’s level, who wish to gain tools to write or develop a screenplay for TV or Film, or continue working on their existing ideas.

What can I expect?

A mix of practical writing exercises and group discussions, the course will cover the following topics:

• Pitching a screenplay
• Writing a treatment
• 4 act structure, including writing the beginning, middle and end of a story
• Character Development
• Episodic writing
• Writing a spec script*

*By the end of the course you will have a fully formed spec script. A spec script (short for speculative screenplay) is a great way to showcase your story and get a production company or agent to notice your voice.

Do I need anything for the course?

Optional: some professional writing software such as Final Draft, Adobe, Celtx, Art Studio etc. (but this is not essential)

Course Fee

£375

This course is now full. Please join our waiting list and we will contact you if a place becomes available.​​​

Eligibility

• For everyone aged 18+.
• Participants must have sufficient English language skills to cope with course demands.

About the Course Tutor

The course is taught by Emma Dennis-Edwards and Katrina Smith-Jackson. 

Emma is a writer and actor of Jamaican and Trinidadian heritage. Emma’s TV work includes writing an episode of Champion (Candice Carty-Williams' new show for BBC) and Story Consultant for six-part thriller Ragdoll (UKTV/AMC). She was part of the BBC Writers Academy with John Yorke and has written episodes of Casualty, EastEnders and Holby City. Alongside her episodic writing Emma is developing original projects with The Forge, Moonage and Red Planet.

For stage, Emma has been a participant at Royal Court, Soho Theatre, Lyric Hammersmith and Oval House writers’ programmes. Plays include Funeral Flowers which won the Scotsman’s Fringe First Award and the Filipa Bragança award for best female solo performance, and went on to tour venues across London including Bunker Theatre, Roundhouse, Bernie Grant Arts Centre and Hackney Empire Studio.

Her play Bricks was developed on the Old Vic 12 scheme and was shortlisted for the Alfred Fagan Award.

Katrina is a talented new screenwriter, who has participated in writers rooms for companies including Bad Wolf and Red Planet, as well as hit Sky Atlantic show Riviera, and was selected to write on the recent series of BBC show Waterloo Road. Katrina has written the pilot for an original TV series for BBC Studios and Channel 4 based on her Screen Nation award nominated web series Shrink, which looks at the stigma of mental illness within the Black community. Her feature script, Queerly Beloved, was shortlisted for the Greenacre Productions and TriForce Creative Network Script Search initiative. Previously, Katrina won the TriForce Creative Network’s WriterSlam with her original series Tilbury Rush, influenced by Katrina’s British Jamaican heritage, which received a Sky Drama reading, featuring actors Karen Bryson (Shameless), Wil Johnson (Waking the Dead) and Elaine Cassidy (Fingersmith). Katrina’s credits include episodes of Channel 4 series, Hollyoaks as well as BBC children’s show Jojo and Gran Gran. She currently lectures at MetFilm School & Central Saint Martins and has worked in development at Idris Elba’s production company Green Door Pictures, after starting her career as a script researcher on long running BBC series Eastenders.