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November 4th, 2024. 7 p.m. EST
Playwriting with Robots: Using AI to boost Creativity

Taught by Dr. Bella Poynton

 This innovative 3-hour workshop, you’ll explore how AI language models like ChatGPT can serve as a creative companion to enhance your playwriting. While AI may not be able to craft engaging, original theatrical scenes on its own, it’s a powerful brainstorming tool that can spark new ideas and offer fresh perspectives. Through a series of prompts and interactive writing exercises, you’ll use AI to generate responses that can act as springboards for your own creative work. This workshop will help you tap into AI's potential to inspire character development, dialogue, and plot twists, giving you new ways to approach the writing process. Ideal for playwrights looking to break through creative blocks and find new sources of inspiration

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November 6th, 2024. 7 p.m. EST
Objects and Imagery

                                        Taught by Dr. Bella Poynton
In this dynamic 3-hour workshop, you will dive into the art of using vivid imagery to amplify the theatricality of your writing. Strong images have the power to foreshadow pivotal moments and evoke emotional depth in your scenes. Equally important, you’ll explore how to give objects on stage a commanding presence, using them to create tension, reveal character, and drive the story forward. By strategically using both imagery and objects, you can heighten moments of catharsis and deepen the audience's engagement. Through hands-on exercises, you'll discover techniques to make your writing more visually and emotionally striking, crafting plays that resonate long after the curtain falls. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced writer, this workshop will give you new tools to elevate your storytelling.

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November 11h, 2024. 7 p.m. EST
Writing to Impact

                                        Taught by Deborah Yarchun
This workshop explores an approach to writing or revising that takes your audience into
account. Think of how we speak of plays: “That play moved me,” “It was a touching
story,”  a “hit play,” even better, “a smash hit.” In this workshop, we’ll explore how we, as
dramatists, can physically impact our audiences. We’ll start with a map of the body and
build an arsenal of dramatic strategies by looking at examples and discussing plays and
theater experiences that we’ve found particularly impactful, and surveying our work.
This workshop is part lecture, part discussion, part writing exercises. Come with an idea
or a work in progress.

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November 16, 2024. 2pm EST
The Hollywood Pitch

Taught by Jeff Goode

A workshop introduction to preparing your first pitch

Veteran screenwriter Jeff Goode discusses what to expect in a Hollywood pitch meeting, outlines the structure for a conventional television pitch, and workshops students' own ideas for selling TV, film and stage properties.

Jeff Goode is a prolific screenwriter and playwright, the creator of Disney's animated series AMERICAN DRAGON: JAKE LONG and the author of the legit holiday classic THE EIGHT: REINDEER MONOLOGUES.
A corn-fed Iowa youth, Jeff currently lives and works in Los Angeles, where his work in television has included pitching and developing pilots for a dozen series, including ADJL and MTV's UNDRESSED.

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November 18, 2024. 7 p.m. EST
MARKET YOUR PLAYS POST-PANDEMIC

                                         Taught by Donna Hoke
An overview of submitting, building local relationships, and understanding NPX as a marketing tool. Bring your questions!

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November 23, 2024. 2pm EST
Breaking Writer's Block

Taught by Jeff Goode

A crash course in causes & cures for writer's block.

Prolific playwright and screenwriter Jeff Goode guides you through a series of exercises
and techniques for overcoming the dreaded writer's block. Goode offers an approach to
tackling this age-old affliction that will help you conquer creative blocks in both the
short- and long-term.

Jeff Goode is the author of THE EIGHT: REINDEER MONOLOGUES and creator of
Disney's AMERICAN DRAGON: JAKE LONG and dozens of other stage plays,
screenplays, teleplays, musicals, opera and children's shows, including First Look
Buffalo's FURSONA NON GRATA.
A corn-fed Iowa youth, Jeff currently lives and works in Los Angeles, where he
freelances for animated series, and guest lectures for theatre and writing programs around
the country.
A prolific multi-disciplinary writer, Jeff has never had writer's block.
...And neither should you.

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