Course Description

A comprehensive course that includes personal support and coaching on a weekly basis that will help you complete a quality first draft within 90 days. Get the same support LA-based writers get, but from the comfort of your own home! The most affordable online course in the industry, you will develop your next screenplay from start to finish with a helping hand along the way.


Whether you’re an emerging or experienced writer, this class will motivate and inspire you to complete your 1st draft or perform a rewrite on existing material. Whether it’s a TV pilot or feature, your instructor will work with you to complete the best draft possible, and discover the quality of your 1st draft to be more like that of a 3rd or 4th draft.

So jump in and get ready to write!

With the amount of material that is covered in this course, and with weekly online support and creative help, you will not find a more inexpensive course on screenwriting that offers as much as The Craft Course. The ISA takes pride in offering services to writers without breaking the bank. Take advantage of what is offered here and we promise you will come away with a stronger draft of your script had you tried to go this route alone.

Interested in being evaluated for the ISA Development Program? Check out The Craft Course with Support & Evaluation.

"I can tell you that your blueprint has certainly made screenwriting so much easier for me. I've finished another script and am working on another one. I just enjoy it so much. I could hardly wait to tell you that while I was enrolled, I simultaneously applied all that I learned to a comedic 1/2 hr pilot script and my work was requested (by a top agency)! I am confident that it would never have been requested had I not applied what I learned about the 12 sequences. The guidance and wisdom you shared is helping some of us share amazing stories that we otherwise would not have known how to. Thank you!"

- Dr. Kentrell Liddel

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Lead Mentor and Instructor Max Timm

Max Timm is the Director of Education with International Screenwriters’ Association, and the President of The Story Farm Development and Coaching service, with 17 years of experience in developing written material and writers’ careers. His focus with the ISA is to shepherd writers to industry professionals, offering exposure alongside career-long education. His personal coaching, consulting, and development service, The Story Farm, develops writers and their material much like a studio executive or literary manager would, walking a writer through the development process one draft at a time. His online class, The Craft Course in Screenwriting, offers writers an in-depth yet easy to understand approach to professional full development. In order to connect with as many aspiring writers as possible, he also helped create and launch the ISA’s popular podcast network - an interview-focused podcast, as well as his solo podcast, The Craft. Aside from focusing on education, Max has joined forces with his ISA cohorts to launch a production and development shingle called Creative Screenwriter where they develop and produce low to mid-range budgeted films written by ISA’s top members. Max is also a screenwriter and author. His debut novel, a young adult fantasy adventure titled The WishKeeper, about a teenage fairy with broken wings, won the YA category of the 2015 Los Angeles Book Festival and released nationwide in the Summer of 2016. Max has also served as a part-time instructor at UCLA, and travels nationally speaking at various industry events such as the Sundance Film Festival, Nashville Writers Conference, and the Napa Valley Film Festival. Most recently Max released his debut book on screenwriting titled, "(Not Just) Another Book on The Craft of Screenwriting."

Course curriculum

    1. Class Introduction - Getting Started

    2. Voice, and Voice Pressure Points

    3. Voice: Finding It, Evolving It, Embracing It

    4. Assignment: Voice Pressure Points

    5. The Logline - Yes, It's Extremely Important

    6. Logline Breakdown Process

    7. Audio: Logline Breakdown Process

    8. Assignment: Write Your Loglines

    9. Until Next Time

    1. Your Logline As A Loaded Gun

    2. Your Hero and The Emotional Flaw

    3. Audio: Your Hero & Emotional Flaw

    4. The Secondary Helper (Supporting Character, Supporting the Hero’s Arc)

    5. The Rival, Threat and/or Opponent

    6. 2nd Act Series of Obstacles

    7. Structural Writing and Prepping the 1st Act

    8. Audio: Structural Writing and Prepping The 1st Act

    9. Assignments: 1st Act, and Character Set-Up

    1. Where To Begin

    2. The Villain, Rival, Opponent - Whatever He's Called! How is this Character Related to the Secondary Character?

    3. An Easy Assignment...Just Listen!

    4. Episode 1 of The Craft - Sequence 1 Breakdown. "We Need A Hero"

    5. Episode 2 of The Craft - Sequence 2 Breakdown - "Setting It All Up"

    6. Episode 3 of The Craft - Sequence 3 Breakdown - "The Unsung Hero"

    7. Episode 6 of The Craft - "A Sidenote for the TV Writer"

    8. Structural/Beat Breakdown and Outline

    9. Assignments: Your Story - Piece By Piece

    1. The 2nd Act, Moment By Moment

    2. Audio: The 2nd Act, Moment By Moment

    3. The Difference Between "Adventure" & "Journey"

    4. Episode 4 of The Craft - Sequence 4 Breakdown. "The Promise of the Premise"

    5. Episode 5 of The Craft - Sequence 5 Breakdown. "Success, Failure & the Villain"

    6. Episode 7 of The Craft - Sequence 6 Breakdown - "The Mid-Point"

    7. Moment Listing - Your Story Outline

    8. Titling Your Beats

    9. Assignments: Writing Your Script in Outline Form

    1. A Couple Disclaimers Before We Start

    2. Leading Up To The Low Point

    3. Episode 8 of The Craft - Sequence 7 Breakdown - "The Doomed Honeymoon"

    4. Episode 9 of The Craft - Sequence 8 Breakdown - "Love, Conflict, and Losing It"

    5. Episode 11 of The Craft - Sequence 9 Breakdown - "The Dark Night of The Soul"

    6. The Point of A Scene

    7. Audio: The Point of A Scene

    8. Assignment: Continued Outline Writing

    1. Stating Theme and Your 3rd Act

    2. Audio: Stating Theme and Your 3rd Act

    3. Episode 12 of The Craft - Sequences 10 & 11 Breakdown - "Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?"

    4. Episode 14 of The Craft - Sequence 12 Breakdown - "It's Not About the Victory"

    5. Scene #1 - Action/No Dialogue Example

    6. Scene Example #1 - Arthur and the Parachute

    7. Scene #2 - Reacting To The World

    8. Scene Example #2 - Arthur and The Woods

    9. Scene #3 - One Page Flaw Confrontation

    10. Scene Example #3 - Arthur and the Girl

    11. Answers: Where In The World Is Arthur?

    12. Assignment: Still Going!

About this course

  • $399.00
  • 68 lessons
  • 0 hours of video content

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