Writing for Television From'Spec Script’ to Original Pilot (FILM 3312 R)
Term: 2025-26 Academic Year Fall
Description
Prerequisite: at least one prior college-level scriptwriting course. In fall, we will practice the fundamental skill of successful television writers—the ability to craft entertaining and compelling stories for characters, worlds, and situations created by others. Though dozens of writers may work on a show over the course of its run, the “voice” of the show is unified and singular. The best way to learn to write for television is to draft a sample episode of a preexisting show, known as a “spec script.” Developing, pitching, writing, and rewriting stories hundreds of times, extremely quickly, in collaboration and on tight deadlines is what television staff writers do every day, fitting each episode seamlessly into the series as a whole in tone, concept, and execution. In fall, students will be introduced to these fundamental skills, working step-by-step through the writing of their own spec script for an ongoing scripted television series, effectively taking students from premise line