This course will teach students how to write and speak effectively in business and other communication.

A theoretical and practical introduction to the human phenomenon of storytelling, what stories are, their central role in culture from ancient times to the present day, and how storytellers seek and communicate meaning. Particular attention will be paid to the significance of story in the Judeo-Christian tradition and story’s role within the Christian faith. Students will generate numerous story ideas, and with the help of their classmates and the instructor will evaluate those ideas in terms of audience appeal, theme and meaning.

This course builds on student understanding of screen storytelling established in Story, Genre and Structure and Writing and Pitching a Script. Students will develop an original feature-length screen story from multiple ideas through idea evaluation and selection, character creation and development, story structure, treatment, pitch and beat sheet. At the end of the course, students will register their work with the WGA (a $20 fee). Students will consider more advanced screenwriting concepts presented in the text and will apply those principles to their developing stories.

Prerequisites: ENTM101, ENTM105

This course builds on the work completed in Fundamentals of Story Development. Students will at a minimum write the first two acts of a screenplay. They will read classic and modern screenplays. Class time will be dedicated to covering intermediate topics including scene transitions, writing with subtext, visual writing, and further developing skills in scene and dialogue writing and script formatting, and finding solutions to writer's block. Students will critique one another's work in small groups, with instructor supervision and guidance. Considerable time will be required for students to write.

Prerequisites: ENTM101, ENTM105, ENTM200

Students will continue their study of screenwriting begun in Writing for the Screen 1. They will complete the first draft of a feature length screenplay and plan and complete a second draft of that screenplay, and they will register their finished work with the WGA. Class time will be dedicated to covering intermediate and advanced topics including rewriting, working with producers, directors and agents, types of professional meetings and how to make the most of them, how to seek buyers for scripted material, and the articulation of a well- developed personal code of ethics in entertainment. Students will critique one another's work in small groups, with instructor supervision and guidance. Considerable time will be required for students to write. Students will read and respond to the required texts as well as to feature screenplays and episodic television scripts.

Prerequisites: ENTM101, ENTM105, ENTM200, ENTM201

This class will study some of the most important films in American cinema to understand the cultural context in which they were created, the role of the director in the filmmaking process, and the lasting legacy that the various films enjoy.

Students will continue their study of screenwriting with a focus on writing narrative films under 40 minutes in length. They will screen and analyze multiple examples of short cinema to gain an understanding of the qualities possessed by the best examples of the form. They will write numerous short scripts with the goal of generating one or more short scripts of high quality that can be produced either inside or outside the university setting. Students will critique one another's work with instructor supervision and guidance. Considerable time will be required for students to write. Students will read and respond to the required texts.

Prerequisites: ENTM101, ENTM105

This course stands as the culmination of the sequence of courses in the freshman year that covered grammar, logic and rhetoric. The course examines the role of the artist, the nature and purpose of art, of beauty, and of a life of art-making, and considers whether and how the quality of art can be evaluated in light of a Catholic understanding of art and artists. The course further considers the significance of these ideas to human endeavors such as work and business that are not typically viewed as artistic.

This course builds on the storytelling fundamentals learned in Story, Genre and Structure, and Fundamentals of Story Development, with a focus on the principles and skills of adapting for the screen a story which originates in another medium, as well as adapting true stories for the screen. The student will consider the challenges inherent in adapting a story from another medium, and from true life, and will gain skills and experience by writing, developing, and/or pitching multiple stories of this type. The knowledge, skills, and experience gained in this course will serve aspiring screenwriters, as well as aspiring producers, directors, agents, managers, and executives who will involve themselves in the development of story material for the screen. Students will pitch their adaptations and will critique one another’s work in large and small groups, with instructor supervision and guidance. Considerable time will be required for students to write and develop stories outside of class. Students will read and respond to the required text.

Prerequisites: ENTM101, ENTM200

This course will emphasize the use of correct grammar, usage, spelling, punctuation, and mechanics. Students will be required to apply these skills to writing assignments.