In this lesson, Professor Nathan Scoggins discusses the idea of themes within stories, how you can leverage your personal themes in your stories, and how to generate compelling themes by asking questions. Professor Scoggins stresses the idea of how every artist is a storyteller and encourages you to find themes that are important to you. This lesson will inspire you to tell deep and compelling stories.

Lesson Outline

• 01. We’re All Telling Stories
• 02. What is Theme?
• 03. How To Craft Thematic Statements that Connect
• 04. How To Find Your Personal Themes?
• 05. Pressing Into the Meaningful Emotions of Your Life
• 06. Made for the Chase

Nathan Scoggins

Professor of Film

Nathan is an award-winning filmmaker, whose credits include The Least of These, released in 2011 by Universal and starring Isaiah Washington (Grey's Anatomy) and Robert Loggia (Independence Day); the TV movie The Perfect Summer, starring Eric Roberts; and the 2022 film What Remains starring Cress Williams (Black Lightning), Kellan Lutz (Twilight), and Anne Heche (Volcana). He won the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl contest in 2012 and 2013 with “Sling Baby” and “Fashionista Daddy”. In addition, two of his award-winning short films were released by Lionsgate on DVD in 2008. He has written and developed projects for many companies in Hollywood. Nathan holds a BA in English and Film from Wesleyan University.

In this lesson, Professor Chris Riley walks you through the basics of story and outlines how to create heroes, goals for your heroes to strive for, and obstacles for your heroes to struggle against. The principle of the Hero-Goal-Obstacle Dynamic that Professor Riley teaches can be applied beyond written storytelling and into marketing and other forms of visual storytelling. Recommended for anyone looking to work on their storytelling skills.

Lesson Outline

• 01. Introducing The Hero-Goal-Obstacle Dynamic (11 minutes)
• 02. The Hero: The Heart of Your Story (12 minutes)
• 03. Goals and How They Motivate Your Hero (12 minutes)
• 04. Obstacles: The Essence of Dramatic Storytelling (16 minutes)

Chris Riley

Professor of Film

Chris Riley is a screenwriter with over 25 years of experience, and from 1995-1998 he worked as Manager of Script Processing at Warner Bros. He is known for authoring The Hollywood Standard: The Complete and Authoritative Guide to Script Format and Style, which serves as the definitive guide on script formatting, used by professional screenwriters and film schools across the nation. His latest book The Defining Moment: How Writers and Actors Build Characters was co-written with his wife Kathy Riley.

His first film After The Truth, an award-winning courtroom thriller written with his wife Kathy Riley, sparked international controversy when it was released in Germany. Other credits include 25 To Life, a dramatic thriller for Junction Entertainment and Touchstone Pictures; The Other White House, a political thriller for Sean Connery's Fountainbridge Films and Intermedia; Aces, an action-adventure romance for Paramount Pictures; and a screen adaptation of the book Actual Innocence for Mandalay Television Pictures and the Fox television network.

From 2005 through 2008, he served as director of the acclaimed Act One Writing Program in Hollywood, which trains Christians for careers as writers and executives in film and TV. He has taught screenwriting at JPCatholic since 2007.

In this lesson, Professor Colin Brady gives you insights on eight key storytelling principles that he learned from his work in story development at Pixar Studios. From creating the idea of your story to pitching your script, Professor Brady brings you all kinds of tips to improve your stories and enable you to more skillfully share them with others. Recommended for those interested in creative writing for short stories, short films, poems, novels, feature films, or television.

Lesson Outline

• 01. Why is Story Important? (2 minutes)
• 02. Know Where You’re Headed: Write Your Ending First (6 minutes)
• 03. Know Your Genre (3 minutes)
• 04. Show, Don’t Tell: Could Your Movie Work with the Sound Turned Off? (7 minutes)
• 05. The “Gap”: Where Expectation Meets Result (5 minutes)
• 06. The Big Idea: Pitching Your Story (3 minutes)
• 07. Pixar’s “Braintrust” Model: Getting Honest Feedback (2 minutes)
• 08. Writing is Re-writing (8 minutes)
• 09. One Last (Ridiculously Simple, but Difficult) Piece of Advice (2 minutes)

Colin Brady

Visiting Professor of Animation

Colin is a director, creative producer and animation supervisor who has worked at Pixar, Industrial Light and Magic, Imagi Studios, Rhythm and Hues, and Pixomondo. He has directed animation for Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Ang Lee, John Lasseter and Martin Scorsese. He has directed on such films as Everyone’s Hero, Astro Boy, TMNT, and Toy Story 2, and has supervised scenes for The Hunger Games, Hugo, Green Lantern and Spiderman. Colin is head of story and animation for Light Chaser Studios in Beijing working remotely from his home in Los Angeles.

In this lesson, Professor Sheryl Anderson walks you through how writing for TV works and how to become a TV writer. Professor Anderson discusses practical and crucial tips for aspiring TV writers. Recommended for anyone interested in learning more about how writing for TV works. Especially recommended for aspiring TV writers.

Lesson Outline

• 01. Intro and Prepping: How to “Break In”
• 02. Your Portfolio of Scripts
• 03. A Guide of Pitching
• 04. Protocol and Performance: Rules of the Writer’s Room
• 05. [Season 1] In the Life of the Writer’s Room
• 06. Impacting Culture with Your Life: Pouring into Others

Sheryl Anderson

Visiting Professor of Screenwriting

An accomplished TV producer, writer, novelist, Sheryl has written and produced for hit TV shows such as Charmed, Flash Gordon, For the People, and Ties that Bind. She began her career as a development executive for Grant Tinker’s GTG Entertainment, writing for half-hour sitcoms Parker Lewis Can’t Lose and Dave’s World. She is a showrunner for the Netflix show, Sweet Magnolias.

What makes a good adaptation? In this lesson, Professor Chris Riley guides you through the basic principles of adapting source material (such as novels and true stories) for film and television. The lesson features an exercise examining Stephen Spielberg’s film “Lincoln”, taking a look at the decisions that were made in adapting the life of Abraham Lincoln into a feature film. Recommended for anyone with a curiosity for how novels and real-life stories are distilled and written into movies. It is especially recommended for writers interested in making movies from short stories, novels, or real-life stories.

Lesson Outline

• 01. The Impact of Adaptation
• 02. What Makes a Good Adaptation?
• 03. How Literature and Real Life “Resist” Adaptation
• 04. Putting It All Together: Case Study of Spielberg’s “Lincoln”
• 05. How to Get the Rights for Source Material

Chris Riley

Professor of Film

Chris Riley is a screenwriter with over 25 years of experience, and from 1995-1998 he worked as Manager of Script Processing at Warner Bros. He is known for authoring The Hollywood Standard: The Complete and Authoritative Guide to Script Format and Style, which serves as the definitive guide on script formatting, used by professional screenwriters and film schools across the nation. His latest book The Defining Moment: How Writers and Actors Build Characters was co-written with his wife Kathy Riley.

His first film After The Truth, an award-winning courtroom thriller written with his wife Kathy Riley, sparked international controversy when it was released in Germany. Other credits include 25 To Life, a dramatic thriller for Junction Entertainment and Touchstone Pictures; The Other White House, a political thriller for Sean Connery's Fountainbridge Films and Intermedia; Aces, an action-adventure romance for Paramount Pictures; and a screen adaptation of the book Actual Innocence for Mandalay Television Pictures and the Fox television network.

From 2005 through 2008, he served as director of the acclaimed Act One Writing Program in Hollywood, which trains Christians for careers as writers and executives in film and TV. He has taught screenwriting at JPCatholic since 2007.