Write It Right: The Screenwriting Summer School

This course treats writing as part of a living filmmaking culture. You will test ideas aloud, hear your scenes come alive as they are performed, discuss and refine them through encounter. Peer discussion forms the spine of the week, with writers immersed in the craft through pitching, writing, reading and responding to each other’s work in a spirit that prizes candour and technique. Alongside this shared effort, you will meet

• producers who illuminate how scripts travel through development, production and beyond;
• actors and a director who bring industry perspectives into the room.
• Actor-led readthroughs expose the rhythms, tensions and blind spots of your scenes.

Teaching combines dynamic seminars, real-world case studies, collaborative group sessions, pitching workshops and tailored one-to-one mentoring. Across the week, you will actively shape your story’s character, genre and structure while developing the confidence to articulate your ideas with clarity and conviction.

The atmosphere is both supportive and rigorously focused — a space that nurtures ambition, values preparation and encourages creative risk-taking. Rather than imposing formulas, the course sharpens your instincts and judgement, helping you understand what your project truly needs and how it is likely to be received within the industry. As relationships form over the week, participants experience a rare depth of immersion: sustained attention instead of shortcuts, shared creative community instead of working alone, and meaningful development in place of box-ticking. By the end of the week, you will leave with

• a developed beat sheet or outline,
• a scripted sample scene that shows your skills and
• a confident verbal pitch, grounded in a clearer sense of next steps.

This course suits writers who want serious engagement with their work and with others seeking to get a new project industry ready, as well as writers with experience from other creative writing formats. If you seek a space where your script meets likeminded filmmakers and conversation sharpens your craft, this summer school makes a compelling home.

Day 1 – Story, Intent and Possibility

Morning

• Welcome, participant and project introductions
• Framing screenwriting within filmmaking and development
• What makes an idea viable for screen

Afternoon

• The values of storytelling
• Writing session mapping story premise, values and theme
• Group discussion and preliminary feedback

Outcome:
Understand your underlying project aims and realise their potential to let your story connect to professional filmmakers

Day 2 – Key Screenwriting Concepts

Morning

• Screenwriting structure for film and television
• Characters in conflict
• Managing audience expectations with genre

Afternoon

• Writing session: beat sheet and protagonist backstory (TV: characters, setting & story rules, First season episode outline)
• Group feedback on story outlines and characters

Outcome:
Create engaging characters and a narrative momentum along genre expectations

Day 3 – Notes and Collaboration

Morning

• Meet the Director: Working with producers, directors and development executives
• Writing and one-to-one mentoring sessions

Afternoon

• Giving and receiving notes professionally
• Swapping stories: peer feedback
• Structured feedback from tutor, actors and peers

Outcome
Build a community around your project

Day 4 – Scenes, Dialogue and the Script format

Morning

• Writing effective scenes and dialogue
• Formatting and professional presentation
• The table read as screenplay development tool

Afternoon

• Writing session: one or two sample scenes

Evening

• Cultural visit: group cinema screening or guided London film location walk

Outcome
Apply professional screenwriting conventions to grow your screenwriting voice

Day 5 – Pitching and the Industry

Morning

• Actor-led table reads of sample scenes

Afternoon

• Pitching and Negotiation
• Writing session: your pitch
• Individual project pitches with feedback

Outcome:
Build confidence and industry literacy to communicate the potential of your script effectively

Day 6 – Clarity, Confidence and Next Steps

Morning

• Meet the Producer: selecting, optioning and commissioning screenplays, Q&A
• Final pitches and group discussion
• Writing and one-to-one mentoring sessions

Afternoon

• Career pathways and next development steps
• Course close and reflection

Outcome:
Expert and group feedback enabling you to plan practical next steps and to establish project momentum

Summary

This one-week screenwriting summer school offers a rigorous, industry-aware development experience rooted in London Film School’s filmmaking ethos. It is ideal for writers seeking clarity, confidence and a professional framework for progressing their work.

*This is an indicative structure of what the course will look like, subject to change.