Full course description
What You'll Learn
In these five modules, you'll learn how to move from the outline to the script. Or, as we describe it, how to write the outline again, only this time in script form. We’ll discuss topics that include action writing and how a script is much more a visual story than a dialogue story. We'll show you how to make your characters stand out from not just each other but from other rom-com stock characters, and we'll do a deep dive into dialogue and rewriting. And, of course, we'll watch some classic rom-coms.
Module 1: Formatting Your Script
Module 2: Telling a Visual Story
Module 3: Dialogue
Module 4: The Zero Draft
Module 5: The Art of the Rewrite
Format
This course is 100% online, asynchronous, and not for credit. Each week for five weeks, we'll release a new module of material. Through insightful lectures, assignments, and video interviews with industry experts, you’ll learn how to create your outline. You'll have the chance to discuss the assignments with your fellow students, but we won't be grading or giving feedback on your writing - this course is all about craft: designed to give you the tools to continue on your own, long after the course ends.
We'll have a TA helping out in the discussions, and the instructor will answer your screenwriting questions near the end of the course in a lively Q&A podcast format.
Length: 5 weeks | 4-6 hours per week
Instructor: Zac Hug
Level: Beginner to advanced: suitable for writers new to screenplays and for experienced writers looking to create their first rom-com. Open to anyone in the world - no university registration required.
Prerequisite: We strongly recommend you take our first course in this series, The Outline, before taking this course. We don't require it, but it's a great course and will really set you up for success in this one.
Syllabus
Rom-Com Script - Course Syllabus (PDF)
About the Instructor
Zac Hug is a television writer, playwright and essayist with a BFA in Theatre from NYU, and an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC. He became a TV writer in 2013, joining the staff of Drop Dead Diva (Lifetime) and later Shadowhunters (Freeform). Zac has written fifteen (and counting) Movies of the Week for Hallmark, including Road to Christmas, Matching Hearts, The Ghosts of Christmas Always and the Sister Swap and Christmas in Evergreen series. His plays have been produced by the New York Fringe Festival and the Williamstown Theatre Festival Workshop. Zac teaches television writing at UCLA Extension, DePaul University, and the University of British Columbia. He lives in Los Angeles with his husband Dan and an old man dog named Pickles.
Questions?
You can contact us at: crwr.noncredit@ubc.ca
Some frequent questions:
How often is this course offered?
We will be offering each of our rom-com courses several times per year. You can find the schedule of upcoming courses on the main Creative Writing page on this site. We intend to run these two courses back-to-back with a small gap between them, so each one should be available every 12 weeks.
How long will I have access to the course materials?
You should have indefinite access to your section of the course. Indefinite is a hard-to-define word; assume at least several months after the course ends, and most likely longer. We also provide downloadable transcripts of all videos and PDF copies of all slide decks and you're free to save these for future reference.
