ABOUT JON CROKER
JON CROKER is an established screenwriter working in both the UK and US. His produced credits include ‘The Woman In Black: Angel of Death’, ‘Paddington’, ‘Paddington 2’, ‘American Animals’, ‘Desert Dancer’ and ‘In Fear’.

In the US, he is writing the animation ‘High in the Clouds’ for Gaumont with original songs by Paul McCartney; and ‘Aleister Arcane’ for Jim Carrey, director Eli Roth and Amblin. In the UK, current work includes ‘Hallelujah!’ for Andrew Eaton, with Chris Addison attached to direct and Ralph Fiennes to star; ‘Black Palace’ for Julien Jarrold attached to direct; and a remake of ‘Witchfinder General’ for Nicolas Winding Refn.

He began his career working on the ‘Harry Potter’ movies, working with directors Alfonso Cuaron and Mike Newell, and even managed to write his own spell. He then moved into script editing and worked with a wide range of filmmakers including Jane Campion, Pawel Pawlikowski and Joe Cornish.

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION
‘RETELLING THE STORY’ FILM SCREENWRITING WORKSHOP

Screenwriting is not simply about creation. It’s about rewriting, reshaping, refining, cutting and testing your film, going over every single element again and again and again and again - sometimes for years. If narrative cinema is primarily about storytelling, the screenwriter’s job is not to tell that story but to retell it repeatedly until it’s good enough to become a film.

This workshop is about what this truly means - from both an artistic and business perspective. It will cover a diverse range of topics with the intention of helping you improve your craft and understand how to work in the industry - even if you completely disagree with everything said.

The workshop will be interactive. Everyone should feel free to share their own methods and ask questions. All participants should prepare a two minute pitch for a film idea, which can either be an existing project or a new idea. Across the weekend, these pitches will be heard in front of the group and then discussed. You will be timed, so make sure you don’t over-run!

The topics covered will be broadly chronological so the weekend follows the journey of a screenplay from idea to getting made. The intention behind this is to show how much needs to be done before any actual writing takes place. This includes the first draft, which is always so awful it can barely be classed as writing.

The topics covered will include:

A. BEFORE YOU WRITE
- What Is An Idea? The first retelling of a story
- Pitches, Specs, Assignments - How to get to tell the story
- What Is Genre - Retelling our story in archetypes
- Existing Material - Retelling someone else’s story by adaptation
- True Stories - Retelling someone’s life as a story

- PARTICIPANT PITCHES Part I

B. STARTING TO SCRIBBLE
- One page - Your story as a mission statement
- Outlines, Treatments, Beat Sheets - Finding and refinding your story
- The Battle Between Plot and Character - What drives your story
- The Pitch - Retelling your story out loud

- PARTICIPANT PITCHES Part II


C. TYPING UP THE 1ST DRAFT
- Finding the tone - How to tell your story
- Character - Letting them tell their stories
- Structuring and Restructuring Your Story
- Dialogue - Showing and Telling Your Story

- PARTICIPANT PITCHES Part III

D. FINALLY, NOW YOU’RE WRITING
- What is development and why is it so horrible?
- Notes - How to receive, read and use them
- Meetings - How to get the most from them
- Rewriting yourself - How to kill your darlings without ruining everything
- Rewriting others - How to kill somebody else’s darlings without ruining everything
- Collaboration - Working with Producers, Directors, Financiers, Actors






PROFILE OF PARTICIPANT
The workshop is designed to Screenwriters, Script Editors, Directors, Producers, Film Students, and anyone with the interest in screenwriting.


Dates: 3-4 November 2018
Location: London UK
Price: 449.99 GBP (315GBP until 31st October)
Vacancies: 25


REGISTER FOR THIS WORKSHOP ON THE LINK BELOW: