Cassutt Spring 2013 CTWR 422 syllabus Feb. 9, 2013/3
CREATING THE DRAMATIC TELEVISION SERIES
CTWR – 422 (Section #19425)
Tuesday: 1:00 – 3:50 p.m.
SCB 104
Professor: Michael Cassutt
(818) 601-0892 cell
(818) 505-0894 office
SYLLABUS – SPRING 2013
COURSE OVERVIEW:
Welcome to 422! Even though many of you are concentrating on feature films, know this: the best dramatic writing of the 21st Century is being done in television. And not just in the U.S. – think of DOWNTON ABBEY and look at this recent study of Danish TV:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/01/07/130107fa_fact_collins).
This class will show you how it all starts – with the concept, the premise, the pitch. To be a bit high-falutin’ for a moment, we will explore and experience the magic of creation, searching for ideas wherever they can be found, whether in other media, in history, in things we see and hear, in our interior hopes and fears.
We will explore the magical way that character, premise and place combine to form the foundation for any series. You will learn to ask these essential questions for your hero or ensemble of heroes: Who am I? Where am I going?
We will examine the way classic series development is structured on a premise that establishes the rules and boundaries of the characters’ world, e.g., ad agency in MAD MEN, police precinct in HILL STREET BLUES, family funeral parlor in SIX FEET UNDER, suburban neighborhood in PARENTHOOD, desert island in LOST, forensics lab in C.S.I., the global intelligence community in HOMELAND, fictional alternate world in GAME OF THRONES, etc.
And we will see how these stories are told – act structure, A/B/C storylines, closed episodes or on-going serials.
Then we will work together to winnow these ideas . . . to help them grow from a few sentences to a pitch document that contains your characters, situations, stories.
It won’t be easy. Developing a TV drama concept is quite different from creating a screenplay. The latter is required to engage an audience for two or three hours while the former must work for thirty – or a hundred.
By May 2013, however, you ought to be better at this challenging task than the staff of ABC-TV (prosecution cites the failed LAST RESORT and 666 PARK AVENUE as intelligent concepts that had no chance to provide thirty or more hours of character evolution and story).
COURSE OBJECTIVE:
Read and screen successful (and unsuccessful) hour-long TV dramas in order to learn what elements work, and what may not. Generate at least ten concepts; give additional development to at least four of them. The final 422 product will be two fully-developed TV drama pitches/bibles.
COURSE GOALS:
Study selected critically acclaimed TV series.
Read award-winning pilot scripts and screen pilots.
Create a collegial TV writers room
Explore the wide canvas of pilot ‘worlds.’
Learn and execute the elements of novelistic character-driven TV drama.
Learn how to create the “world” of your show.
Learn how to create the “characters” in your show.
Learn how TV drama scripts are structured.
RECOMMENDED TEXTS:
Writing the TV Drama Series by Pamela Douglas
How To Write for Television by Medeline DiMaggio
GRADING:
Assignment #1: 10%
Assignment #2: 10%
Assignment #3: 10%
Assignment #4: 10%
Assignment #5: 5%
Assignment #6: 10%
Assignment #7: 10%
Assignment #8: 5%
Assignment #9: 10%
Assignment #10: 20%
CLASS SCHEDULE:
TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2013
Class overview and mutual introductions. Discuss syllabus. Lecture #1.
Screen pilot of THE WIRE and distribute script.
Assignment #1: reverse engineer a pitch for THE WIRE; identify and describe main characters; identify and describe A/B/C stories. One page maximum.
Assignment #2: prepare 10 series concepts (one-two sentences each, at least two concepts being procedurals) BOTH ASSIGNMENTS DUE JAN. 29.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 29, 2013
Discuss THE WIRE pilot. Lecture #2: pilot venues, and the concept of place as character.
Assignment #3: Take four ideas from assignment #2 and expand to a half page each. Be prepared to discuss all in class. Due Feb. 5.
FEBRUARY 5, 2013
Lecture #3 - character arcs and series themes, followed by discussion of same in your half-page ideas.
Assignment #4: Pick one idea from assignment #3 and write a two-three page pitch document aka bible, including biographies for lead characters and pilot episode. Due Feb. 19.
FEBRUARY 12, 2013
Review bibles/bios. Discuss your potential pilot episode.
FEBRUARY 19, 2013
Discuss character ‘secrets’ and escalation of stakes vis a vis the series and pilot.
Assignment #5: Write one-page beat sheet listing the ten essential scenes your story must have. Due Feb. 26.
FEBRUARY 26, 2013
Review beat sheets. Discuss the four acts of your pilot.
Assignment #6: Write one scene each from acts 1-4. Due Mar. 5.
MARCH 5, 2013
Review scenes. Explore series tone and stylistic “signature”.
Assignment #7: Select another concept from Assignment #3 and write a two-three page pitch document aka bible, including biographies for lead characters and pilot episode. Due Mar. 12
MARCH 12, 2013
Review hard copy of bibles/bios for your second concept. Discuss your second potential pilot episode.
MARCH 18-23 – SPRING BREAK, NO CLASS
MARCH 26, 2013
Assignment #8: list the ten essential scenes for your second pilot concept. Due Apr. 2.
APRIL 2, 2013
Assignment #9: write one scene each from Acts 1-4. Due Apr. 9.
APRIL 9, 2013
Assignment #10: Choose one of your two concepts and prepare an oral pitch/presentation. Due Apr. 15 and Apr. 22.
APRIL 16, 2013
Oral pitches and presentations with feedback from class.
APRIL 23, 2013
Continue oral pitches and presentations, with feedback.
APRIL 30, 2013
Deliver final revised version of your pitch and bible.
Industry Speaker and overall class summary.
GENERAL THOUGHTS
This schedule will evolve, since it’s impossible to predict how much group discussion an individual concept may require. Some may move quickly; others will be torturous. My goal, however, is to be sure each of you receives an equal amount of workshopping, either in the room or in conference.
As for electronic aids, yes to computers, except for times, such as screenings, when I will ask you to turn them off. I know we will all carry our phones, but I will want them off during class.
STATEMENT FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
Any student requesting academic accommodations based on a disability is required to register with Disability Services and Programs (DSP) each semester. A letter of verification for approved accommodations can be obtained from DSP. Please be sure the letter is delivered to me (or to TA) as early in the semester as possible. DSP is located in STU 301 and is open 8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Website and contact information for DSP: http://sait.usc.edu/academicsupport/centerprograms/dsp/home_index.html, (213) 740-0776 (Phone), (213) 740-6948 (TDD only), (213) 740-8216 (FAX) .
STATEMENT ON ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
USC seeks to maintain an optimal learning environment. General principles of academic honesty include the concept of respect for the intellectual property of others, the expectation that individual work will be submitted unless otherwise allowed by an instructor, and the obligations both to protect one’s own academic work from misuse by others as well as to avoid using another’s work as one’s own. All students are expected to understand and abide by these principles. SCampus, the Student Guidebook, (www.usc.edu/scampus or http://scampus.usc.edu) contains the University Student Conduct Code (see University Governance, Section 11.00), while the recommended sanctions are located in Appendix A.
Students will be referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs and Community Standards for further review, should there be any suspicion of academic dishonesty. The Review process can be found at: http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/SJACS/. Information on intellectual property at USC is available at: http://usc.edu/academe/acsen/issues/ipr/index.html.
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS/COURSE CONTINUITY IN A CRISIS
In case of a declared emergency if travel to campus is not feasible, USC executive leadership will announce an electronic way for instructors to teach students in their residence halls or homes using a combination of Blackboard, teleconferencing, and other technologies.
CTWR 422 will be activated in Blackboard which will contain the course syllabus. (USC's Blackboard learning management system and support information is available at blackboard.usc.edu.)
DISRUPTIVE STUDENT BEHAVIOR
Behavior that persistently or grossly interferes with classroom activities is considered disruptive behavior and may be subject to disciplinary action. Such behavior inhibits other students’ ability to learn and an instructor’s ability to teach. A student responsible for disruptive behavior may be required to leave class pending discussion and resolution of the problem and may be reported to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs for disciplinary action.
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