Screenwriting Essentials
Alfred Hitchcock said you need three things to make a film: a script, a script, and a script. Many professional creatives also subscribe to the philosophy that you can make a bad movie from a good script, but you can’t make a good movie from a bad script.
The professional screenwriters leading this introductory course seek to teach students how to write and be writers. That means, in addition to conceptualizing, developing, writing, workshopping, and revising original scripts, students will also become familiar with fundamental functions and best practices of the film and television industry via the lens of a professional screenwriter.
By the end of the course, students will have a polished original script, marketing materials, and a plan to produce the film and have submitted the work for public dissemination.
What You Will Walk Away With
- The opportunity to present your work in our showcase
- End of Semester Showcase -Students, alone or in groups, can submit original works to be screened, table read, performed etc. in front of school and industry professionals.
- Qualification to apply for Trilith Institute’s Creative Excellence Fellowship Grant.
- Complete 3 of our professional education courses, and you will receive a “Trilith Institute Outstanding Achievement in Film Arts”. In addition, if you have completed 3 courses and our Mastering Self-Marketing Workshop, you will be qualified to submit an original project for our Creative Excellence Fellowship Grant, with a potential award of up to $10,000.
- A polished original script, marketing materials, and a plan to produce the film as well as a submission for public dissemination
- A tour of Trilith Studios
- Discounts to other Trilith Institute workshops while enrolled.
Meet Your Instructor
Mitch Olson is an Associate Professor of Screen and TV Writing at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, where he’s lived since 2018. Prior to Atlanta, he lived in Los Angeles where he worked in creative development, and on shows for NBS, Fox, CBS, and Netflix. In 2020, he founded Point South Productions, which produced its first feature Easter, Bloody Easter, in 2022 (released 2024) and its second feature, Signing Day, in 2023. In addition to teaching, writing, and producing, he works closely with the Trilith Institute and the Georgia Film Academy, training high school students and teachers around the state to write and produce film and television content. He has served as a judge for NBC’s Writers on the Verge, Nashville Film Festival, and many others. He currently serves on the boards of “Step Up and Pitch” and “Film Impact Georgia,” two non-profit organizations whose missions support aspiring, under-represented content creators.