A killer first ten pages that’ll make an executive want to keep reading your script boils down to a few key elements. In this workshop, we’ll discuss what those elements are, we’ll cite great examples from exemplary screenplays, and we’ll do some exercises together that will help you develop the perfect ten for your script.

An intensive two-part crash course on indie filmmaking that takes you on a comprehensive journey from script to distribution.

Screenwriter and author Doug Richardson has both adapted books as a screenwriter and authored books that would be great fits for the big or small screen. He walks on both sides of the writer aisle, with vast experience in the Hollywood arena to help both screenwriters and novelists better understand the intricacies of the adaptation process.

In this workshop, Isabel Sterling (traditionally published author and master certified author coach), walks you through the fundamentals of compelling character backstory. You’ll learn where to look for relevant details, how and when to write backstory scenes, and how to get your character’s backstory on the page without info dumping or using excessive flashbacks.

Writer and professor Faye Rapoport DesPres discusses ways to decide which literary journals might be right for your work, and the submission process, step-by-step.

Writer and filmmaker Joe Clarke offers a unique approach, empowering writers of all levels with a week-by-week breakdown and practical techniques to quickly and confidently craft compelling feature screenplays.

Screenwriting career coach Lee Jessup will explore how to best strategize for the screenwriting year, with the aim of creating and building meaningful opportunities and forward motion that every writer wants to see for their career.

Kevin Morales dives into how Silence of the Lambs offers five empathetic points of view, but in very careful and deliberate ways. A symptom of bad movies and mediocre scripts is a lack of point of view or careless use of it.

Zoe Quinton, who once worked as a literary agent, will help you navigate the landscape of writing queries and also critique your query letter.

Whether you’re new to script writing or working on your hundredth script, you need great feedback and notes in order to make a solid plan for the revision process. As a workshop leader and script consultant who has worked with hundreds of writers over the last ten years, this is a topic that is very near and dear to Merridith Allen's heart.

Build and Customize an Author Business Model from Pipeline Artists - Symposium on Vimeo. In her 30 years experimenting with all aspects of book publishing, indie book publisher, publishing entrepreneur, publishing consultant, and author coach Sharon Woodhouse has seen and helped authors develop and use various income sources to create ongoing, sustainable income for themselves. […]

Whether you are a self-published author or a traditionally published author, you need to learn how to market your book. After all, you didn't write it only to have it sit in a box. You want people to find it ... and love it!

Research might sound like something that’ll slow down your storytelling process. We’re here to tell you the opposite is true. If you go about research the right way, your stories will be more solid and you’ll get them down much faster. You’ll also find that doing research is a lot of fun!

Join Eric Day and delve into the world of generative A.I. and its application in content, story development, and brainstorming. He'll explore how A.I. can be used to inspire you, help you build compelling backstories, generate innovative ideas, and even create visual content to inspire your creative process.

Filmmaker Kevin T. Morales will help you understand the concept of Objective Correlative and its various uses through breaking down its appearance in films. By the end of the presentation and discussion, you will be able to evaluate the use of objects and setting in your own story to emotionally affect the audience, avoid cliche and strengthen your character’s journey.

Every story lives or dies by who the protagonist and POV character is. Sometimes, it feels obvious, other times you can pick any character in the narrative and tell an equally thrilling story. Author Bryan Young will show you all the different options of choosing the right POV for your story or screenplay, and, if you’re writing prose, what POV to actually write in.

Revision is a fact of life for professional writers. Being good at revision, even enjoying revision, makes a huge difference in your writing career. So whether you’re revising a shitty first draft or implementing an editor’s feedback, knowing how to tackle the revision process without wanting to throw the whole novel in the garbage is essential.

Over 80% of all people want to write a book, but before you ever put pen to paper, there are a few key components to think through first. Rea Frey will go beyond the craft to focus on what's needed to not only get your book into the world, but to do it in a way that feels authentic and aligned with your goals.

Just learning the basic building blocks of story craft is not enough to write a page-turning story; you need to master the art of tension on every page and within every element of the story. From the inner conflicts of a character's deepest psyche, to the mechanics of how you reveal information to the reader, Jordan Rosenfeld will demonstrate how to create tension that's critical to crafting a story your readers can't put down!

A Profitable Author Life You Love from Pipeline Artists - Symposium on Vimeo. Join indie book publisher, publishing entrepreneur, publishing consultant, and author coach Sharon Woodhouse for a webinar that could change your entire experience of being an author. Learn how to transform your perspective from one of uncertainty, anxiety, and disappointment into one of enjoyment, personal […]

The old adage is true, you never get a second chance to make a first impression. In writing, you never get a second chance to hook a reader. Whether it be a screenplay, novel, picture book, or memoir, your opening pages are crucial when it comes to holding your reader's attention. 

what works, and what doesn’t. Shawn will walk you through the process, providing real-world advice to help manage a successful campaign. The primary focus will be on project-based campaigns, Kickstarter and Indiegogo, but he will also touch on creator-based campaigns such as Patreon. 

How can we crush our writing goals without getting crushed by fear, doubt, resistance, and conditions beyond our control? In this session, Amy Goldmacher will take you through an interactive process that will will give you tools to set yourself up for writing success.

It's important to know what you’re getting yourself into so that you can ensure that the time, effort, and money you dedicate to your book is worth it. Editor Karen Krumpak will prepare you for getting the most out of working with an independent editor to prepare your book to hit the shelves.

Action Writing for Screenwriters from Pipeline Artists - Symposium on Vimeo. "Action," meaning the scene descriptions, not "action genre." Now that we've cleared that up … In order to write great action description in a scene that maximizes "white on the page," you have to translate the images in your head into very specific word choices.  […]

In partnership with NaNoWriMo's upcoming November writing challenge, Pipeline Artists' Symposium will be kicking things off with our first-ever 1-hour Write-In. We'll be using the Pomodoro Method of 25 minutes of writing, then a 5-minute break to check in on our progress, and back at it for another sprint!

Go inside the studio development process with Beth Bruckner O’Brien. With 36 films on her resume as a Producer and Creative Executive, Beth has been in the trenches with writers developing projects from original pitches, spec scripts, and IP, and will give you the inside scoop on how to garner interest from production companies and more.

Abigail Bloom and Laura Huie are here to help you assemble the Ultimate Pitch Toolkit, including everything you need to get prepped for agents, managers, and producers. Put your best foot forward and impress industry experts with stand-out marketing materials.

Learning how to write compelling stories and characters is the foundation of every writer’s career, but a successful career is built on a series of business decisions over a long period of time. This session will go over the basics of the business side of the film and television industry, with practical tips to help writers make more informed business decisions at every stage of their careers.

Learn strategies for developing, executing and releasing successful projects when you don’t have access to money or resources. Producer Sharri Hefner will not only guide you through best practices for taking your projects from idea inception through archival processing, but she will also discuss strategies for developing a sustainable creative career.

The skills for writing dialogue in plays can be applied to many other forms of creative writing. So, how can you start honing those skills?

Learn how to avoid the telltale oversights that secretly undermine self-published books’ potential for success from the get-go.

Acquisitions Editor Chantelle Aimée Osman (Agora Books, Polis Books) will walk you through the steps needed to become submission-ready. From polishing your manuscript after you get that highly-anticipated “yes,” all the way to a stellar opening line—and even down to the proper font—Chantelle gives you the how-to in making your work stand out from the pile.

Multi-hyphenate director/producer/screenwriter/Chapman professor Kay Tuxford (The MisEducation of Bindu) will walk you through step-by-step how to choose a good first short script to write, produce it, and get it in front of an audience. By the end of this presentation, you'll have a toolbox filled with information on the dos and don’ts of short filmmaking

Foyinsi Adegbonmire, Associate Editor from Feiwel & Friends, will explain the publication process from the standpoint of a traditional publisher and what you can expect from a professional collaboration with your editor from the moment your book is acquired until it hits the shelves.

Literary agent Dani Segelbaum takes the helm on those answers. This talented agent will cover the golden rules of writing the perfect book proposal and help you unpack what's needed to write something enticing and salable. By the end of this presentation, you'll have the tools to craft a finished proposal, plus tips on getting the best possible agent and deal for your book.

Editor and literary agent Latoya Smith might be the next step along your way to publication, and lucky for us, this editor/agent super-combo is here to share her wealth of knowledge and plant helpful guideposts for authors who are ready to get their manuscript out into the world, rather than let it sit on their desktop.

What exactly is branding? Leah Lewis streamlines this topic so you can get a jump on branding strategies that fit your own creative trajectory. She is an independent content creator, documentary filmmaker, tech startup founder, and non-profit executive, and has a lot to say about developing a brand that can elevate your artistic career.

Have a great book but it’s not being picked up by editors or agents? Author and lit agent Stacey Graham from 3 Seas Literary Agency shares tips on where your book may have gone rogue and how to get it back on a traditional publishing path.

How do you spread the word about your book and get it in readers' hands? Leila Siddiqui, a book marketer at Simon & Schuster, can help you understand book marketing basics with tips, insights, and suggestions on where to start and how to get organized.

Beth Szymkowski, Executive Producer of Hulu's teen-horror drama, Freakish, will give practical tips and examples from her own life on how to meet people who can help you break in. Knowing what it’s like to go from zero contacts in the writing world to a full-blown career, she understands the agony of an introverted writer being told networking is the key to success.

Award-winning author and filmmaker Bryan Young will teach a number of techniques on how to quickly generate ideas for stories and put them through a litmus test until you find one concept (or a few) worth your blood, sweat, and tears. We'll cover how to come up with ideas to pitch or write on spec, and how to decide what type of media an idea should be written for.

Abigail Bloom and Laura Huie are here to help you develop the tools you need to attract your perfect match—by this we mean your literary agent. After all, it is a partnership and one that when armed with the right knowledge is easy to build.

Maya Zivkovich will walk you through the importance of this document and break down the different components needed for your deck to truly stand out from the rest. No design experience necessary—you’ll get plenty of her best tips and tricks from her many years and expertise as a graphic artist.

In Query with Confidence, Isabel Sterling breaks down the query process into digestible pieces. You’ll learn how to write an effective query letter, research agents, and hit “send” so you can get back to doing what you really love: writing another book.

Most writers don’t think beyond writing “The End,” but if you intend to be a professional author, you need to have a plan and make smart career choices. Chantelle Aimée Osman, the editor of Agora Books, discusses a solid strategy for laying the foundations to career success.