The Big Picture with Beverly Smith-Dawson

The Big Picture: Writing Your First Screenplay with Beverly Smith-Dawson

This course takes students on a journey through the necessary information, tools and exercises for the beginning screenwriter to start the first draft of a feature-length screenplay. Over the course of four weeks, individuals will be involved in in-class writing assignments, discussions on screenplay verses and other formats, and learning techniques such as the Three-Act Structure and 10 Plot Points, Character Analysis, World-Upside-Down Overview and formatting. Participants will present their screenplay drafts for feedback from others and also give feedback to the other individuals in class. Come prepared to write, learn and engage in this in-depth look at screenplay writing!

To learn more, visit the event's Facebook page. To find other creative writing classes and workshops, visit http://piper.asu.edu/classes. 

Original image credit: Thomas Wolf

About Beverly Smith Dawson

Beverly Smith-Dawson writes stage plays, screenplays and short stories. She has had stage plays produced in San Francisco, New York City (including off-Broadway), Los Angeles, Phoenix and Minneapolis. Additionally, her screenplays have been finalists and semifinalists at the Cinequest Film Festival, the Sundance Lab, The AFI Women in Directing Program, The Moondance Film Festival and the Hollywood Black Film Festival. Her short story “Chosen” won in the Writers Digest Magazine’s sci-fi/fantasy category of the 2008 Annual Popular Fiction Awards.

Smith-Dawson has an MFA in directing from the Yale School of Drama, and a Certificate in Screenwriting through UCLA Extension. She has been a lecturer at Arizona State University and currently teaches for the Maricopa County Community College District.