Turning Fact Into Screen Fiction Lab

2 hours 8 weeks - 1 evening session per week - 6.30pm to 8.30pm Part-time

Main Campus Online

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Turning Fact Into Screen Fiction Lab

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Delivered over 8 weeks (1 evening a week), this course will give you the tools to develop a 'based on a true story' script for a feature film or multi-part television series. We will explore crucial questions like how far can you depart from the facts in pursuit of creating a stronger dramatic narrative without betraying the 'truth' of a true story?

The course will offer a staged development process, with sessions that are a combination of lectures and guided workshops where participants provide feedback on each other’s works-in-progress. We will also view and discuss dramatisations of true stories to see how experienced writers have solved problems and handled challenges.

At the end of the course, you will have a working document that you can further develop into a finished 'based on a true story' script and a clear idea of how to move forward. 



Course Lead Ellin Stein is currently an Associate Lecturer in the MA Scriptwriting program at Goldsmiths and an MA / MFA script mentor at the Central School of Speech and Drama. 
She also writes a regular column for Slate on What’s Fact and What’s Fiction in current fact-based releases. Before entering academia, she worked in development for production companies including Zoetrope and Miramax. 
As a non-fiction writer, she’s contributed to publications including The Times, The Telegraph, and The New York Times, and has scripted feature documentaries for Radio 4