Students will learn the fundamentals of screenwriting from format, to techniques, to story structure. Students will analyze the work of successfully produced screenplays to learn what it takes to write for film and television, as well as receive valuable feedback from their peers and their instructor as they create their own original short, feature, or television scripts!
Grades: 8 – 12
Session 1: 7/6 – 7/10 and 7/13 – 7/17
Time: 10:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Instructor: John Rotondo
John Rotondo is a screenwriter, novelist, producer, and educator. His debut novel, Paul Is Dead, is set to hit bookstores in 2027. He co-wrote the feature film The Garden Left Behind, directed by Flavio Alves, which premiered at SXSW in 2019, won the Audience Award, and went on to receive over 20 festival awards worldwide, including Best Screenplay at the 2019 Sunscreen Film Festival. Developed through the IFP Narrative Lab and supported by organizations including GLAAD, PFLAG, and the New York Foundation for the Arts, the film was released on VOD in 2020. Rotondo is currently in pre-production on Bonita, his second collaboration with Alves. His previous work includes the screenplays Resemblance and Mockingbird (a Nicholl Fellowship Quarterfinalist and Screencraft Semi-Finalist), an acting role in the award-winning NYTVF pilot Dead John, and the internationally produced play Love (Awkwardly), published by YouthPLAYS. He is a graduate of NYU Tisch’s Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing and teaches dramatic and creative writing.
