Every movie begins with a blank page. Before the lights can shine and the cameras can roll you need a great story.

There's never been a better time to start a career as a screenwriter. With technological breakthroughs bringing the cost of making and distributing movies down to almost nothing, there's going to be a huge demand for great scripts—and for people who can write them.  

You'll start with the fundamentals of stories—why audiences need them, what they expect from them, and what kinds of stories work time after time. Then you'll learn how to write your own. You'll see how to come up with an idea, how to develop that tiny spark into a story, and finally how to structure it into a screenplay. 

But story and structure are only the beginning. You'll learn how to create characters audiences will believe and how to write dialogue that will bring them to life. You'll discover the secrets of constructing scenes that audiences won't be able to stop watching and how to make every moment of your screenplay count. And you'll see how to take your good first draft and turn it into something great.

Along the way, you'll get hands-on experience through a series of short—and fun!—writing assignments that will have you working like a pro from the very beginning of the course.

When you finish the course, you'll be ready to start writing your own script, and you'll know how to sell it once it's done!

Taught by writer, director and producer Eric Swinderman http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2011757/ the class will get you started on your journey towards bringing the ideas in your head to the page and then the screen.

The 4 week class is held once per week in Lakewood. Interested parties can contact Eric at eric@1031films.com