On 3 June students at Harris Manchester had the opportunity to learn more about screenwriting from Visiting Fellow Mike Chessler, whose career has taken in writing, producing and developing films and television series for some of the biggest networks in Hollywood and beyond. Earlier in Trinity term Mike had also run a successful workshop on fiction writing.
Aimed at anyone with an interest in writing for film or television, the screenwriting workshop saw students from a variety of courses take part.
Attendees were given the opportunity to discuss three scenes from classic television series and films, delving into aspects including how the characters are established, the visual language, and the style of action lines. They then workshopped a short scene, writing three pages before reading the various parts and exploring each writer’s intent, the audience’s impressions and ideas for revision.
Mike also gave students an overview of life as a writer in the entertainment industry, which has become more consolidated, corporate and algorithm driven. He also discussed some of the newer routes to gaining exposure, such as YouTube shorts.
He commented: “I really enjoyed meeting and working with Oxford students. They were dynamic and collaborative, and all had thoughtful and distinctive points of view”.
