Television Writing Workshop: Half Hour Comedy
Course Number: H98.1010.901
Dates: Wednesday October 21 - December 9 (8 sessions total)
Times: 6:45 - 9:45pm
Instructor: Dr. Pieter (Pia) Aquilia
This course takes an international perspective on the half-hour comedy today, preparing the student to write comedy scripts and ideas that will sell in the global marketplace. The classes combine screenings and analysis of contemporary popular comedies and the production practices involved, before immersing the student into the practice of writing scripts to sell and the mechanics of working in-house as a comedy writer.
Be prepared to laugh and work hard. The course will look at the increasing challenges of writing structured half-hour comedy that transgresses cultures and has franchise potential. The Office and Coupling are a few of the many examples of how writing comedy has become one of the most lucrative businesses in television today. Why? The ideas are universal and the scripts hold the secrets of successful comedy writing. The premise, the situation, the characters, the dialogue and the tone are some of the many issues this course will tackle.
