STORY THERAPY: CHARACTER & CHARACTER DYNAMICS DIGITAL COURSE AND TELESEMINAR
CONVERSATION WITH LEE JESSUP ON STORY THERAPY
Story Therapy: Character & Character Dynamics Event includes both the digital course and the teleseminar. The course includes modules with sixteen story instruction videos with story tools, complete breakdowns for eight shows, handouts, and video clips where I illustrate the story tools. I have included a breakdown for one feature film. I also have Advanced Tips, Resources, etc. This digital course leads into my live online six-week Story Therapy Teleseminar.
LIST OF THE EIGHT SHOWS
- SEVERANCE
- GASLIT
- THE BEAR
- LIFE & BETH
- WE CRASHED
- SINGLE DRUNK FEMALE
- DOPESICK
- THE OLD MAN
FEATURE
- TOP GUN: MAVERICK
The Story Therapy Teleseminar starts on Tuesday, February 21, 2023, and goes through March 28, 2023. This seminar is a live and interactive event that includes story instruction, script notes for Level 3, pitching, and an opportunity to get feedback from top working TV writers.
Classes begin on Tuesday, February 21 at 7:00 pm PST ONLINE and go through March 28, 2023
Each call is approximately 2 – 2 ½ hours in length. On each call, we will review the notes for the four writers. You will be able to read their scripts and make notes each week. You will also get to share your notes with those writers directly. It is a way to prepare you for the writers’ room.
Five people will sign up each week and get an opportunity to pitch to a guest speaker. All levels are eligible. This part of the program will help you learn from others’ pitching styles and allow you the opportunity to pitch yourself. It’s an invaluable tool.
With the 150 writers who participated last year, there was a tremendous opportunity for connecting with a writers’ community.
You will learn all the story tools you need to succeed, but you will also gain the opportunity to be in this private community of writers. This community is a precious resource. In it, you can exchange scripts, find accountability partners, form writer groups, and create friendships with writers worldwide.
I’ve seen the success of this course first-hand. Many of the writers who have taken this course have gone on to sell pilots, and features, get staffed on TV shows and get into several prestigious writing programs. To date, 107 have been sold by the writers I’ve worked with.
Below are the levels available for this event’s six-week live online portion. Each level adds more to the experience.
The opportunity to be a part of this experience will be available during my launch.
LEVEL 1
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- You get the story instruction modules for Story Therapy. You will have access to these modules for one year from the date of purchase.
- You can participate in all six online classes starting 2/21/23 at 7:00 pm PT.
- You will receive a recording of the classes.
- You will also have the opportunity to sign up to pitch to my weekly guest speakers.
- You will also get to turn in a 1-2 page pitch document on your TV spec or TV pilot script and receive written feedback. After the course ends, you must turn this in for up to a year.
LEVEL 2 (SOLD OUT)
Includes TV Pilot Consult and LIVE FEEDBACK for one of the six classes
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- You will also get an opportunity to rotate in at Level 3 for one of the six weeks to receive feedback on your TV pilot. This level includes a one-on-one consult where you receive written and verbal feedback and a call recording.
- You get the story instruction modules for Story Therapy. You will have access to these modules for one year from the date of purchase.
- You can participate in all six online classes starting 2/21/23 at 7:00 pm PT.
- You will receive a recording of the classes.
- You will also have the opportunity to sign up to pitch to my weekly guest speakers.
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New Opportunity
To give more feedback for everyone to learn from different scripts, I added this new option. LEVEL 2 this year will get to rotate into Level 3 for one of the six classes to receive live feedback.
LEVEL 3 (CLOSED)
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- With Level 3, you will get feedback on your TV pilot script during all six classes. We will start with the concept, outline, and several drafts of the script. Assignments are due the Saturday before the class. This level includes written and verbal feedback. At this level, you are participating like you are in a writing program.
- You get the story instruction modules for Story Therapy. You will have access to these modules for one year from the date of purchase.
- You can participate in all six online classes starting 2/21/23 at 7:00 pm PT.
- You will receive a recording of the classes.
- Level 3 will get to choose which guest speaker they want to pitch.
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LEVEL 4 (SOLD OUT)
GUEST SPEAKERS
 Vanessa Taylor has worked widely in television, most recently as Co-Executive Producer on HBO’s “Game of Thrones.” Her feature films include “Hope Springs,” “Divergent,” “Hillbilly Elegy,” and “The Shape of Water,” for which she received an Oscar nomination. |
 Dan O’Shannon is an American television writer and producer who has worked on shows such as Newhart, Cheers, and Frasier. He was an executive producer of the ABC show Modern Family but left the show at the conclusion of season five to accept a development deal at CBS TV Studios. |
 Carla Kettner was born in Calgary, Canada. After graduating USC she moved to Australia and became a journalist and award-winning short story author.
Kettner quickly transitioned into writing and producing Australian television, and moved back to Los Angeles. Since then she has written and produced hundreds of hours of television, primarily dramas. She was Executive Producer of “The Blacklist”, “Bones”, “Vanished” and “Mob Doctor”. Other credits include “Zoo”, “Night Shift”, “Early Edition”, “Judging Amy”, “Due South” and “Strong Medicine”. Kettner has written pilots for Fox, ABC, NBC and CBS. She is currently the showrunner of the Spectrum Originals/Roku Originals crimedy “Panhandle,” and she has multiple projects in development with Sony, including projects at Apple, Netflix, and Freeform. She also has a musical period piece, “Mademoiselles”, with Paramount. She is passionate about encouraging diverse new voices and, through her company Danger Doll Productions, is working one-on-one with emerging writers. In the spirit of fostering the next generation of TV talent, Kettner has lectured and sat on panels for USC School of Cinema-Television, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Boston University, and has done multiple screenwriting seminars and podcasts. |
 Jenny Lynn grew up the child of Taiwanese immigrants who ran a garment business. Riding with her parents through Southern California's vibrant ethnic enclaves, she would often dream of the characters and stories she might be witness to. Since then, she has plunged into worlds as eclectic as vampires, superheroes, and cutthroat athletes, having cut her entertainment teeth as a junior creative executive on BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, ANGEL, and FIREFLY. Then as a Writer on such hits as ARROW, Marvel’s IRON FIST, and SPINNING OUT.
Jenny is currently the Co-Executive Producer on FX’s critically-acclaimed series MAYANS M.C. and developing original series for FX and Twentieth Television. |
 David Schulner started his television career on Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz’s beloved “Once and Again.” Other credits include the award-winning first year of “Desperate Housewives”, “Everwood”, “Kings”, “Tell Me You Love Me” on HBO, creator/showrunner of “Do No Harm”, and showrunner of “Emerald City”. His 2008 spec script, “The Oaks” started a bidding war between CBS, ABC and FOX, ultimately being picked up straight-to-series by FOX starring Jeremy Renner. Then the writers strike happened. ITV in Great Britain successfully relaunched the show as the critically acclaimed series, “Marchlands”, followed by season two, “Lightfields”. David just wrapped five seasons as creator/showrunner of NBC’s “New Amsterdam” (WGA nom, Normal Lear Sentinel Award, Hollywood Critic’s Assoc. Award) and is developing new projects under his fifth overall deal with Universal Television.
As a playwright, David’s plays have been produced off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theater, The Old Globe, Long Wharf Theater and at Sundance. David is also the creator of CLONE, a popular comic published by Image/Skybound. |
 Claudia Forestieri is the Creator and Executive Producer of GORDITA CHRONICLES, a family comedy inspired by her childhood. Before creating her own series, Claudia wrote on Freeform’s GOOD TROUBLE and Netflix’s SELENA THE SERIES. She’s a proud alumna of the ABC Disney, NBC Writers on the Verge, HBOAccess writing programs, and the University of Florida (go Gators!). She began her storytelling career as a news reporter and producer for Telemundo stations in four major cities, including Los Angeles, where she earned five local Emmys and a GLAAD Media Award for her work. Claudia was born in Puerto Rico, raised in Miami, is of Dominican descent, and currently lives with her Lakers super fan husband in sunny Los Feliz. |
 Justin Hillian is the writer/executive producer/showrunner for The Chi. Additional TV writing/producing credits include Snowfall, I’m Dying Up Here, and Superstore. |
 Liz Thompson is a puzzle-obsessed screenwriter and playwright who grew up watching Gilda Radner sketches with friends, bingeing Columbo reruns with her dad, and attending neuroscience conferences with her mom. Her subsequent passion for comedy, mystery and the ongoing puzzle of human behavior is woven through every story she writes.
While cutting her creative teeth on Chicago’s renowned theater scene, Liz created an award-winning web series, produced multiple comedy shows, served as vice president on the board of directors for Red Theater Chicago, and had two sci-fi plays win top selections in Chicago’s annual Paragon Play Festival. After moving to LA, Liz has worked as a development consultant to Oscar-nominated producers and staffed TV writers to develop their features and pilots. She’s written numerous screenwriting articles for Final Draft, worked as a content editor for story consultant Jen Grisanti and the NBC Writers on the Verge program, and was featured in The Bitch List in 2020. Working in both comedy and drama, Liz has sold shows to CBS and NBC and has more projects in development now. Liz is represented by David Clark at Mazo Partners. |
MY TEAM
 Shana Lloyd is a (recovering) actor, (sometimes) filmmaker, and (mostly) screenwriter hailing from suburban Maryland. She studied acting at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. While in NYC, she worked off Broadway at many theaters, such as La Mama and NYTW (New York Theatre Workshop). As an actor, she has shared the stage with such greats as the late, great Ed Asner and Isabella Hofmann, who was also one of her Improv teachers.
Shana established Crisis Management Productions in 2011 as a vehicle to produce more female-driven socially relevant content. Shana currently has a few TV projects of her own in development, as well as with longtime collaborator and writing partner, Alison McKenzie. She has also worked extensively behind-the-scenes in production and at the network level–giving her a unique perspective and comprehensive knowledge of the entertainment industry. Shana recently wrote and voiced some video spots for LIVEKINDLY, a global plant-based food company and popular healthy lifestyle blog. One of her latest collaborations was assisting the current class of NBC’s Writers on the Verge, working with one of her mentors, Jen Grisanti. She’s currently an adjunct faculty member in the Screenwriting departments at AFI and Emerson Los Angeles. |
 Sara Norcott is a writer, editor, story consultant, idea-generator, and content creator with a BA in Communications and an MFA in Writing for Stage & Screen.With over 10 years of experience in creating content for businesses and brands, including Fortune 500 and 100 companies, she approaches storytelling and editing with precision, excellence, and an emphasis on how a story and its characters resonate with an audience.Her training also includes script coverage, developing resources for screenwriters, and being a content editor for Jen Grisanti.Sara offers story notes, proofreading and editing services, and personalized story consulting for both television and film. Contact: sbnorcott@gmail.com |