In this all-new 2025 course, Writing with Intention: Mining Emotional Truth in TV, Film, & Novels, you will receive the same information, education, and access that is offered in network writing fellowships.
Levels 4 and 5 are by submission only.
Submissions will be accepted from January 7 through January 25, 2025. Submit the first ten pages of one of your scripts. (It doesn’t have to be the script you want to work on.)
COURSE STRUCTURE
PHASE 1
Upon purchase of the 6-Week Teleseminar, you will receive story modules. They are your story instructions for the course. You will have access to these modules for one year from date-of-purchase.
PHASE 2
The live online component starts on Tuesday, February 4, at 7:00 pm PST. Each class is approximately two and a half hours in length. During the first part of each class, I will give a short presentation on Writing with Intention. Next, there will be five writers rotating in who will receive feedback. Following that, we will have a working writer as a guest speaker for the last hour of each class. Five writers will have an opportunity to pitch their concept or discuss three problems that they are having with their story and ask for advice.
All live online classes will be recorded. You will receive the recordings the day
after the class.
PHASE 3
You will book a one-on-one session with me to receive direct feedback on your project. The number of sessions you receive will depend on your level.
PARTICIPATION OPTIONS
LEVEL 1
- You will receive the story modules
- You will participate in the six live online classes and receive all recordings
- You will get to turn in a logline and a 2–3 page document that gives a synopsis of your story and includes a half-hour one-on-one consult that you can book up to a year after the class
RATES
| LAUNCH WEEK (1/14–1/21/25) TV & FEATURE |
|
| REGULAR (new participants after 1/22/25) TV & FEATURE |
|
| ALUM (returning students/clients) TV & FEATURE |
LEVEL 2 – ONLY 10 SPOTS AVAILABLE
- You will receive the story modules
- You will participate in the six live online classes and receive all recordings
- You will get to rotate in one time to receive feedback on your concept during the live class
- You will have an opportunity to pitch to or get advice from one of the guest speakers
- This level includes a half-hour one-on-one consult to review your concept and a one-hour coaching session to review your script (there will be a different TV or Feature rate)
RATES
| LAUNCH WEEK (1/14–1/21/25) | |
| TV | |
| FEATURE | |
| REGULAR (new participants after 1/22/25) | |
| TV | |
| FEATURE | |
| ALUM (returning students/clients) | |
| TV | |
| FEATURE |
LEVEL 3 – ONLY 10 SPOTS AVAILABLE
- You will receive the story modules
- You will participate in the six live online classes and receive all recordings
- You will get to rotate in one time to receive feedback on your concept during the live class
- You will have an opportunity to pitch a guest speaker
- This level includes two one-on-one meetings to go over your script. They can be booked up to a year after purchase (there will be a different TV or Feature rate)
RATES
| LAUNCH WEEK (1/14–1/21/25) | |
| TV | |
| FEATURE | |
| REGULAR (new participants after 1/22/25) | |
| TV | |
| FEATURE | |
| ALUM (returning students/clients) | |
| TV | |
| FEATURE |
LEVEL 4 – ONLY 2 SPOTS AVAILABLE – BY SUBMISSION ONLY
Submissions will be accepted from January 7 through January 25, 2025. Submit the first ten pages.
- You will receive the story modules
- You will participate in the six live online classes and receive all recordings
- You will get to rotate in two times to receive feedback on your concept during the live class
- You will have two opportunities to pitch a guest speaker
- This level includes three one-on-one meetings to go over your script. They can be booked up to a year after purchase (there will be a different TV or Feature rate)
RATES
(THERE IS NO LAUNCH WEEK RATE FOR THIS LEVEL. This level is by submission only.)
| TV | |
| FEATURE |
LEVEL 5 – ONLY 2 SPOTS AVAILABLE – SUBMISSION ONLY
Submissions will be accepted from January 7 through January 25, 2025. Submit the first ten pages.
- You will receive the story modules
- You will participate in the six live online classes and receive all recordings
- You will get to rotate in three times to receive feedback on your concept during the live class
- You will have two opportunities to pitch a guest speaker
- This level includes four one-on-one meetings to discuss your script. You can book them up to a year after purchase (there will be a different TV or Feature rate)
RATES
(THERE IS NO LAUNCH WEEK RATE FOR THIS LEVEL. This level is by submission only.)
| TV | |
| FEATURE |
| 2025 GUEST SPEAKERS |
 JAVIER GRILLO-MARXUACHJavier “Javi” Grillo-Marxuach is one of the Emmy Award-winning producers of Lost and Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and is currently Executive Producer of the hit Netflix series The Witcher. His work includes stints as writer/producer on From, Cowboy Bebop, Blood and Treasure, Raising Dion, The 100, Medium, Boomtown, and the original Charmed. An advocate of mentorship and education, Grillo-Marxuach and his family have granted scholarships for writers at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts and the Creative Writing program at Carnegie Mellon University, and he is co-host and co-creator of the Children of Tendu podcast, an educational series for aspiring television writers. Javi is Puerto Rican; his name is pronounced: “HA-VEE-AIR GREE-JOE MARKS-WATCH.” |
 TED HUMPHREYTed Humphrey is a writer, producer, director and showrunner and the founder and principal of Algorithm Entertainment, a film and television production company based at CBS Television Studios in Los Angeles. Currently, he is the Executive Producer, co-creator/developer and showrunner of the upcoming Netflix series “THE LINCOLN LAWYER,” based on the Michael Connelly novels. He was previously the creator, showrunner and Executive Producer of the CBS drama series “WISDOM OF THE CROWD,” and is perhaps best known as a writer, director and Executive Producer of the acclaimed CBS series “THE GOOD WIFE,” as well as the showrunner/Executive Producer of the Syfy series “INCORPORATED.” He has written and produced series for many networks in both broadcast and cable, as well as several feature films.For his work on “THE GOOD WIFE,” he was honored with multiple Emmy, Golden Globe and Writer’s Guild nominations for Best Drama Series, as well as a Writer’s Guild nomination for Best Episodic Drama Script and the Voices of Courage and Conscience Award from the Muslim Public Affairs Council for his first season episode, “Boom.” “THE GOOD WIFE” also earned a Peabody Award and was twice honored with the American Film Institute’s Award for Excellence in Film and Television.Ted is a graduate of Georgetown University, and holds law and graduate degrees from the University of Virginia. He began his career as an attorney in Washington D.C., before coming to his senses. |
 CARLA KETTNERCarla 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 a few years later 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” and “Judging Amy”. Kettner has written pilots for Fox, ABC, NBC and CBS. She co-created and was showrunner on the Spectrum Originals/Roku Originals crimedy “Panhandle” and is currently showrunner on “ALERT: Missing Persons Unit” for Fox. Kettner has multiple projects in development with Sony. 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, Johns Hopkins University, Boston University, and has done multiple screenwriting seminars and podcasts. |
 BRANDON MARGOLISBrandon Margolis and Brandon Sonnier are a writing/producing team who served as Creators/ Showrunners of the BAD BOYS spinoff series L.A.’S FINEST starring Gabrielle Union and Jessica Alba. The Brandons started in the prestigious NBC/Universal Writers On The Verge program. They went on to rise through the ranks for five seasons on Sony/NBC’s hit drama series THE BLACKLIST while developing multiple Cable and Network T.V. pilots. Most recently, the Brandons served as Co-Executive Producers on season 6 of CBS’s SWAT and Executive Producers on season 2 of ALERT on FOX. |
 MATTHEW NIXMatthew Nix is an American writer, producer, and director. He is best known for creating the television series Burn Notice, The Good Guys, and The Gifted. |
 VANESSA TAYLORVanessa 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. |