Tom's Seminars
Below you will find a list of all of Tom's seminars. If you represent a company or studio and would like to set-up a special training session, please contact Tom.
The Screenwriter as Storyteller
Create compelling film stories by using THE STORY CRYSTAL, a three-dimensional, spiraling molecule of plot, character and theme. Learn how your creative journey while writing connects you with your characters and the audience, and:
- How to build powerful stories through the Sixteen Storytelling Vertebrae in the Story Crystal
- How to dramatically express the unity of plot, character and theme
- How to navigate through the Deep Core of your film stories with the Archaeology of Character Model
- How the Core Triangles of Characters drives your stories implacably toward the dramatic and thematic climax
- How to orchestrate the light and the shadow in your constellation of characters
Films include: AMELIE, CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, MIDNIGHT COWBOY, ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOOS NEST, LOST IN TRANSLATION
Writing Great Comedies
Learn the 23 Essential Elements to write successful comedies that you can immediately apply to your current screenplays. THE 16 STORY STEPS for Comedy will show you how to navigate through your comedy scripts with skill and confidence, while revealing new perspectives, comic twists and solutions. You will:
- Master the art of the comic premise
- Learn the screenplay structure unique to comedy
- Orchestrate your comic characters for maximum humor
- Learn how to balance comic tones with dramatic tones
- Discover new, powerful, commercial comedy themes
- Hone your comedy skills with fun, improvisational techniques
Films include: THE FULL MONTY, KNOCKED UP, AS GOOD AS IT GETS, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL
Writing Great Thrillers
Thrillers are as intricately woven as a spider web, and function according to unique dramaturgical rules. Learn how to use the FOUR DEVELOPMENT MODELS for THRILLERS to write movies like THE MATRIX, THE SIXTH SENSE, MULHOLLAND DRIVE, THE CRYING GAME, and FARGO, and how to:
- Use twists, turns and reversals for maximum surprise and suspense
- Map out the plot according to the FOUR LINES of THRILLER EXPOSITION
- Create compelling thriller characters according to their inner paradox and outer dilemma
- Construct your thriller according to the central dramatic situation and action motifs
- Orchestrate the Core Triangle of Characters to create the most enthralling experience for the audience
- Use dark comedy and/or provide comic relief in thrillers
Creating Original Stories
Build a portfolio of original stories through cutting-edge techniques to create authentic characters and engaging plots from your personal experience. Learn:
- How to harvest your personal experiences as a resource to connect with your audience
- How to create a network of multi-faceted, distinct characters
- How body language and the physical attributes of your characters reveals their subtext
- How to find the heart of your stories through the Story Molecule Paradigm
- How the high and low status of characters shapes their relationships
- The Story Constellation Process that reveals Core Triangles of Characters and the quintessential Point of View
Story Constellations (experiential)
Engage in energizing group work to structure or re-structure your screenplays. See how your characters come alive as you clarify point of view and theme through your constellation of characters, and learn how:
- To build powerful stories through the Story Constellation and Creative Visualization Process
- To discover and resonate with the through-line of your screenplays
- To view your stories from all the main characters', and the audience's, perspective
- To navigate through the Deep Core of your film stories with skill and confidence
- Story Constellations reveal the inner truth about your characters and the keys to their essential relationships
(THE FOLLOWING COPY IS THE SAME ON THE REST OF THESE; ONE TYPO UNDER CREATING DARK CHARACTERS HAS BEEN CHANGED FROM THE ORIGINAL WEB PAGE COPY)
Creating New Visions
Alternative structures and new visions for storytelling in the 21st Century:
- Linear and circular narrative structures
- Weaving together ensembles and story strands
- How to balance plot momentum and character development within alternate structures
- Using "framing devices" that help orient the audience as they watch the movie
- Using a "clash of two worlds" as an opportunity to explore new ways of telling the story
- Creating a dramatic unity out of mixed materials, such as documentary and fiction, and mixed idioms, such as realism and expressionism
Films include: CRASH, PAN'S LABYRINTH, AMORES PERES, SYRIANA, CITY OF GOD.
Creating Dark Characters
Writing from your Shadow to create compelling, three-dimensional dark characters:
- How to build the "fateful triangle" of obsessive passion
- How to "see" and read the intimate body language of the characters you create for signs of inner conflict
- How psychological projection works to create escalating conflicts
- How to find your character's (NOTE: THERE IS "CHARACTER'S" TYPO IN THE CURRENT WEB PAGE COPY) fatal imbalance
- How to establish the "codes" inherent in melodrama, thrillers or crime stories, and keep them consistent
- How to create unique, contemporary stories within these rules and codes
Films include: THE SWEET HEREAFTER, MONSTER, MULHOLLAND DRIVE, RAGING BULL.
Writing Great Melodrama/Family Drama
Orchestrating characters for the optimal effect in family and community stories:
- Find power in limits, circumscribing the dramatic world in ways that build tension and interest
- Orchestrate fresh and original characters, and reveal their back-stories with economy and precision
- Discover and clarify the conflict of values that drives each of the characters
- Build compelling core relationships at the heart of the melodrama
- Use triangular construction in your melodrama scenes
- Incorporate tragic, comic, and thriller touches into the melodrama structure
Films include: MY LIFE AS A DOG, MY LEFT FOOT, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, DANGEROUS LIASONS, NOWHERE IN AFRICA
Writing Great Love Stories
Creating love stories that deliver the unexpected with passion.
Films include: SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, LANTANA, THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, SENSE AND SENSIBILITY
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