Crafting a Limited Series for Television
No currently scheduled sessions
Interested in hearing about the next session of this course?
Add your name to our notification list
About this Self-Paced Course
Every story has its own natural gravity. While some are meant for the brief, intense spark of a feature film and others for the sprawling world-building of a multi-season series, the limited series offers a unique creative sweet spot. It provides the canvas to paint a deeply immersive, emotionally complex world, but with the narrative discipline of a definitive ending. It’s like a “novel for television” where every scene matters because the clock is ticking.
In this self-paced course, veteran filmmaker Ron Nyswaner will guide you through the process of crafting short-form prestige television. Nyswaner is the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of Philadelphia and a writer/producer on such successful series as Homeland and Ray Donovan. In this course, Nyswaner draws upon his work on two limited series projects:
- Fellow Travelers, which earned Nyswaner a Peabody award and Emmy nomination
- Murder on Middle Beach, a four-part documentary series for HBO
This course builds upon a previous Sundance Collab Master Class and features exclusive insights and conversations with established writers and showrunners from Dying for Sex, Jane the Virgin, Little Fires Everywhere, and more. Using real-world examples, Nyswaner will reveal the core pillars of a compelling limited series.
In this course, you will learn:
- The role of the showrunner from development to post-production
- Narrative approaches to episodic writing
- How to create narrative drama from personal stories
- The eight elements of a good story
- A scene-for-scene breakdown of the pilot of Fellow Travelers
- How to create an effective TV pitch
Who this course is for: This course is ideal for aspiring television writers, producers, and/or showrunners looking to learn more about the limited series format.
Additional Benefits: Your enrollment includes a workbook and access to additional videos from Sundance Collab's Video Library.
Live Interaction and Support:
- Weekly Group Office Hours: Join our live online sessions with a Sundance Collab Advisor. This is your opportunity to ask questions, discuss challenges, and get real-time feedback in a supportive group environment.
- 1-on-1 Sessions (Additional $150): For more personalized support, you can book a 60-minute, 1-on-1 meeting with your Advisor to receive additional guidance.
Sundance Collab provides accommodations and support services to participants with disabilities. Accommodations and services are designed to meet the needs of each participant. Please email us at accessibility@sundance.org to arrange for services.
Self-Paced CourseOutline
Topics covered include:
- Course Overview
- Development Process
- Role of the Showrunner
Topics covered include:
- Narrative Drama from True Stories
- Adapting Personal Stories
- Elements of Good Story
Topics covered include:
- Storytelling Frameworks
- Pilot Analysis
Topics covered include:
- Crafting Your Concept
- Developing Your Pitch, Building Your Career
- Next Steps in Your TV Writing Journey
Team
Ron Nyswaner
Instructor
Ron Nyswaner is the creator/executive producer of the acclaimed limited series, Fellow Travelers. Other television credits: Ray Donovan, Homeland; the HBO true crime series, Murder On Middle Beach and the MSNBC documentary feature, Loan Wolves. Feature screenplays: Philadelphia, My Policeman, Soldier's Girl, The Painted Veil, Freeheld, Mrs. Soffel, and Smithereens. He produced and directed the documentary feature She's The Best Thing In It that premiered at the 2015 SXSW Film Festival; is the author of Blue Days Black Nights: A Memoir Of Desire.
Awards include nominations for Academy, Emmy, BAFTA, Writers Guild, Golden Globe, and Spirit Awards, winning the National Board of Review’s Best Adapted Screenplay Award, a Peabody Award, two GLAAD Awards, and the Writers Guild of America East’s Walter Bernstein Award that honors writers “who have demonstrated with creativity, grace, and bravery, a willingness to confront social injustice in the face of adversity.”
Alicia Carroll
Advisor
Alicia Carroll is a playwright and TV writer hailing from Philadelphia and the DMV. Her writing credits include BUMPER IN BERLIN (Peacock), THE WATCHFUL EYE (Freeform), ZOEY'S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST (NBC), and Crooked Media's comedic live show and podcast, LOVETT OR LEAVE IT.
She has participated in several fellowships and labs across mediums as a writer, including Film Independent's Project Involve Fellowship, Women In Film: Insight Fellowship, IAMA Theatre's Emerging Playwrights Lab, ESTLA's Ignite Lab, The Workshop Theater's Rewrite Winter Rewrite Intensive, and Orchard Project’s Greenhouse Lab. Alicia is a graduate of Emerson College, and currently splits her time between LA, New York, And Seoul.
FAQ
Sundance Collab’s Self-paced courses provide flexibility to complete the work on your own time, but also within a structured timeline that helps you to advance your project. You will travel through the course with a cohort of creators like yourself, and - if applicable - are given assignments with due dates during key weeks of the course:
- Each week you will view pre-recorded lectures by the instructor structured around key topics.
- Post-Video Activities after each session are designed to apply concepts to your own work, and move your project to the next stage.
- If assigned, a course advisor will give you feedback on elements of your work.
- You will have the opportunity to join live class exercises or group office hours, hosted by Sundance Collab Advisors, at critical points in the course to ask questions and discuss concepts.
- In some courses, you will have the opportunity to purchase a 1-on-1 Zoom session with your assigned course advisor.
All members of the Sundance Collab community are welcome to take Sundance Collab Self-paced courses. Please review the course description to ensure the course is a good fit. If you have any questions about a course, please email collab_courses@sundance.org.
Note that each Self-paced course has a registration deadline, so please check the date and time to ensure you don’t miss the cut-off. If the registration window is open, you will see a "Register” button on the course page.
We do not allow creative partners to do our Self-paced courses as a team. However, both creators can individually register for the course.
We often offer a limited number of need-based, full or partial scholarships. Check the course description to see if that course currently has scholarships available. Scholarships are prioritized for one per person per year (from the date of issue). Scholarship applications are available up to one week before the registration deadline. To apply for a scholarship, complete the registration form by clicking the REGISTER button above and selecting the scholarship option, if available.
Applicants will be notified about their scholarship decision prior to the first day of the course. Due to the volume of applicants, we are not always able to provide a scholarship, but we may still offer a spot in the course.In this case, depending on the course, payment plans may be available and can be selected at checkout.
Yes, we offer two or three-part payment plans for Self-paced courses, depending on the length of the course. In all cases, the first payment is due at the point of registration. The remaining payment(s) are spread out throughout the course term. For specific payment plan dates for a course, please reach out to our team at: collab_courses@sundance.org.
In courses with live class exercises or group office hours, the sessions are recorded and usually made available within two business days. The videos will also contain the chat and transcript from the session, viewable in the video playbar.
Participants will have access to the lecture recordings and course materials for one year following the last class session.
All participants will receive a Certificate of Completion. The certificate will include the name associated with your Collab account.
You can find any courses that you are enrolled in or have already completed in the profile section of your Collab account under “Courses.”
You can access the course videos via a computer or mobile device. All of our live class exercises and group office hour sessions are conducted via Zoom.
Download and set up the Zoom software (https://zoom.us/download) and make sure you have the latest update. Here are some great resources from Zoom’s Knowledge Base to take a deeper dive into using Zoom:
- Watch Zoom's Video Tutorials or review training materials on the Getting Started page
- Join a Live Training from Zoom
If you have any further questions, please email collab_courses@sundance.org.
Sundance Collab provides accommodations and support services to participants with disabilities. Please contact us at (435) 776-7790 or email us at accessibility@sundance.org to ask any questions or to discuss your specific needs after you have been accepted into the course.
No currently scheduled sessions
Interested in hearing about the next session of this course?
Add your name to our notification list