Directing: Workshopping Your Film
Session: June 2022
About this Live Online Course
Sundance Collab offers a robust collection of online courses in the Sundance spirit of amplifying your independent voice as a storyteller. Join our global community to hone your craft, network with other creators, and develop career strategies to help you navigate the film and television industry.
Expand on your director's toolkit with experienced directors as your guides. In this live, online course, you will shoot a scene from your short or feature script, after lessons on translating your work from script-to-screen, breaking down your story, directing actors, and visual storytelling.
In class sessions, you will focus on analyzing scenes from films and will review exercises with classmates and course advisors. Designated homework designed to move your prep work on story, visuals and performance forward is reviewed by your advisor. The course concludes with a one-on-one mentoring session with your advisor focused on your project.
By the end of the course, you will:
- understand the foundations of storytelling (objective, obstacles, conflict).
- improve your understanding of the character journey.
- develop a character analysis for your script.
- create a thematic statement for your project.
- hone your project logline and short synopsis.
- breakdown a scene from your script and complete a scene analysis.
- learn what to look for in key collaborators.
- develop language and a process for working with actors.
- craft language and an approach to visual storytelling.
This course is ideal for:
- directors ready to make a short or feature film who want to dive deep into their creative prep work with the guidance of an experienced filmmaker.
Participants will be placed in small group workshops of about nine. To apply, you must have a short or feature film screenplay that you plan to direct (you do not need to have written the screenplay) AND have completed at least one fiction short as Director OR have completed Sundance Collab’s Directing: Core Elements.
Space is limited. Applications for this course are considered as they are received and applicants are accepted on a rolling basis until the course is full or the deadline has passed, whichever comes first.
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.
Live Online CourseScholarships
Sundance Collab offers a limited number of full and partial need-based scholarships for individuals who need assistance.
Due to limited scholarship funds available, we prioritize one course scholarship per participant in a 12-month period. Scholarship applications are available up to one week before the registration deadline and do not stack with discounts or promotions, including early registration.
Outline
Topics include:
- Introductions to Directors
- How to give and receive feedback
- Reviewing three-act structure and character development
- Breakout session: project introductions
Topics include:
- The role of the director
- Understanding scene analysis
- The difference between shots and set ups
- Approaching pre-visualization
- Breakout session: reviewing your scripted scene
Topics include:
- Mastering the casting process (approach, breakdowns, sides)
- Finding your collaborators
- Creating a shot list, floorplans and other prep materials
- Understanding the 180 degree rule and the 30 degree rule
- Breaking down a case study
- Breakout session: review your scene analysis
Topics include:
- Rehearsal workshop
- There is no class this week in order to focus on producing your scene.
Topics include:
- Approaching coverage
- Discussion of cuts and transitions
- Breakout session: review your pre-visualization package
Topics include:
- Debrief from shoots
- Breakout session: part one of screenings
Topics include:
- Next steps
- Breakout session: part two of screenings
- The course concludes with a one-on-one mentoring session with your advisor
Team
Michael Kang
Instructor
Michael Kang is a director who prides himself on having successfully met a wide range of challenges from directing scenes in languages he doesn't speak to once working with a cranky bear that was overdue for hibernation. His first feature film THE MOTEL premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. THE MOTEL is the recipient of the Humanitas Prize as well as was also nominated for Best First Feature Film by The Independent Spirit Awards. Michael was honored with a N.E.A. Artist’s Residency Grant at The MacDowell Colony. Michael also received a fellowship through the ABC / DGA New Talent Television Directing Program and the NBC Television Directing Fellowship. Michael’s other feature film credits include WEST 32nd starring John Cho and Grace Park and 4 WEDDING PLANNERS with Illeana Douglas and Janel Parrish. Michael has extensive and diverse experiences writing and directing including developing a pilot script for HBO. He has taught filmmaking at a variety of universities and currently serves as a Visiting Professor at Loyola Marymount University School of Television and Film. When he isn't working Michael likes to torture himself with yoga, golf and poker (all of which he is equally bad at).
Matthew Lucas
Advisor
Matthew is a writer and director in Los Angeles. His feature film KRINGLE TIME premiered at the Brooklyn Film Festival and will be released in 2021. His short films, MOONSHOT (2016) and DÍRA (2014) have screened in festivals across the US and overseas, earning him numerous awards for his work as a director, screenwriter and editor. His feature screenplays continue to enjoy perennial placements in competitions and festivals including ScreenCraft and The Austin Film Festival. He is also the co-author and composer of “Sasquatch: The Musical” which premiered Off-Broadway in 2014 at the West Village Musical Theatre Festival. His most recent play, “She’s Dead!” has placed in a number of competitions and will seek performances in 2022.
He studied theatre during his undergraduate work at Marymount Manhattan College in New York before earning an MFA in Film from American University in Washington, DC. He lives in LA with his fiancée and their diabetic dog, Leeloo.
Ian Truitner
Advisor
Ian Truitner’s foray into directing combines service in the U.S. Army with theatrical stage production. Ian’s first few short films were created leveraging those amalgamated skills, resulting in numerous festivals and lead to his first feature film, CUTTING ROOM, which premiered at the Milan International Film Festival and was one of the early films on the Netflix streaming platform. His second feature, TELEIOS, premiered at the Sci-Fi London Film Festival, was a multi-award winner at festivals worldwide and distributed in North America through Screen Media Films. His most recent directing work was during COVID, a PSA fundraiser for the American Nurses Association for frontline nurses, featuring Rita Wilson, Noah Wyle, Constance Wu, Parminder Nagra, Simon Helberg, Kate Flannery, Michael Nouri, Jon Huertas and Amanda Crew.
Ian is Co-Chair alternate at the Asian American Committee at the Directors Guild of America (DGA) and a protégé in the 2019-2020 DGA Directors Development Initiative (DDI) for episodic television, and was one of four directors chosen for the 2019-2020 CBS Directing Program. He has an MBA from Penn State University and a BA in theatre from the University of Minnesota (cum laude).
Lise Raven
Advisor
Lise Raven is a US/EU filmmaker. Her debut feature Low, set in the gritty world of the Brooklyn boxing scene, was screened internationally.
In 2000 Raven was awarded the prestigious DAAD Berliner Künstlerprogramm Artist Residency in Filmmaking and moved to Berlin where she also received a NIPKOW Fellowship. In 2003, she was selected for the Berlinale Talents. In 2004 Raven's feature film project, SNIPE was chosen for the Moonstone Directing Lab, and received development funding from the Irish Film Board. Raven's 2007 film, STRIDE, told the story of a female combat soldier returning home to her tight-knit Philadelphia neighborhood.
In 2014 Raven wrote, produced and directed the award-winning feature KINDERWALD, and in the summer of 2018, Raven wrote, produced and directed her newest feature film, SNAELAND, which was filmed in Iceland and Berlin. SNAELAND premiered in the summer of 2019 and is currently on the international festival circuit. Raven is a member of EWA, Primetime and Film Fatales. Lise Raven’s creative think tank is Noveltine /projects.
FAQ
In Sundance Collab’s Workshop courses, you will attend an interactive lecture targeted to the course participants’ needs, and then at designated periods, split into small groups of about ten creators to discuss course topics, led by a Sundance Collab Advisor. You are given assignments with submission deadlines to help you take the next step with your work.
- Each week you will be able to attend live lectures via Zoom video and ask questions of your instructor and advisor.
- You will receive individualized feedback from your advisor on elements of your work.
- You will have the opportunity to have a 45-minute 1-on-1 session with your advisor at the end of the course.
All members of the Sundance Collab community are welcome to apply for Sundance Collab courses. Please review the course description and any eligibility requirements to ensure the course is a good fit. If you have any questions about a course, please email collab_courses@sundance.org.
Note that space is limited. Applications are considered as they are received and applicants are accepted on a rolling basis until the course is full or the deadline has passed, whichever comes first. If the application window is open, you will see an “Apply” button on the course page.
We send our application acceptance notifications on a rolling basis, as they are reviewed. You will be notified of your acceptance status no later than three days before the first day of the course. At any point, you can check the status of a course that you have applied to by logging into Sundance Collab and visiting the course page. You will see a purple bar there indicating your status.
When reviewing applications, the Sundance Collab team evaluates the needs and expectations of each applicant, the status of their project (if applicable), their experience level and their pre-requisite work. We are looking to convene a diverse group of participants and projects who will work well together and support each other throughout the online course. Finally, we evaluate whether the applicant has a strong interest and readiness to complete the course work and meaningfully contribute to the group process.
You are welcome to apply for the course with your creative partner as long as you are working on the same project throughout the course. You must each submit separate applications and indicate in your individual applications that you are applying with your partner. If you are both accepted, you will each receive 25% off the regular course fee (this discount cannot be combined with other discounts or promotions, including the early registration discount). Please note that creative partners will jointly submit homework or other assignments for feedback and/or will attend together any mentoring sessions with the advisor/instructor, as applicable.
Part of Sundance Collab's unique educational approach is to create a teaching team for every course. Each class is led by an instructor and may be accompanied by additional course advisors. This allows us to keep an intimate ratio of participants to advisors and to provide a diversity of voices and approaches to the course content.
We often offer a limited number of need-based scholarships to individual courses. Check the course description to see if that course currently has scholarships available. These can be full or partial scholarships. Scholarships are prioritized for one per person per year (from the date of issue). Once the registration form is opened, participants will see a prompt on the left side with instructions to apply for a scholarship. 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, or we may only be able to provide some of what was requested, but we may still offer a spot in the course. In this case, payment plans are usually available, depending on the course.
Yes, we offer two or three-part payment plans for Workshop 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.
Yes, you are welcome to take a workshop course even if you can’t make the live sessions. It is recommended for workshops that you attend live, when possible. It is expected that even if you are unable to attend live, that you provide feedback to your peers in writing. Recordings of each class session are available online by the following day. The final 1-on-1 meeting with your advisor is scheduled according to your (and their) availability.
All sessions are recorded and usually made available within one business day. The videos will also contain the chat and transcript from the class session, viewable in the video playbar.
Participants will have access to the recordings, including the workshop sections, 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 join a course via a computer or mobile device. All of our live workshops 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.
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