Master Class: Adapting a Screenplay from Source Material with Robin Swicord (THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON)
About this Master Class
Master Classes are in-depth, interactive learning experiences focused on craft and career building and led by renowned industry experts. Topics include fiction and documentary filmmaking, TV writing and production, and navigating and succeeding in the entertainment industry.
Oscar-nominated screenwriter Robin Swicord, whose credits include the adaptations of LITTLE WOMEN (1994), MATILDA, MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA, and THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, reveals the process of adapting a screenplay from source material in this three-hour Master Class. Swicord shares her insights into the art of dramatic writing, the process of adapting both written and historical material for the screen—and how much creative leeway you have in doing so, and defining the cinematic elements that best reflect the essence and core of the story and characters.
Resources:
Download the list of resources from Robin Swicord
Topics covered include:
2:33 - Introductions
5:05 - Immerse Yourself in the Material
6:10 - Finding Dramatic Scenes
7:39 - Developing Protagonists and Antagonists
15:23 - Exploring Theme
30:24 - Discovering Plot
38:15 - Creating Catharsis
41:21 - Habitual Actions and Contending Qualities of Your Characters
1:10:20 - Characters’ Evolving Wants
1:27:47 - Q&A
1:37:15 - Elements of Drama
1:41:18 - Building Story Arc
1:52:29 - Creating Stakes & Boundaries
2:03:44 - Identifying Acts
2:09:14 - The Diagnostic Sentence
2:14:06 - Q&A
2:26:27 - The Writing Process and the Best State of Mind for Effective Writing
2:38:05 - Q&A
Master ClassTeam
Robin Swicord
Instructor
Robin Swicord is primarily known for her work as a screenwriter for MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA (Satellite Award for best screenplay); LITTLE WOMEN, (co-producer, Writers Guild award nomination); MATILDA (co-written and co-produced with Nicholas Kazan); the cult comedy SHAG (shared); THE PEREZ FAMILY; and PRACTICAL MAGIC (shared, co-produced). She has written two plays that were produced off-Broadway (LAST DAYS AT THE DIXIE GIRL CAFÉ, CRIMINAL MINDS, both published by Samuel French).
In 2009 Swicord received an Oscar nomination for her contribution to THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON, a project Swicord originated and worked on for more than a decade.
Swicord made her feature directing debut with Sony Pictures Classics’ THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB, produced by Julie Lynn and John Calley, adaptation written by Swicord. She then wrote and directed the feature film WAKEFIELD, an adaptation of E.L. Doctorow’s short story starring Bryan Cranston and Jennifer Garner which premiered at Telluride September 2016. Swicord co-Executive Produced and wrote episodes of Ava DuVernay’s Netflix Emmy Award-nominated mini-series WHEN THEY SEE US, now streaming on Netflix. Currently, Swicord has written an independently-financed feature to direct: “Welcome To The Tempest Hotel”, a romantic comedy set in Bermuda, during the impending crisis of climate change. For Warner Brothers, she is also at work on a six-part limited series about Mark Twain and his incomparable wife, the heiress Livy Langdon Clemens; based on Richard Zack’s non-fiction CHASING THE LAST LAUGH; produced by Rob Reiner and Michele Reiner, to star William Macy.
For seven years, Swicord was a Governor for the Writers Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, and chaired the prestigious Nicholl Fellowship. She mentors for the Sundance Screenwriting lab and Tribeca Film Festival, and often co-leads Film Independent’s Writers Lab. In 2015 she helped create and launch the inaugural Hedgebrook Screenwriting Workshop for women writers. Swicord is married to screenwriter Nicholas Kazan; they have two daughters, actor-writer Zoe Kazan and actor-writer Maya Kazan.