The Writers Room

An online writing program for episodics

led by The Sinner’s Derek Simonds and Stowe’s David Pope

Applications are now closed.

Preference is for artists developing one hour episodic given the focus in Part 1 on THE SINNER, half-hour situational dramas or comedies will be considered.

Part I: building a show

Over the first four sessions of this program, you will work with Creator/Showrunner/Screenwriter Derek Simonds as he breaks down Season 1 of his groundbreaking hit-show The Sinner, revealing the fundamentals of building a successful show and outlining how to apply these techniques to new work.

Breakdown

  • 4 weeks / 1 session per week

  • Each session is 3 hours long (2.5 hours with a 30 minute break)

  • 2 hours / week prep for each session

  • Before the program starts, the group will watch all of season 1 of The Sinner

The intent of Part I is to inform development of each participants’ work through examining the real experiences confronted by a writer in developing a successful story and tackling issues in developing a project.

the four Sessions will cover:

  • Envisioning a series: creating compelling lead characters, building an effective story engine, and clarifying the goal of the series.

  • Building a pilot, how to introduce characters effectively, how to raising compelling questions that will be addressed in series

  • Creating season-long character arcs, designing dynamic relationships between characters that drive your story forward

  • Create a season-long plot, orchestrate story turns and keeping an audience engaged

  • Nuts and bolts of the writing room process 

  • How an episode is “broken,” beat sheets, outlining an episode, and the draft process from writer’s draft to production draft

  • Pitching and selling a show (based on the experience with The Sinner)

Participants will be asked to:

  • Watch season one of The Sinner (before start of program)

  • Read the pilot (before start of program)

  • Read specific other episodes (during run of program)

  • Read specific scenes from episodes (during run of program)

  • Read the pitch document (during run of program)

  • Do exercises to tease out elements of the show they are developing and the characters

By the end of the four sessions, participants will be:

  • Knowledgeable about how a successful show was built

  • Through that, learn some tools and approaches they might use (and how to think up their own tools and approaches)

  • Energized and empowered to dig into their own work through Part II of the Program

Part II: writing a show

Stowe Story Labs Participant Takes Notes on Story

Image Courtesy of Jesse Schloff

Working with Stowe Story Labs Co-Founder David Pope, in the second part of the program, writers will build on their initial work.

Breakdown:

  • Outlining and writing their pilot episode

  • Workshopping their series bible

The eight sessions will cover:

  • Theme

  • Episode and Season Structure

  • Subtext and Scene Analysis

Alongside project development, participants will be encouraged to develop the collaborative skills so important for writers working in the episodic space.

Part II of the program blends presentations, one-to-one meetings, group work, a writers room experience, and peer-to-peer feedback sessions.

Schedule

Part I will run weekly beginning on Monday, April 3. Each of the four sessions will run on Monday evening from 7 - 10 PM Eastern Time on Zoom.

Part II sessions will begin May 7 and run on Sundays from 12 - 3 PM Eastern Time on Zoom. There will be writing breaks built into the sessions.

Fees and how to apply

The fee for this program is $2,650.

Applications are closed.

 

Derek Simonds

Creator, Showrunner, and writer

Derek is a writer, filmmaker, and the creator/showrunner of USA Network’s hit series, The Sinner, which broadcast its fourth and final season in November 2021. In 2017, The Sinner debuted as the #1 new cable series of the year, and received two Golden Globe nominations, including Best Limited Series and an Emmy nomination. Derek has developed numerous independent film projects as a writer and director, most recently executive producing Sony Pictures Classics Oscar-winning release, Call Me By Your Name. Derek was a writer on the ABC miniseries event, When We Rise, a recounting of the gay civil rights movement created by Dustin Lance Black, as well as ABC’s 2015 limited series, Astronaut Wives Club. He has developed television pilots for Universal Content Productions, ABC Studios, and TNT, and also wrote and directed his debut feature film, Seven and a Match. He is currently developing new television projects for Peacock and UCP.

david pope

Screenwriter and Script Consultant

David Pope is a screenwriter and script consultant working internationally. He has worked as a script consultant on projects globally including work with Academy Award and BAFTA-nominated producers and screenwriters and national film funds. Recent script consultations include Take It or Leave It, a candidate for Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award 2019, and Truth and Justice, shortlisted for Best International Feature Film Academy Award 2020. He recently script consulted on the feature film Magic Mountains, which was released January 2020 and Splendid Isolation premiered at IFFR 2022.David script consulted on the drama series Imperial Spy for Fremantle (American Gods, Deutschland 83) and The Guilt Trip for RTE.

He is the annual consultant/moderator for the Rotterdam Lab at CineMart and co-founder of Stowe Story Labs in the US. David is a creative consultant on Rawi Screenwriting Lab for Royal Film Commission-Jordan, a screen specialist in script consultancy working with production companies through the FOCUS scheme supported by Screen Scotland and is a regular script consultant for MIDPOINT.

Recent screenwriting assignments include writing the latest draft of the feature film Tempelhof, the feature film Rulin, and the latest draft of the feature film Summer of 81. David has a slate of projects in development with advance films. 

Previous script development and training clients include: BFI, Creative England, UK Film Council, BBC, BAFTA, Fremantle, National Theatre, Screen Scotland, British Council, Creative Europe, Cannes Cinefondation, Warp Films, Allfilm, KulturaTV, Polish Film Institute, Cannes Film Festival, Film London, Lionhead Studios, Xingu Films, Irish Film Board, FAS Screen Training Ireland, New Horizons Studio, Estonian Film Institute, among many others. He sits on the film committee of the WGGB.