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Introduce Yourself to the Group
Hi everyone,
I’m glad you’ve joined us for the class.
To start the class out, please introduce yourself below. That will give you a chance to be part of this group and learn how the forums work.
Tell us the following:
1. Name?
2. How many scripts you’ve written?
3. What you hope to get out of the class?
4. Something unique, special, strange or unusual about you?
We look forward to working with you all!
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50 Replies
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Hi. My name is Kevin Bingham. No scripts yet just a couple of novels. I am looking to create better characters. It is so awesome when an audience engages with the characters. It enriches their experience. I live in Denver and spend as much time in the mountains as I can. One thing I enjoy doing is gold prospecting. It’s fun, relaxing and the scenery is amazing.
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Hi folks! My name is David Moe and I have written only one script. I’ve received development notes on it that were positive, but I know I will need to kick it up a notch to get it ‘from’ good to great’. I’m exploring developing it as a novel to give me a chance to really get my mind around the story and the characters. My plan is to create really interesting and compelling characters and develop a recurring series. I’m taking this class to help me get inside the minds of my characters and make them more memorable, interesting and compelling. Something special about me, at the moment, is that I recently had cataract surgery on my eyes and after wearing glasses from most of my life, I no longer need them for distance. However, I still need reading glasses so I am stuck writing and reading everything from arms length for the next month or so until I can get my new prescription. Just one more thing to make the course challenging for me. The good news is that the world now appears more vivid than ever. I’m happy to join you all!
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good to read your message Dave. if you have a TV, you could project your screen to it. if it helps you read. chromecast like devices can sometimes be found for $10. just Google it.
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I’m Larry Fraller.
I’ve written 3 scripts with several more outlined and partially written. Two scripts are worth rewriting, one of which I’ve been rewriting for a couple of years.
This course offers another reminder that I need to kick myself in the ass and finish this final draft.
Unusual? I keep taking ScreenwritingU courses, including the MSC15 which lasted about two years. And have completed a writing assignment without even trying to get one. I thought I was just helping a guy out. Turns out he’s building his own production company.
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Hi Larry! 😊
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Leona!!!
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hi Larry — you are way more disciplined than i am! : )
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I’m Nick Bandouveris, I’ve been writing since high school, first the mandatory expository essays, and then – short stories, plays, screenplays, and more than my share of bad, self-indulgent poetry. I’m a producer of commercials, short films, music videos, branded entertainment, and documentaries. I have a vivid imagination that usually needs a kickstart, whether an image or a sentence, and also find much inspiration in ironic interpretations of what happens with work and friends. While I’ve “written” many scripts, I’ve finished few. Easily distracted in the past, my accumulation of experiences has brought me to the point where I feel I have things that need saying, and will be completing both old and new ideas. What spurs me in any writing project is to have at least one scene within that I’ve never read or seen anywhere else before.
This course on character particularly appeals to me because, though I already know the vital importance of establishing “living” and unique characters, these lessons can give me the push I feel I need to guide me in making them unique.
Probably the only member of this class to have “died,” I was the unlucky reporter for the Daily Bugle who was murdered by the mysterious Bastion in the X-Men comic book in the 1990s. The writer of that comic was my best friend at the time, and I was surprised to pick up the issue and witness my death. I immediately confronted him, intimating that in being shot in the head and dumped in the Thames, I wasn’t actually dead, but rather Bastion’s laser had unleashed a dormant mutant power. “Nope,” he said, “You’re dead….”
That year my wife and I went to his Halloween party, me as the corpse of myself as drawn in the comic book, and my wife as my widow.
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RIP and Welcome to the group Nick. Your friend missed out on a great origin story!!! His lost.
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that should mean he has this quirky backstory of a character that…
right?
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loss
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oh man, Nick. sorry bro, can’t say i feel sorry when i am about to chuckle at both you sports at Halloween. eRite in peace : )
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Hi Everyone. I am Patrick Hayden. I am excited to take part in this class and hope that everyone learns and grows from this experience. I have been writing for many years and have completed seven feature spec scripts and two episodic scripts for television. I am looking for opportunities to refine my craft and would like to enhance my awareness of how and why choices a writer makes increase the viewer/reader’s immersive experience. I live in Los Angeles and enjoy a very active lifestyle. I am married and have three children. I have recently retired from the Fire Department (LAFD) after 33 years of service.
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hi Patrick! i’ve seen your virtual cousins on Chicago Fire, so with deep appreciation for your service…
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Hi everyone! I am Ann. I have written 3 screenplays so far. I have 2 published novels. I hope to learn more about character mastery in this class.
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hi Ann! looking forward to read what you’ll share!
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Hello! My name is Patricia Carothers. I am in the process of writing my first script to completion, with one on the back burner, and a couple of books waiting in the background for my attention. My goal in this class is to get a deeper understanding of characterization and interactions to write a profound movie that will entertain and enlighten the audience on some level.
Unique…what ever could that be? I’ll have to get back on this one. Maybe, I’m in the Platinum Blonde group now?!
Hal and Cheryl always deliver and I am looking forward to this class…while I finish up a couple of others. See you in the Forums
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hi Patricia!
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Hello Writers,
My name is Carol Bloodworth. I haven’t written any scripts, just some freelance writing. I’ve had a good idea for a TV series stewing in my head for 16 yrs, and I’m ready to give it a go. Lets see what happens! Good luck everyone!
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hi Carol, a stew that takes 16 years is likely to be hot!
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Carol Bloodworth? Best writer’s name I’ve heard this week!
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I’m Paul McGregor
I’ve written 5 scripts. Sold zero. (I need to re-take the “Getting Your Script to Power Players” class again). Finalist in one film festival.
I hope, through this class, to give greater depth the characters I already have in my scripts and meet some new ones.
I could be in the movie “The Interpreter – 2”, if it’s ever made. I interpreted for two Popes (as well as many other people) at the United Nations.
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hi Paul, congratulations on your Film Festival win! curious, what language did you speak to the Popes? i once entertained Pope’s ambassador, and also worked on a UN stint.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 12 months ago by Sandeep Gupta. Reason: deleted an extra "did"
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Hello Sandeep, Interesting! Who was the nuncio? What was the stint? To answer your question, they spoke French (Benedict) and Spanish (Francis). I just spoke English to whoever was watching cable news TV at 10 in the morning on those particular days. Good luck with the class!
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Thanks, and Hi Paul, actually no idea of his name — amazing, I skipped typing Papal Nuncio, and you had the word. If it helps, Autumn-Winter 1981-82, India. Very smart and friendly guy, I’d cast him as Bond. Apparently, I didn’t get into trouble for singlehandedly convincing the music teacher to let us sing romantic songs and not all…. Funny story, instead we wild kids got invited to the biggest show in the Archdiocese. Ditto re my UN/UNDP stint. Ten years after I demonstrated a totally impractical but working network to help school kids with science homework, I was invited to help a UN/GOI project to build pieces of what we now call the Internet. Also the beginning of my screenwriting material bank, I think. I didn’t know it. You must know so much more about high wire hi jinx. Wish we could swap notes. Good to know of you at least! Trilingual, and that it wasn’t Latin. Darn. Here I had imagined a whole other convo! : D
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This reply was modified 1 year, 12 months ago by Sandeep Gupta. Reason: clarified a possesive
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This reply was modified 1 year, 12 months ago by Sandeep Gupta. Reason: , added the last three sentences
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This reply was modified 1 year, 12 months ago by Sandeep Gupta. Reason: oh darn typos. why dost thou!
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This reply was modified 1 year, 12 months ago by
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This reply was modified 1 year, 12 months ago by
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Hi, I’m Susan Barber. I have dreamed of writing a novel or script about a story which is very personal to me.
My hobby is genealogy. I never knew either of my grandfathers so have always had questions about my family history. Hopefully, this class will help me develop the people I have come to know through research into characters that will tell their extraordinary story.
Looking forward to the coming weeks with all of you.
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hi Susan, such a perfect hobby for understanding and imagining ensemble dynamics! cool!
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My name is Jim Fisher. As a freelance writer, I’ve written dozens of scripts of which many were produced. However, almost all were comedies in which case characters were created in the service of providing laughs. I hope to use this class, as I venture into other genres. I have had the opportunity to work with and for many well-known and extremely talented performers, writers, and directors. However again, in the realm of comedy.
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hi Jim! do you also fly that thing? awesome portfolio. i’d say you come with a lot of character insights — comedy scripts are harder than jokes : )
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Flew it for 28 years. A great transportation vehicle for the West Coast.
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Never apologize for being funny. However, if your humor comes from jokes, then there may be ways to deepen your work, and make yourself happier. Think of it this way – some people we know are just funny – are they put here to “provide laughs?” Likely it’s more complex.
Look at your favorite comedy movies and TV series, and see where the humor comes from. The ones that have legs over the years likely find all of the comedy emerging from character. Perhaps nothing has hurt true comedy more than the term “situation comedy.” Because in the best ones, the characters create the situations, rather than the writers imposing them onto characters. Looking forward to the funny you bring!
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I didn’t apologize for being funny. It’s just what audiences currently find as ‘funny’ is not my cup of tea. So, I decided to expand into different genres.
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I hear that. Todd Phillips went on record saying that’s why he went to such dark material as “Joker” – funny is too much a moving target these days, and it wasn’t worth it for him to offend, intentionally or not. Looking back at Hangover, some of the best jokes wouldn’t see light of day now out of fear of impropriety.
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Hi everyone! My name is Leona Heraty. I’ve written three scripts. I taken many classes from Hal. I’m currently taking the TV Bingeworthy course.
My focus is on comedy. I hope to make my characters a lot more interesting. I think they’re good but I need to elevate them to outstanding.
I love cheesy sci-fi movies from the 1950s, like It Came from Outer Space, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Them! and many more!
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hi Leona! i have heard of these movies — does that mean they were remade or that famous? re my comment to Jim, aren’t comedy characters harder? or is it just me : )
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I wouldn’t say comedy characters are harder to write, it’s mainly that people have different opinions as to what is ‘funny’. I found that out early in my career when my comedy scripts were constantly challenged by directors, producers, and actors. Whereas my friends writing dramas said they never got notes as to whether a scene was ‘dramatic’ enough.
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My name is Rita
Never completed a script, started a few.
I hope to master characters, so I can kick that writing block in the nuts
I love reading children’s books and have lost someone to cancer yearly in the past three years. I just want to write off that grief…
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hi Rita, oh wow. great attitude to kick that grief alongside.
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Hi all! I’m very happy to be sharing this class with you and look forward to feedback–be gentle:)
My name is Karyn. I’m also taking another class (Writing Incredible Movies). I’m an old newbie. I’ve had several script concepts but have yet to complete the one I started. It was a life interrupted by caregiving family. It seems to be a recurring theme.
I’m really look to explore some tools to creating characters with depth and traits that connect with audiences. I’m revisiting my caregiver role with my emotional support fur-baby who was just diagnosed with lymphoma. He’s a trooper and I believe he is responding well to treatment.
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hi Karyn, another old newbie here. i hear you. certainly an underestimated and relentless load. watched it take a toll on people. wish more of them made a choice to write so we know that healthcare needs attention. scary experience too sometimes. best…
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hi, i am Sandeep, (pronounced sun+deep, d soft, as in the)
i wrote half a first draft of four i found a story to contain, and realized my intense drama was missing intense and drama.
and then suddenly my life went into a 2 year spin on an adventure. still rebooting.
up until today my hope from this class was to get depth for character design, now i am looking at working on these concepts over outlines, instead of post writing. finally, procrastination and life on spin-cycles may have paid off! it would be much harder to rewrite than to prewrite, right?
i might not be this talkative once i start class assignments. which would be unusual about me, i think. unique thing — i didn’t start with taking acting and writing classes daring to imagine or hope for a career in them. albeit just to make sense of my life and to be funnier for my niece!
really great to read you all. if y’all have plausibility questions about engineering or computer science, or India, for your screenplay or story, try me. only warranty — i wouldn’t bluff if i don’t have a clue.
alright, onwards all aboard!
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THANK YOU! You bring a lot of enthusiasm, humor, and engagement. So I’m sure you will rise to the intensity and dramatic soon enough! I look forward to our interactions and may take you up on your offer.
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Hi there, I love Hal & Cheryl’s classes and have taken quite a helpful few. I’m optimistic that this one will also be fantastic with all of you very interesting people involved. I have written several scripts and have been a writer for many years in various genres – always fun and challenging to create something new. I’m looking forward to crafting characters with more depth. What makes me unique or strange? I’ve been called that all my life, so to state how would take another challenging, newly-written script. Right now, I’m looking forward to getting my scripts sold because my scripts are unique, special and unusual. Ditto for all of you, I’m sure! 🙂 🙂
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: )
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Hello! My name is Deb Johnson, I’ve written 7 scripts. I hope to see how the pros have developed their characters for the screen – especially the balance between the leads – and translate that work to my own writing. I homeschool my children and have recently gotten back into screenwriting. Glad to be here!
By the way – I just completed the Professional Rewrite course and it was Amazing (yes, Amazing with a capital A). If you have a script that you want to kick up to 11, take this class… put all your preconceived notions aside and enjoy the ride.
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Hi! I’ve been taking Hal’s classes for over a decade. My one question: @Sandeep, are you an AI bot that I’ve already added as my protagonist/antagonist for upcoming screenplay?
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This reply was modified 1 year, 12 months ago by Chris Spizuoco.
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Oh darn, you are on to me, Chris!!! Very curious what gave me away?
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This reply was modified 1 year, 12 months ago by
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Hi, I am Bo Tanas, from Toronto Canada. I have written a short film script, directed and produced it, and now submitting it to film festivals – “THE RETURN.” I am also working on a feature script. I hope to improve my writing to create ‘real’ and layered characters. I am 74 and embarking on a new career. Bo Tanas
THE RETURN trailer, 47 sec. no password is needed.
https://vimeo.com/manage/<wbr>videos/803267680
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hi Bo, good to meet you, and with that trailer, what an entrance! this is your first? it has amazing sound, edit, and does spike serious curiosity. by the way, if you can edit the link, please remove the wbr tag and angle brackets. otherwise the link wouldn’t work.
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