Lesson 1

[Jo Ann (Jodie) Randisi]

Day One ASSIGNMENT:
WHAT I LEARNED: After using ChatGPT and QuickWrite AI programs to round out my characters and create funny scenes, I ended up with ideas that I can work with but not use as given. AI speeds up creativity. Thanks for the prompts!
GENRE: Female-led buddy comedy
CONCEPT: Opposites are forced to work together so an industrial psychologist can study them in the cutthroat coastal real estate world of Pamperus Island.
LOGLINE: Two wildly mismatched real estate agents are forced into an uneasy partnership by a manipulative psychologist—leading to sabotage, self-discovery, and some extremely chaotic open houses.
MAIN CHARACTERS:
ELIZABETH JONES – Late 40s, a hyper-polished, social-climbing perfectionist real estate agent. Thinks sarcasm is tacky. Elizabeth Jones presents a waterfront home in full Stepford Realtor mode—heels clacking, voice syrupy, completely dead inside. The epitome of elegance, Elizabeth lives and breathes high society. Her perfectly manicured nails and designer outfits scream excess, and she has an Instagram feed that showcases her flawlessly staged properties against the backdrop of her gated mansion. A modern-day socialite, Elizabeth is obsessed with emulating the region’s elite, especially the local “rich bitch” icon, Ruby Sparks Barrington, who is notorious for her cutting wit and extravagant parties designed to launch friends in their ridiculous non-essential business ventures. Elizabeth struggles with the pressures of maintaining her image, which makes her life feel more like a full-time performance rather than a fulfilling career. She’s anxious to impress and remains oblivious to the fact that her rigid standards can be alienating.
LOVIE SMITH – Mid-40s, earthy, irreverent, barefoot as often as possible. Grew up locally. A down-to-earth, street-smart realtor, Lovie comes from humble beginnings and has a knack for understanding the “regular folks.” She drives an old minivan that’s more hippie fixer-upper than luxury vehicle. Her casual, laid-back demeanor makes her approachable to clients. With a hearty laugh and a smattering of sarcasm, she often compares the pretentious nature of the upper class to “carrying around a load of bricks.” Motivated by a desire to help others and never getting trapped in a cycle of superficiality, Lovie uses her wit and charm to connect with the community, often hosting barbecues and street fairs to build rapport and draw in potential clients.

PROFESSOR KIRK DELLER – A scheming, handsome, Indian Jones wannabe, professor of industrial psychology (conflict character) who uses Elizabeth and Lovie as subjects in his experiment. An eccentric psychologist specializing in personality types, Prof. Deller believes that every successful realtor must cater to their extroverted and introverted clients. He suggests that teaming Lovie and Elizabeth would create a perfect balance — a duo that can meet both the common and elite needs of Pampers Island.
MRS. MURRAY – Office manager, Mrs. Murray is a shameless, sharp-tongued, feisty older woman who has been paid and tasked to keep the two agents united so the covert psychological experiments can continue. Deller’s behind-the-scenes accomplice and office manager of the real estate business.

SHORT SYNOPSIS: Behind his thick glasses and white lab coat costume, Deller appears inept only to reveal his true Indiana Jone metrosexual persona at the real estate convention where Smith and Jones win a free 6-month coaching program. He and his staff suggest bizarre strategies that are, unbeknownst to Smith and Jones, actually unconventional psychological experiments. As long as they stay in business as a team, Deller is behind the scenes, creating awkward situations he can observe.

What makes this movie or show funny? When socioeconomic classes collide, someone has to pick up the pieces. People of all distinctions have issues, and money is only one of them.

[Jo Ann (Jodie) Randisi]

I clicked COMPLETE before posting this assignment. I didn’t see the AI feedback option.

[Jodi Lustig]

(Waiting for someone else to figure out how to use the AI for posts. Where is the thing we should click? )

What I learned is I can use AI for fun hijinks

A. Genre: Comedy (or a blended genre like Action/Comedy or Dramady, etc.)

B. Title: Camp Mom

C. Concept/Logline:
A chipper former camper clashes with her brooding kid, who insists summer joy is dead, on Visiting Day at summer camp.

D. Main Characters:

Emma (Camp Mom) Kaplan -overeager mom determined to cheer up kid

Kayla Kaplan – surly hyper-critical daughter

E. Short synopsis
Emma shows up on Visiting Day determined to convince her unhappy daughter that she should finish out the summer at camp and not come home.

F. What makes this movie or show funny? The reversal—kid has trouble having fun, and the mom is too camp obsessed to connect with her daughter on a deeper level …

• This reply was modified 2 days, 1 hour ago by  Jodi Lustig.

[Deni Sher]

Deni B. Sher. What I learned by doing this assignment and using AI is that AI is remarkable. Blows my mind. Not sure this is actually lesson one, but the lesson before lesson one. But I am posting it here. Knowing me, I will change the names and not follow AI explicitly, but I love how AI comes up with wonderful ideas. I will tell you, that I am turning 75, I did meet a man 61 who is tattooed everywhere but his face and I have fallen for him… so, this comedy is actually based on our lives… using lots of imagination!!! We're actually filming a short film called, "Don't Judge a Book by its Cover" with me as the shrink, him as my new patient and with a pretend 16 year old grandson who wants a tattoo. BUT, this story will be a feature film and I will work with similar characters that AI suggested.

I also worked with the script "Bridesmaids" to do lesson one on incongruity and was able to see where the set up was made and the punchline followed as incongruity. I plan to do more reading of comedies and learn more about incongruity as that does seem to be the key to successful comedy writing.

Title: The Shrink and the Ink
Genre: Romantic Comedy / Dramedy
Tone: Heartfelt, witty, and a little rebellious

Logline:
A reserved, by-the-book 75-year-old psychologist finds her orderly world upended when she falls for a much younger, tattoo-covered client whose emotional depth and unconventional charm make her question everything she thought she knew about love, aging, and herself.

Short Synopsis:
Dr. Elaine Mercer has spent her entire life in control—of her thoughts, her feelings, and definitely her wardrobe. Nearing retirement, she’s ready to coast into her golden years with a good book and better boundaries. But when her newest client walks in—a thoughtful, surprisingly vulnerable man with tattoos covering everything but his face—Elaine’s rigid world begins to crack.
As their sessions grow deeper, so does her attraction, sparking a hilarious and touching journey of self-discovery. Torn between professionalism and passion, Elaine embarks on a secret exploration of body art, therapy ethics, and late-in-life romance. Along the way, she faces judgment from colleagues, confusion from her adult children, and her own internal chaos.
The Shrink and the Ink is a comedy about coloring outside the lines—proving it’s never too late to rewrite your story, fall in love, or get a little ink.

Title: Ink Blot
Genre: Romantic Comedy / Dramedy
Tone: Heartfelt, witty, and a little rebellious

Logline:
A reserved, by-the-book 75-year-old psychologist finds her orderly world upended when she falls for a much younger, tattoo-covered client whose emotional depth and unconventional charm make her question everything she thought she knew about love, aging, and herself.

Short Synopsis:
Dr. Elaine Mercer has spent her entire life in control—of her thoughts, her feelings, and definitely her wardrobe. Nearing retirement, she’s ready to coast into her golden years with a good book and better boundaries. But when her newest client walks in—a thoughtful, surprisingly vulnerable man with tattoos covering everything but his face—Elaine’s rigid world begins to crack.
As their sessions grow deeper, so does her attraction, sparking a hilarious and touching journey of self-discovery. Torn between professionalism and passion, Elaine embarks on a secret exploration of body art, therapy ethics, and late-in-life romance. Along the way, she faces judgment from colleagues, confusion from her adult children, and her own internal chaos.
Ink Blot is a comedy about coloring outside the lines—proving it’s never too late to rewrite your story, fall in love, or get a little ink.
Absolutely! Here's a character rainstorm for The Shrink and the Ink, using the "Fish Out of Water" premise with your 70-year-old psychologist as the protagonist. Each character plays a key comedic role in the story's dynamics:

Character 1: Dr. Elaine Mercer – The "Straight Guy" (Lead Protagonist)
• Role: The grounded, rational center of the story. A 70-year-old, by-the-book psychologist who's always followed the rules—until now.
• Personality: Smart, composed, elegant, slightly repressed, and passive-aggressively judgmental. Speaks with clinical precision but can't hide her blushing confusion.
• Comedy Style: The humor comes from her reactions—raised eyebrows, controlled panic, awkward misinterpretations, and her attempts to maintain professionalism as the world around her grows increasingly unhinged.
• Fish Out of Water Element: Forced into tattoo parlors, biker bars, and spontaneous drum circles while trying to keep her pearls on straight.

Character 2: Saffron “Saffy” Bloom – The Over-the-Top Best Friend
• Role: Elaine’s 68-year-old, spiritually “liberated” best friend who smells like patchouli and always has a vision board on hand.
• Personality: A yoga-loving, kombucha-brewing, ex-hippie with three ex-husbands and a new burner boyfriend every solstice.
• Comedy Style: Offers unsolicited advice, misquotes Freud and Oprah in the same breath, and is constantly nudging Elaine to "open her root chakra and swipe right."
• What Makes Her Funny: She’s a walking contradiction: deeply into “authenticity” but addicted to filters and crystals that “deflect male energy.”

Character 3: Ziggy – The Tattoo Artist with a Broadway Heart
• Role: A flamboyant, 40-something tattoo artist who runs the ink shop where Elaine winds up.
• Personality: Fabulous, fast-talking, and full of flair. Think RuPaul meets Bob Ross with a side of Tony Award dreams.
• Comedy Style: Wears leather chaps and sings show tunes while tattooing. Has a different accent every day. Lives for gossip and lives to stir it.
• What Makes Him Funny: He’s convinced Elaine has a “wild side” and keeps trying to draw it out of her—literally—offering tattoo designs that range from phoenixes to “just a tasteful skull.”

Character 4: Margaret Mercer – Elaine’s Overachieving Daughter
• Role: The skeptical, Type-A daughter in her 40s, always trying to “protect Mom from bad decisions.”
• Personality: Uptight, corporate, PTA president energy with a Bluetooth headset surgically attached. Speaks in calendar invites.
• Comedy Style: Her escalating horror at her mother’s descent into “madness” is a comic counterpoint to Elaine’s awakening. She treats therapy sessions like quarterly reports.
• What Makes Her Funny: She tries to stage interventions with PowerPoint. Thinks “he’s obviously in a gang.” Keeps showing up uninvited.

Character 5: Rex McCoy – The Tattooed Client (Agent of Chaos)
• Role: A 60-year-old, soft-spoken, deeply thoughtful man covered in tattoos, who sparks Elaine’s emotional and romantic unraveling.
• Personality: Zen meets biker chic. A former roadie turned trauma survivor. Reads Rumi, rides a Harley, and listens more than he speaks.
• Comedy Style: The irony of his intimidating appearance versus his gentle nature creates constant misperceptions—especially for Elaine. Says things like, “I ink my demons so they don’t stay inside.”
• What Makes Him Funny: His poetic insights land like therapy bombs, blowing up Elaine’s clinical worldview. He’s the chaos wrapped in calm, always unintentionally disrupting with a smile.

Would you like to explore how these characters might first meet or interact in a key scene? Or build a story arc around their comedic dynamics?
You said:
OMEDY PROMPT STEP 3: Comedy Situations For this project, brainstorm 10 unique and funny [comedy situations] that fit the concept and characters. These comedy situations can become hilarious scenes for this screenplay. Comedy situation = the main comedic circumstance of a scene that triggers funny character interactions, absurd scenarios, physical comedy and/or punchlines. Here are the seven core types of Comedy Situations: Misinterpretation Comedic Surprise Wildly Inappropriate Response or Absurd Behavior Forced Union of Incompatibles Embarrassment Comedic Tragedy Physical Mishap
ChatGPT said:
Fantastic! Here are 10 unique and funny comedy situations for The Shrink and the Ink, each rooted in your characters and aligned with the seven core types of comedy situations. These can be full scenes or jumping-off points for gags, running jokes, or emotional beats:

1. Misinterpretation: Therapy or Flirting?
Elaine mistakenly thinks Rex is hitting on her during a heartfelt metaphor about "uncovering layers." She responds clinically, he responds romantically, and neither realizes the other has totally misunderstood.

2. Comedic Surprise: Ink and Run
Elaine impulsively decides to get a small tattoo—just a butterfly!—but passes out mid-process. She wakes up with a dramatic full-back phoenix, thanks to Ziggy’s “artistic instincts.”

3. Absurd Behavior: Yoga, Crystals, and Chaos
Saffy hosts a “chakra-clearing” party to help Elaine “unblock her love meridian.” Instead, they accidentally hotbox the living room with sage smoke, Elaine gets high, and calls Rex “my erotic shaman.”

4. Forced Union of Incompatibles: Family Dinner Disaster
Elaine invites Rex to dinner to “normalize” him to her judgmental daughter, Margaret. Rex brings Ziggy as his plus-one. Margaret brings a slideshow on “Elder Vulnerability & Grooming.” The roast burns.

5. Embarrassment: Tattoo Confessional
Elaine accidentally flashes her tattoo while reaching for a book during a professional Zoom therapy session—her client pauses: “Um… is that a skull with roses??” Her license might not survive.

6. Comedic Tragedy: Therapist Breaks Up… with Her Client
Elaine tries to end their professional relationship ethically, but Rex thinks she’s breaking up with him romantically. He leaves heartbroken. She cries into a throw pillow. Ziggy gets them drunk.

7. Misinterpretation: Intervention or Gender Reveal?
Margaret throws a surprise intervention to stop Elaine from “derailing her life.” Saffy shows up thinking it’s a gender reveal for Elaine and Rex’s hypothetical love child. Chaos. Confetti. Hugs?

8. Physical Mishap: Motorcycle Makeover Mayhem
Rex teaches Elaine to ride his Harley. She’s in a silk pantsuit. She accidentally pops a wheelie into Ziggy’s tattoo tent, knocking over ink trays and a live iguana named Carl.

9. Wildly Inappropriate Response: Live at the Open Mic
Elaine joins Rex at an open mic poetry night. She gets drunk and reads from her therapy notes by mistake, outing a client’s foot fetish and an affair. Applause. Lawsuit pending.

10. Embarrassment + Comedic Tragedy: The Matching Tattoo
Elaine drunkenly decides to get a matching tattoo with Rex… only to realize the design spells out "FOREVER THERAPY BUDDY" instead of "soulmate" in Sanskrit. Turns out Ziggy flunked Sanskrit.

• This reply was modified 1 day, 21 hours ago by  Deni Sher.

[Ian Patrick Williams]

What I learned today is to focus on the basics before beginning writing a full script

Genre: Comedy
Title: Unaccountable
Concept/Logline: A mild-mannered accountant is muscled by a thuggish gangsta rapper/ music mogul to fix his books before an upcoming audit.

Main Characters: JERRY WHEELER, milk-toast CPA
MC SLAUGHTER, head of Slaughterhouse music
PRETTY BOI & BUSTA NUT, his incompetent bodyguards
KLAMIDIA, a female rapper repped by Slaughter
EMILY, a shy member of Jerry’s lit group

Short synopsis: Jerry is dragged into a world of rap, music clubs, drugs and crime when all he wants to do is help people with their tax returns and compose poetry with his weekend writing group.
What makes this movie or show funny? The ultimate fish out of water.

[Melanie Berlier]

***There is no AI option for me. Anyone else find it?

What I learned today is…? Try everything, be outrageous and have fun! Also, AI is a good tool for stirring up creativity.

Genre: Romantic Comedy
Title: Surf & Turf Wars
Concept/Logline: Failed Maine Lobsterman must somehow impress his sister’s new friend who just bought a failing restaurant on one of Maines islands

Main Characters:
Straight Guy: Eli Dunbar, A down-on-his-luck Maine lobsterman
Over the top Foodie: Gemma Palomares, The eccentric new owner of the failing island restaurant, allergic to seafood
Bizarre local: Name: Toonie Blanchard, Eccentric lifelong island resident and self-appointed “restaurant consultant”
Personality Traits: Paranoid, overly confident, speaks in lobster-related metaphors
Conflict Character: Vanessa Crown, Ruthless & sarcastic island health inspector and Eli’s ex
Agent of Chaos: Finn (no last name—“Just Finn”), Mysterious drifter who shows up as head chef… despite no one hiring him, Charismatic, unpredictable, possibly high, always cooking barefoot
l breakthroughs.

Short synopsis: In a boiling cauldron of unlikely characters, each on a personal journey that unknowingly conflicts with the others, island inhabitants turn chaos into culinary delight, personal success and lasting love.

What makes this movie funny? Classic incongruent pairings, filled with slapstick humor and illogical remedies, tied together with true love discovered.

• This reply was modified 19 hours, 46 minutes ago by  Melanie Berlier.

[John Vanderberg]

Sorry, I am not seeing a link to the course, just the forums. Where can I access the content to the course, please?

[Jo Ann (Jodie) Randisi]

John, are you going to https://screenwritingclasses.com/classes. Then look for My Courses. Hope this helps. Jodie Randisi