Lesson 2

[Melanie Berlier]

“What I learned doing this assignment is…?”
This assignment helped me think deeper about my characters and the core of the story that will drive the characters and scenes.

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Logline: A grumpy Maine lobsterman is roped into helping his sister’s eccentric, shellfish-allergic city friend save the island’s worst seafood restaurant — but between quinoa specials, a vengeful health inspector, and a barefoot mystery chef, falling in love might be the least predictable thing on the menu.

Theme: You don’t have to change who you are – just what you are afraid of.

Main Conflict: Can a grumpy lobsterman and a food trend–obsessed outsider save the island’s worst restaurant before it’s shut down by his vengeful ex — or will their differences ruin everything, including a shot at real love?

Stakes:
• The restaurant closes permanently, and the island loses a local landmark — even if it's terrible, it’s their terrible.
• Gemma loses everything — her investment, her pride, and her fresh start. She’s back to being a punchline.
• Eli’s sister is furious — her attempt to bring people together (and maybe set up a romance) fails, and Eli’s stubbornness is to blame.
• Vanessa (the ex/health inspector) wins, proving to herself and others that Eli is still a flake and a screw-up.
• The community loses its only source of social drama, which oddly might matter in a tiny island town — especially with Toonie fanning the flames.
Romantically – Eli & Gemma personally stay stuck in misery & wonder what could have been.
The island goes back to status quo — no surf, no turf, no heart, no change.

Transformational Journey:
Eli is stuck, deeply traditional & allergic to change. He transforms from reluctant involvement to Annoyed Mentor to Curious Partner. He is a man who has learned that holding on too tightly to tradition is just another way of hiding. He still loves the sea, but he’s no longer afraid to grow past it.

Gemma is optimistic, performative, full of ideas but secretly terrified she doesn’t belong. She fears that if people see the real her, they’ll realize she has no idea what she is doing. Confident outsider to Clumsy dreamer to Honest Collaborator. She becomes a woman who understands that authenticity is braver than branding and that love doesn’t require a curated identity.

• This reply was modified 3 weeks, 4 days ago by  Melanie Berlier. Reason: formatting

[Jodie Randisi]

What I learned: I have to admit, the process is easier with AI. I asked ChatGPT to define the theme and I couldn’t have said it better…though I was thinking it, I just couldn’t have said it so succinctly. Which will be helpful if (or when) I get to pitch this to a producer or manager, etc.
• Genre: Female-led buddy comedy
• Logline: Two wildly mismatched real estate agents are forced into an uneasy partnership by a scheming psychologist—leading to sabotage, self-discovery, and some extremely chaotic open houses.
• Theme: Human connection defies categorization.
• Main Conflict: Opposites are forced to work together so an industrial psychologist can study them.
• Stakes: Personal Stakes: Identity & Self-Worth, Each character is being observed, categorized, and judged—often unfairly—by someone in power. They’re being reduced to labels: “Type A,” “Slacker,” “Entitled,” “Unstable,” etc. The fear: What if I really am the label?
• Transformational Journey: The reward: breaking the stereotype and proving they’re more than the sum of their dysfunctions

• This reply was modified 3 weeks, 4 days ago by  Jodie Randisi.

[orlando Chavez]

Subject Line:

• This reply was modified 3 weeks, 4 days ago by  orlando Chavez.

[Ian Patrick Williams]

What I learned doing this assignment is to choose my story components to better understand my direction.

Genre: Comedy

Logline: A mild-mannered accountant must navigate a corrupt hip hop world when a gangsta rapper/ music mogul forcibly recruits him to cook the books of his criminal empire before an upcoming audit.

Theme: Standing up against corruption; risking one’s career (or hospital visit) for a just outcome

Main Conflict: A law-abiding tax consultant being coerced into committing a crime

Stakes: Possibly going to prison; or at least losing one’s sense of ethics

Transformational Journey: Going from being a poetry-loving pushover to standing up to crime (and possibly finding a new career as a rapper.)

[SERITA STEVENS]

• Genre: Hilarious comedy
• Logline: When a gypsy-raised Romanian pre-teen orphan adopts a single, naïve American-Jewish nurse, hoping to come to American, she gets more than she bargained for as she tries to fit into American middle school, deal with her new dysfunctional Jewish family, and help her new single naïve mother find the right man.
• Theme: Growing up
• Main Conflict: Each try to change the other for what they think is the better.
• Stakes: Alex’s desire to be in America conflicts with how she will adjust to her new family, school and culture.
• Transformational Journey: The relationship between a mother and her adopted daughter
WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHERE THE AI LINK TO HIT IS. I SEE NOTHING ON THE LEFT SIDE BUT THE LIST OF LESSONS. THANKS. i HAVE BUGGED CHERYL AND NOT GOTTEN ANY ANSWERS.

[Melanie Berlier]

yeah. its not there. I’ve not received any responses either AND they double charged me. I feel so scammed and disappointed so far, this experience has left a bad taste in my mouth. They don’t give feedback either. They put their grubby hands in your pockets multiple times, throw you in a tank with others who are just as clueless, do not provide what they promise and refuse to support or answer any of your questions or straighten out billing.

[Marcus Armstrong]

I have done several classes and there has been less and less live involvement each time. Other than the overview marketing call to sign up for this course, there seems to no longer be anyone monitoring the support messages. I sent in a help ticket through customer service asking about the AI and I never got a response. I am extracting the lessons to keep for reference, but I am not sure I am going to continue in this Forum. Best success to you, Melanie!

Marc

[Renee Miller]

I'm late to the party so I'm not sure if everyone is still having trouble finding the AI link in the classes. After you hit mark as complete you need to go back into the same lesson, scroll to the bottom and the AI button should be there. Click on that and a window box will appear, copy your lesson and paste it in the box and click the button. It takes a few minutes for the AI to give you an answer. The answer will appear in the lesson and the bottom after your pasted in response. Hope this helps.

[Renee Miller]

What I learned doing this assignment is how to brainstorm and decide on the main story components to define my story.
Genre: Horror Comedy
Logline: She’s rotting, hungry, and still more popular than you. But keeping secrets is hard when your jaw falls off during lunch period.
Theme: True acceptance and belonging come not from perfection, but from embracing who you really are — flaws, fears, rot and all — and allowing others to do the same.
Main Conflict: Hailey fights to keep her zombie identity secret so she can win Homecoming Queen and stay queen of her social world — while battling her own worsening instincts to devour classmates.
Personal stakes: Losing her entire constructed identity: not just friends and boyfriend, but the status that has defined her self-worth. If outed, she fears lifelong ridicule — or worse, becoming the “school monster” on social media forever. Her scholarship applications and future opportunities are also on the line; imagine viral footage of her drooling over brains ruining her dream college acceptance.
Existential stakes: If she fully gives in to zombie urges, she could actually hurt or eat someone she loves, forever losing her humanity.
Comedic stakes: If she slips, she might barf embalming fluid in math class or drop her hand into a tray of cupcakes at the bake sale. Could end up on a viral TikTok titled "Cheer Captain Loses Face… Literally."
Transformational Journey: Hailey starts terrified of imperfection, hiding every flaw to protect her popularity. By embracing her undead identity, she not only frees herself but encourages her peers to embrace their own weirdness, leading to a more accepting school culture.