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Terry Borst
Faculty
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Biography
Terry studied with screenwriting gurus Lew Hunter, Richard Walter and William Froug. His credits include many episodes of the BBC action-adventure series Bugs (syndicated in 30+ countries), the TV movie sequel Midnight Run Around and the independent feature Private War. He has written other screenplays for Paramount Pictures, USA Network, the BBC, Electronic Arts, Microsoft, and various independent producers.
For more than a decade, he co-wrote a trade publication and website column, *alt.screenwriters*, focusing on the collision of screenwriting and new media technologies. He's taught screenwriting at the College of Santa Fe, UCLA, USC, Moorpark College, Santa Fe Community College, and Canada's Banff Centre for the Arts, and his students have won film festival competitions and been accepted at top film schools around the country.
You can find more about Terry at www.terryborst.com.
Screenwriting Symposium Events
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Mentor Lab
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THE TERRY BORST FIRST SCREENPLAY LAB
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Working on actually completing your first screenplay? Tired of coming up with ideas, scenes, and half-finished scripts, but never coupling that first FADE IN with a final FADE OUT?
Terry's 9-hour lab will walk the beginning screenwriter through a proven process that will result in a solid 3-act structure, and scenes that link together and build from an intriguing inciting incident to an exciting climax and satisfying resolution. We'll troubleshoot plots, character arcs, and individual scenes, so that you'll have greater confidence in your storytelling and new tools for solving script problems and getting over the hump of finishing that first script.
ACT 1 (Day 1)
We'll be taking a close look at your story's turning points to make sure they're generating narrative momentum and escalating the stakes for your characters. Great turning points make for great stories, but let's make sure those turning points emerge naturally from a story, while avoiding the dreaded 'deus ex machina.'
ACT 2 (Day 2)
We'll be taking a close look at your characters and seeing what we can do to make them memorable and unique. Nothing kills a script quicker than cookie-cutter characters and interchangeable parts.
ACT 3 (Day 3)
We'll be taking a close look at your dialog and scene descriptions, to make sure you've got a real page-turner. Grab your reader by the lapels and make sure they keep reading until the final page reads FADE OUT!
Solve your plot and character problems, and find your original voice, in this intensive lab!
Screenwriters in this lab should submit:
a one-page synopsis of their intended screenplay
the partial or complete screenplay or story treatment they'd like to focus on
a brief write-up spotlighting particular areas they'd like to work on ("I really need help on linking scenes", "My dialog is awful -- help!", etc)
Full instructions for this electronic submission will be supplied after April 15.
NOTE: This Lab is limited to 20 writers.
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Panel Description:
Our Mentors convene for a lively discussion on the pros and cons, ins and outs, and ups and downs of showbiz as it relates to screenwriters. SCSFe Staff and Faculty member Darren Foster will moderate. The panel will discuss their POV about the art and craft of screenwriting and will take questions from the audience.
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Seminar
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BUILDING ONE-OF-A-KIND PROTAGONISTS
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Seminar Description:
Unique, one-of-a-kind protagonists are a requirement if you're to sell your original screenplay. Think about the protagonists in JUNO, LARS AND THE REAL GIRL, PRECIOUS, A SERIOUS MAN, HALF NELSON: all are a result of thinking outside-of-the-box and throwing away the standard ideas Hollywood argues for in a protagonist. We'll take a look at approaches and techniques that will help you find an intriguing and memorable protagonist who will help drive your story and create a screenplay bound to get noticed!
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