BA, Fairfield University. MFA, Columbia University School of the Arts. Postgraduate study: American Film Institute, New York University Tisch School of the Arts. Screenwriter, producer, director. Recent awards, grants, festivals: Grand Prize, Nantucket Film Festival, Tony Cox Award in Screenwriting; Nantucket Screenwriters Colony; World Jewish Film Festival, Askelon, Israel; Tehran International Film Festival; Berlin Film Festival Shorts; Uppsala Sweden Film Festival; USA Film Festival; Washington (DC) Jewish Film Festival; Los Angeles International Children’s Film Festival; Temecula Valley International Film Festival “Best of the Fest”; Portugal Film Festival Press Award; Fade In Magazine Award/Best Short Screenplay; Angelus Film Festival Triumph Award; Austin Film Festival Screenwriting Award; Heartland Film Festival Crystal Heart Award; New Line Cinema Filmmaker Development Award; Hamptons International Film Festival; Schomburg Cultural Grants. Raindance Pictures: projects developed for Columbia/Tristar/Sony, Lifetime, MTM Productions, Family Channel, FX, Alliance/ Atlantis, Capella Films, Turman-Foster Productions, James Manos Productions, FX, Avenue Pictures. SLC, 2003–
MFA Writing
Craft—Fall
Screenwriting is not so much a writing discipline as it is one allied with the tenants of the oral tradition of storytelling. In the best scripts, you are telling us your film. —Screenwriter/Director, Paul Schrader, Telluride, CO, 1989
In screenwriting, you show. You don’t tell. —Classic screenwriting adage (attributed to just about every screenwriting guru)
I wrote a beautiful script, and ‘they’ shot it—shot it full of holes—and made a terrible film. —Classic screenwriter lament (attributed to just about every screenwriter unhappy with his/her produced work)
In this graduate craft class, we will explore writing for the screen, be it silver, flat, computer-based, for iPad or smart-phone, et al. The aim is to understand how to create a “bullet-proof screenplay” in which a writer “tells” a film through prose that effectively “shows” what we see and what we hear moment-to-moment, articulating the action (“the doing”) of the characters and thereby revealing the emotional moments of recognition in the characters’ journey. Structured as a combination of seminar craft class along with some workshop-style exchanges, writers will journey through the nature and construct of the screenplay form. The fundamentals of character, story, world building, universe and setting, formatting, visual writing, dramatic action, tension, conflict, sequence structure, acts, and screenplay style will be explored. Analysis of published screenplays and peer work within the context of a productive environment will help writers hone a critical eye and develop skills to apply to troubleshooting one’s own work. Overall, the writer builds a screenwriter’s tool kit for use as future opportunities may emerge in writing for the screen. Skills learned in this craft class can be effectively applied to other threads of writing.Faculty
Frederick Michael Strype
Craft—Fall
“Screenwriting is not so much a writing discipline as it is one allied with the tenants of the oral tradition of storytelling. In the best scripts, you are literally telling us your film, moment to moment.”
-- Screenwriter/Director, Paul Schrader, Telluride, CO 1989.
“In one rule in screenwriting is show, don’t tell.”
-- Classic Screenwriting Adage (attributed to just about every screenwriting guru).
“I wrote an awesome script, but ‘they’ shot it full of holes and made a terrible film.”
-- Classic Screenwriter Lament (attributed to just about every screenwriter unhappy with their produced work)
In this graduate craft class, we will explore writing for the screen, be it silver, flat, computer or
smart-phone. The aim is to understand how to write a “bullet-proof screenplay” where a writer “tells” a film through prose that effectively “shows” what we see and what we hear, moment-to-moment, articulating the action (“the doing”) of the characters, and thereby revealing the emotional moments of recognition in the characters’ journey. Writers will investigate the nature and construct of the screenplay form, studying the fundamentals of character, story, universe and setting, formatting, visual writing, dramatic action, tension, conflict, sequence structure, acts, and style. Screen character development and story outlining will be a focus. Analysis of published screenplays and peer work within the context of a productive environment will help writers hone a critical eye and develop skills to apply to troubleshooting one’s own work as well as the work of others. Overall, the writer builds a screenwriter’s tool kit for use as future opportunities may emerge in writing for the screen. Skills learned in this class can be effectively applied to other threads of creative writing.
Faculty
Frederick Michael Strype
Craft—Fall
Screenwriting is not so much a writing discipline as it is one allied with the tenants of the oral tradition of storytelling. In the best scripts, you are telling us your film.—Screenwriter/Director Paul Schrader, Telluride, CO, 1989
In screenwriting, you show, you don’t tell.—classic screenwriting adage (attributed to just about every screenwriting guru)
I wrote a beautiful script, and ‘they’ shot it—shot it full of holes—and made a terrible film.—classic screenwriter lament (attributed to just about every screenwriter unhappy with his/her produced work)
In this graduate craft class, we will explore writing for the screen, be it silver, flat, computer-based, for iPad or smart-phone, et al. The aim is to understand how to create a “bullet-proof screenplay” where a writer “tells” a film through prose that effectively “shows” what we see and what we hear moment-to-moment, articulating the action (“the doing”) of the characters and thereby revealing the emotional moments of recognition in the characters’ journey. Structured as a combination of seminar craft class along with some workshop-style exchanges, writers will journey through the nature and construct of the screenplay form. The fundamentals of character, story, world-building, universe and setting, formatting, visual writing, dramatic action, tension, conflict, sequence structure, acts, and screenplay style will all be explored. Analysis of published screenplays and peer work within the context of a productive environment will help writers hone a critical eye and develop skills to apply to troubleshooting one’s own work. Overall, the writer builds a screenwriter’s tool kit for use as future opportunities may emerge in writing for the screen. Skills learned in this craft class can be effectively applied to other threads of writing.
Faculty
Frederick Michael Strype
What do you love about Sarah Lawrence students?
I’m always amazed at how much I learn from my students and how they help me see art in a new way. Students at Sarah Lawrence are uniquely wired; they like to push limits and question everything. In their intrepid exploration, they wind up doing things that should not work, but do.
It happens all the time in class: A student breaks a rule that the screenwriting/filmmaking "gurus" say is hard and fast, but instead of ruining the work, it enhances it. For example, it is usually considered death for a script to start with a talky scene that takes place in one location and goes on and on. One of my students wrote such a scene, which was 12 pages long. It shouldn’t have worked, but it was so well constructed, so perfectly paced, and the characterizations so strong and true that we became completely lost in the film. In these situations I have to say to myself, "I’ve been telling students that tactic doesn’t work, but in this case it does. How is that possible?" And we get to reevaluate the established rules and principles and really examine the creative process.
What do you love about teaching at Sarah Lawrence?
The seminar/conference model affords me the opportunity to talk very specifically with students about their work—I get to actually see the connection of the creator with the created. I’m sure it can be intimidating for students to have someone that far inside their creativity, but obviously it works, and it becomes liberating for students because we develop a strong sense of mutual trust. Navigating the seas of my students’ creativity also triggers thoughts in my brain about my own work. We form a symbiotic relationship, where my students and I learn from one another.
