One of MIDPOINT Institute's programs dedicated to scripted series writing and development, the Writers’ Room is a sidebar module of the project-based TV Launch and is designed to train specialized skills and offer practical knowledge about the organization of a writers’ room.
MIDPOINT Writers' Room 2020
Series
Archive
Organizational information
The one-off event runs in 4 1/2 training days and consists of lectures, plotting and writing exercises and simulation of a writers’ room. The program runs in the English language.
Dates and venues
October 14 - 23, 2020
Online
The program's schedule and the form of the organization inevitably depend on the development of the coronavirus pandemic situation.
Who is it for?
- writers
- creative producers with some experience in writing and the ambition of becoming creators/showrunners
Eligible countries
all Europe (primary focus on Central and Eastern Europe)
Contact person
Katarina Tomkova
Program Coordinator
katarina.tomkova@midpoint-institute.eu
"An intense training on how writers’ rooms on international series work, that gave me immense practical knowledge in a very short amount of time. It also offered an insight in the international industry of television and functioned as an inspiring environment with networking and collaboration opportunities."
Anna Skordi
Writer, Writers' Room 2019 alumna
Participants
Tutors
Ben Harris
Ben has just finished writing and executive producing Young Wallander, the show he created for Yellowbird and Netflix about the formative experiences of the iconic detective Kurt Wallander. Before ...
Complete bio
Gabor Krigler
Hungary
Gabor’s career began on the writing staff of a daily serial at the Australian-German firm Grundy UFA in 1999. He became a Creative Executive at the Budapest office of HBO Europe in 2010. In 2019, ...
Complete bio
Methodology
The individual participants, entering the program as talents looking into enhancing their craft and writing skills, will get acquainted with the structure, hierarchy and processes running in a writers’ room from two different perspectives: of a procedural and a serialized show. Theoretical lectures and plotting exercises will be offered alongside the simulation.
The program’s graduates will acquire knowledge and skills connected to the processes occurring during scripted series writing, such as creative teamwork, joint brainstorming, and creating or following one unified narrative voice and vision as well as the structure of a series episode itself.
Lectures
-
LecturesLectures
Inside the Writers' RoomBen Harris
October 14, 2020 | OnlineExperienced UK-based writer and producer Ben Harris (Young Wallander, Devils, Ransom, Marcella) will talk about all the essentials of running a writers‘ room: the methods of breaking a story, means of managing a team and dealing with the networks, while sharing his own invaluable experiences in the series industry.
The Narrative Foundations of a Series ProjectGabor Krigler
October 14, 2020 | OnlineGabor Krigler, the founder of Joyrider TV and former Creative Executive and Producer at HBO Hungary, will explain how the pilot episode of a drama series must serve many different needs. It has to be a great story itself but it also must set up a long, ongoing narrative. He will be looking at the various elements that need to be introduced in a pilot to hook the audience and create an emotional experience they want to return to. The second part of the discussion focuses on the creative processes behind the show bible and what it needs to contain to help sell your project first, and then serve as a springboard for further development.
FUNDERS
