Screenwriting at MasterClass

MasterClass has emerged as a formidable source for online screenwriting eduction.

Currently priced at $90 per class, it allows you to watch hours of lecture and classes from a master of the craft (Aaron Sorkin, David Mamet) as well as interact with other classmates through an online forum.

If you think you'll take more than one class per year, you'll want to use the All-Access Pass, which gives you access to every MasterClass for $180/year.

Where to Start

There are currently 6 writing courses at MasterClass.

Aaron Sorkin

Aaron Sorkin Teaches Screenwriting is a solid place to start. The course is comprised of lectures and a class setting with four student writers that emulates a television writers room.

Shonda Rhimes

Shonda Rhimes Teaches Writing for Television takes you behind the scenes into the process used to develop Gray's Anatomy and Scandal.

David Mamet

David Mamet Teached Dramatic Writing is comprised of lectures from the screenwriter and playwright. He explains his outlook on drama and plot, and exposes the thought process that went into the plot structures for American Buffalo and Glengarry Glen Ross.

Other Writing Courses

None of these courses cover screenwriting per se, but each is helpful from a standpoint of pursuing the craft, establishing a writing habit, finding inspiration, and much more.

Other Film Courses

Actors, directors and composers have all created MasterClass courses that further explore the filmmaking world.

“Screenplays are structure, and that's all they are. The quality of writing - which is crucial in almost every other form of literature - is not what makes a screenplay work.”