IN THIS TWO-PART MASTERCLASS, filmmakers and bestselling authors Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due offer a unique clinic to teach everyone – regardless of experience level – how to write and shoot their own short film. While “how to write a screenplay” has a couple of very specific critical notions (which will be taught in the class!) how to MAKE a movie demands actual experience in writing, directing, controlling the camera, organizing actors and working with financing. And the truth is that the best way to learn it is to do it.
Whether or not you have ever considered yourself a filmmaker, writers and actors can take control of their careers by making their own short film as proof of concept. And you can start the same day that you finish this class!
ONLY $297 (until July 15)
What you’ll receive in this hybrid masterclass:
A three-hour hybrid lecture on every step of making your short film - from writing to casting to shooting to promoting.
Sample short film scripts.
A sneak peek at the upcoming short film The Keeper (LIVE BROADCAST ONLY)
An opportunity to network with other aspiring filmmakers. (IN PERSON)
A SECOND invitation to a later event: a virtual screening of your cohort’s short films! ALL volunteered films will be available on the Lifewrite.com social media platform.
FREE ADD-ON: Ongoing membership in the Lifewriting Professional workshop to workshop your short scripts with other writers and directors.
WHY INDIE?
The horror breakout films Obsession and Backrooms – which started as indie projects posted online – are great examples of what happens when filmmakers take control of their own careers. Whether it’s a “vertical” serialized format that is growing in popularity or a standalone short film that can be uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo (or submitted to film festivals!), Barnes and Due will draw on their own experiences shooting short films – as well as SPECIAL INDUSTRY GUESTS–all accomplished filmmakers – to teach you what you need to know to get your foot in the door.
Due and Barnes recently became first-time directors with their short film, The Keeper, with a budget of nearly $100,000 from the Japanese streamer Samansa, in partnership with Blackmaled Productions. Previously, they wrote and executive produced a crowdfunded short film for $30,000 called Danger Word (starring Frankie Faison). And Due shot, starred in and edited a short film solo on her iPhone (Lost) for less than $50. The general principles of filmmaking apply at every financial level, and the instructors are eager to pass on everything they have learned.
As a master instructor taught them: want to know how to make a $30 million dollar movie? Make a $3 million dollar movie. Want to know how to do that? Make a $300,000 movie. Before that? A $30,000 movie. And a $3,000 movie. And $300. And then…a movie on your iPhone, using online software for editing. Post it to YouTtube…and you are a baby filmmaker. Show your movie to friends and family, and raise money to make a $300 dollar movie…and you are on your way!
ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTORS: TANANARIVE DUE & STEVEN BARNES
STEVEN BARNES is a New York Times bestselling, award winning author of almost 40 books. His television writing includes the 1980 and 2020 versions of THE TWILIGHT ZONE, BAYWATCH, and an Emmy-winning episode of the OUTER LIMITS. He recently co-wrote and co-directed THE KEEPER, a short film now in development as a feature, with his wife and partner, Tananarive Due.
TANANARIVE DUE is a USA Today bestselling, award winning author of more than a dozen books. She served as an executive producer on Shudder’s HORROR NOIRE: A HISTORY OF BLACK HORROR. She and her husband, Steven Barnes, co-wrote an episode of Jordan Peele’s THE TWILIGHT ZONE and two segments of Shudder’s anthology film HORROR NOIRE. She and Barnes recently co-wrote and co-director THE KEEPER, a short film now in development as a feature.
THEIR WORK INCLUDES
“The Keeper is an imaginative, terrifying tale of generational trauma in a Black family that is crafted with expert technique and told with real heart.”
Jordan Peele, legendary writer-director and actor
GOOD WORDS FROM GREAT PEOPLE
“With their guidance I went from years of kicking around ideas to writing and directing an award winning film, and landing it in over a dozen renown film festivals across 3 continents.”
J. Michael Hayes, writer-director, program alum
