THE STORY FORGE

Story Design & Refinement

Your voice,

your ideas,

your vision.

The Screenplay Factory’s Story Forge is an innovative and effective interview process led by our very own Jordan Morris who will sit with you over the course of several sessions, with the ultimate goal of distilling your ideas into an effective (relevant, resonant, timely and commercially viable) concept that could be turned into a successful TV series, film or novel.

In the end, you will be presented with a robust outline - in your words, using your ideas - that will help make tackling your first draft easier than you thought possible. On average, 20-25 pages of invaluable information and instructions will be delivered.

Save yourself weeks, months - even years - of frustration and random experimentation by having a professional story architect help you create the moving, inspired and commercially viable story that you know you have inside you.

“Perhaps no single choice a writer makes is more important than the story concept, often the key determinant whether a script sells or not.”

-- Scott Myers
writer, The Protagonist’s Journey & official blogger for The Black List

You will receive four online consultations ( a minimum of two hours in length) one week apart, each in the form of a comprehensive interview between you and our professional story developer. Take the guesswork out of the writing process by creating a detailed map of your concept, start to finish with a working professional’s guidance.

"I have billions of ideas. The problem is making them as good as they can be."

-- David O. Russell
director, American Hustle, Joy, Silver Linings Playbook

There is nothing else quite like this unique experience being offered anywhere. One month of fun, entertaining, and informative conversations and instruction designed to elevate and accelerate your skills as a storyteller.

"The idea is still king. Spend 90% of your time working on the idea."

-- Tony Gilroy
writer, Andor, Michael Clayton, The Bourne Identity

WHAT IS IT?

As stated above, the process is a very casual series of question-and-answer interviews, led by coach and development executive, Jordan Christopher Morris. Known for his light and disarming sense of humour, your sessions will fly by and you’ll be shocked at how quickly you get things done. This will not be a tense interrogation. It will be a fun exploration and refinement of your movie concept.

If you have a logline or a concise summary of the story concept, the process will start there by analyzing the elements you have already identified. If not, Jordan will have you take part in a few short exercises that will help provide him with similar information.

Then, you’ll be led through a series of questions focused on the following areas of interest:

PERSONAL VOICE / BRAND
It is critical that you bring something to the table that cannot be found anywhere else because if you CAN be replaced, you probably WILL be. What do you want to be known for? What will your specialty be? And how can your personal life experiences help both inform your stories and infuse them with the universal resonance and relevance that wider audiences demand?

MARKETING / PACKAGING:
Jordan will help you talk about your project in the unique vernacular used by industry professionals. How will they perceive your idea? Are you describing it in accurate terms? Is there an audience for this? How can you talk about it using the proper terms and concepts? What is the best strategy for marketing, promoting, and selling it?

CHARACTER ARC
All great stories are about transformation. And the external, visual elements of your story can’t be random. They need to be a perfect metaphor for the internal challenges your Protagonist/Hero/Main character experiences as well. We’ll help you better understand your Protag, help you most effectively set them up, and effectively challenge them with obstacles that will create the perfect catalyst for a moving transformation.

CORE CAST / THE TRIANGLE OF CONFLICT:
This process concentrates on three characters that are critical to any story; their roles within the story and their relationship with one another. The Protagonist/Hero/Main Character will receive the most attention so that their transformational arc is crystal clear and engineered for maximum impact. Two other characters will also receive significant attention, and any key supporting characters will also be addressed and assigned a specific role within the greater story with detailed instructions on how to employ each one.

THEME / MEANING
Arguably the most confusing and frustrating element for new and emerging writers to both talk about and deploy in their work, theme gives a script its meaning - its reason to exist - and without the effective use of theme, you have nothing more than a hollow series of events - not a complete story. The Story Forge will introduce you to a simple, and effective method for deciphering theme that you can then use to great effect for the rest of your writing career.

STRUCTURE / PACE / FLOW
Once you’ve carefully sorted all of the above and much, much more, you can begin to create the wireframe of your story, mapping out both the “internal” and “external” adventure, the critical story milestones that audiences demand, and all the required twists and turns, including a resolution designed to deliver the deep emotional resonance required to satisfy and inspire audiences.

"The problem with writing a movie is you've got to have a great idea."

-- Brian DePalma
director, The Untouchables, Scarface,Calito’s Way

WHO IS THIS FOR?

The Story Forge is popular with both new and emerging writers who find themselves in frustrating situations they cannot find a way out of - such as:

• Having fragments of ideas for a screenplay, but not being able to “crack the code” and figure out how to assemble the pieces or understand what is missing to make it the basis of an effective screenplay.

• Completing several drafts of a screenplay, and, despite their best efforts, knowing that it isn’t quite working, but having no idea how to fix the problem or problems.

• And any other scenario in which a writer is not getting the results they had hoped for, no matter the amount of time or effort invested.

*NOTE: The Story Forge process focuses 100% on STORY CRAFT.
If you need help with:

PAGECRAFT (which is all about proper formatting and the ability to effectively present your work on the page), or…
PROCRAFT (how to navigate the industry and find work as a working professional)

Please investigate our other service, THE SCREENWRITING NAVIGATOR PROGRAM which is a weekly or bi-weekly personal coaching program that will cover all three areas of discipline and give you tailored support through the entire process of writing a feature-length script from inception to completion.

BONUS OFFER:

Each Story Forge process will also include lifetime access to our FUNDAMENTALS OF SCREENWRITING online course at no additional charge. You will be given access to all 55 lessons and all support materials and worksheets for as long as you wish. Any updates or additions to the course will be made available to you immediately and, again, without any additional cost - ever.

Questions? Contact us

Seriously. If you have any questions or concerns, just write us a quick note. You’ll never be pushed to sign up or “sold” on any of our services. That is not our style.

We genuinely want to help you achieve your screenwriting goals, so if you’d like to talk about any aspect of screenwriting or our program in particular, don’t hesitate to reach out.

We’d love to chat with you!