Workshop Description: Great ideas are one thing. Translating them to the page is a whole different level of craft.
In this workshop, we’ll look at how the way you format your sketch or screenplay can help get your idea across to your readers and collaborators. We’ll look at a wide range of examples - from sketches to screenplays and straight plays - to gather a range of tools and ideas of how you might use or break convention. Expect to leave with a new appreciation of the way the literal how of how you tell your story can showcase your ideas and purpose.
Workshop Length: 2 hours
Prerequisite: Some theater or sketch comedy experience is encouraged, but not required.
What Should I Bring? Please bring a laptop or a notebook to write in. Bring a full water bottle.
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About the Instructor: Ashley Melzer (she/her) is or has been a comedian, filmmaker, writer, photographer, festival organizer, theater maker, public humanist, and schemer. Born in North Florida, Ashley received her Bachelor’s in Cinematic Arts from the University of Southern California and a Master’s in Folklore from UNC-Chapel Hill. Her writing and photography has been featured in INDY Week, Paste Magazine, and the Southern Foodways Alliance, to name a few. She’s worked with Hopscotch, Moogfest, Southern Cultures Journal, and more. Ashley is producer of YOU GAVE ME A SONG, a feature-length documentary about the life and music of legendary old-time and bluegrass musician Alice Gerrard, and directed the short documentary OKAY MR RAY! about a fast-talking mule trader in 1970s Mississippi. Ashley is the founder of Mettlesome Theater, for which she performs, directs, writes, and teaches comedy. She lives in Durham and is happy to be here.
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