INTRO TO SCREENWRITING

WITH JOE PERACCHIO

This intensive and individualized three-month workshop applies the Chubbuck Technique to screenwriting – limited to only 12 students to allow for the most personal training & exponential growth.  

April 3 – June 26 via Zoom. 

In a weekly writers’ room setting, students will receive rigorous training in the craft of cinematic storytelling, including proper script formatting, visual writing, tone, atmosphere, dialogue & subtext, monologue & voice over, action, twists, exposition, planting/payoff, three-act structure, character development, taking notes and rewriting – all culminating in the completion of a short film script.

While training in the Chubbuck acting technique, it is our own unique memories, experiences, and imaginations that we draw from – harnessing that individual sensibility and using it to fuel the craft. Good screenwriting, like acting, is a craft that requires strong training and introspection too, as well as discipline, commitment, and rewriting. Lots of rewriting. And it’s not for everyone. This course offers the opportunity to see if it’s something worth pursuing for yourself. 

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR:  Joe has trained with Ivana Chubbuck for over ten years and teaches screenwriting at his alma maters the USC School of Cinematic Arts (MFA with distinction ‘13), the Warner Bros. Television Writers’ Workshop (graduate ’14), and for LA City College. He is currently a consultant to international writers on shows in Turkey & Singapore for Netflix, has written for The Flash and The Messengers, both on the CW, Deception on ABC, and produced the ESPN 30for30 film Trojan War.  He was an actor and writer for the Emmy nominated Fences on PBS for two seasons, and starred in the CW’s acclaimed drama Easy Money. He has a BA in creative writing and acting from the University of New Mexico (where he taught in the Dept. of Theatre), and has been nominated for the Sundance Screenwriter’s Fellowship & Humanitas Prize.  

Classes held on Sundays 10am-2pm PST via Zoom, April 3 – June 26. Includes one private session with each individual student.  

Price: $1200 ($600 USD non-refundable deposit to hold a spot; tuition paid in full by March 27)  Again, class is limited to 12 students max to allow for intensive individual attention. For info & to sign up: jperacchio@gmail.com


These are monthly ongoing classes that apply the Ivana Chubbuck Technique in a cold reading format and teach students all about the audition process.

The success ratio of students booking jobs from this class has been huge. Over 75% of the students who have brought in auditions to work on in class have either booked the job or gotten a call-back.

Classes are capped at 12 people so everyone gets to work each week. Students are given material from current pilots, TV shows, and movies when class starts, but they may also bring in their auditions to work on.
 
 
 
Here’s what students have been saying about the class:

  • “David taught me not worry about the lines. I’ve never felt so free auditioning.”
  • “I know it’s a cold reading class, but David helped me find substitutions I didn’t know I had. My inner work has never been stronger.”
  • “I’ve gotten call backs on every audition since I started the class, and I wasn’t getting them before.”
  • “I booked 2 jobs in 3 months since joining David’s class. One I booked right after working on the scene in class!”

Industry guests are brought in at the end of each month to help the students get to the next level by actually watching scenes and giving notes, as they would from a real audition. Students are encouraged to bring in their head shots to these industry veterans, who have hired students straight from the class.

Past industry guests have included:

  • Casting Director Ken Miller (2.5 Men, Big Bang Theory)
  • Casting Director Heidi Levitt (The Rock, Natural Born Killers)
  • Executive Producer Jed Seidel (Terriers, Ghost Whisperer)
  • Producer Paul Neesan (Courage Under Fire, Smurfs)
  • Executive VP of Imagine and former VP at Fox Searchlight – Jeremy Steckler
  • Director John Asher (One Tree Hill)
  • Manager/Producer Seth Howard (Mutant X)

PRICING:

$225.00 a month for students currently enrolled at the studio.

$325.00 a month for all other students.

Class Monitor: Alain Mesa

Email: alain_mesa@aol.com