Announcing Story Masters Film Academy
What is Story Masters Film Academy? Go ahead. Click that link. Explore. I think you’ll get the idea. But if you want to know how Story Masters came about, keep reading.
It started with a couple of screenplays collecting cyber dust.
When 2020 started, I had a full-time job writing scripts and managing projects at a successful video production company. I found time now and then to work on my own screenplays, and I regularly submitted them to writing gigs and screenplay competitions.
But I knew deep down that no one would be interested in producing expensive period features. The kind of stuff I write went out of cinema fashion decades ago. And I’m okay with that. The joy was in the writing.
And then March happened. I don’t even have to tell you what that meant. You lived through it too. And everything changed.
Suddenly, I was faced with gobs of free time and the possibility that my job would disappear (it did disappear eventually, but the company’s owner generously kept us on payroll as long as she could). Instead of seeing the end of something, I saw a beginning; instead of a curse, a blessing; instead of disaster, opportunity. I blew the cyber dust off those old scripts and decided to publish them as paperbacks and ebooks.
I wanted normal people to buy them and read them, of course, because they are stories I love and want to share. But I also concocted a mad scheme to market to film instructors, pitching Bergman Manor and The Detective’s Secretary as educational tools. I thought about how valuable reading finished, polished scripts had been in my own education. I thought about how students could use my scripts to practice everything from script coverage to scheduling and budgeting to directing and editing.
The first person I reached out to (in fact, the only person I reached out to) was Christopher Riley, the man who taught me everything I know about screenwriting. I asked if he would use my scripts in his classroom and write a review from the perspective of a film instructor that I could use to market to others. He said yes. And I was ecstatic. But then he suggested the possibility of taking it a step further.
What if we created an entire online screenwriting course for high schools and homeschool students?
We.
Chris wanted to be my partner in this crazy venture. My mentor, the man who taught me everything I know, a man I deeply respect and admire, wanted to take this risk with me.
And not just Chris. Another of my JPCatholic professors, Nathan Scoggins, wanted to join us and help us expand our offering to include directing and production courses as well.
Just like that, Story Masters Film Academy was born.
Of course, birth is just the beginning. Now we have to nourish this baby and make it grow!
We offer courses for both classes/groups and individual students (perfect for homeschoolers and others continuing to learn remotely), and our different packages include varying levels of interactivity with us, the Story Masters. So if you know of any high school students who might be interested in film or any teachers/administrators looking to add some fun electives in their school/district, send them our way!