Summary
Learn from Jason Mirch, an industry veteran producer who's worked on FLIGHT, THE HELP & BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL
BONUS! Learn how to craft a logline and query letter with examples!
You only get one chance to make a first impression. And if you’re not hooking your reader within your first act your script will end up on the “Pass” pile (and realistically a seasoned executive knows within the two pages if the writer is capable). Your first act includes your first 10 pages of your script, your inciting incident, your introduction to characters and sets the tone for your entire story. It needs to be structurally sound and entertaining to keep the reader flipping pages.
But writing a strong first act is much more than simply hooking a reader with your first 10 pages. You are building the foundation for your entire narrative and planting seeds that will grow over time. You must make sure that you’re establishing your North Star or Dramatic Question, establishing a tone, theme, and characters, while initiating a story with a strong engine to move forward. A script can start strong and then falter and if it doesn’t start strong in the first place, there is nowhere for your story to go.
To make sure that you have a first act that sings you will be led industry veteran Jason Mirch. Aside from being an accomplished producer who has worked on such films as FLIGHT with Denzel Washington and THE HELP with Viola Davis, he is also the Writer Consultant for Stage 32. Jason has an impressive resume that makes him uniquely qualified to guide you through sharpening up your first act to get the reader to want more.
You will learn why most first acts fail and how to avoid falling into that trap. You will learn how to create authentic characters, establish tone, theme and understand how Act 1 fits into your 3 Act Structure. You will know how to build a strong first act foundation and make your first 10 pages sing. As a bonus Jason is going to teach you how to craft a logline and query letter for your script! You will walk away confident in knowing how to make your 1st act stand out from the rest!
BONUS! you will receive these examples:
- How to craft a logline (examples)
- Sample query letters
PRAISE FOR JASON'S TEACHINGS:
"Plan on listening to it again and again!" - Peggy R.
"Jason had so much good information to share, he did it at a breakneck speed. It was hard to digest it all at once. The good news is we can revisit the webinar after the fact." - Michael G.
"Jason was great. He answered all questions and presented the information effectively!" - Barbie D.
What You'll Learn
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The Reasons Why Most First Acts Fail
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How to Establish Your Story’s “North Star” or “Dramatic Question”
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How to Create Authentic Characters
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Lies, Truths & Your Character’s Arc
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How to Create Obstacles for your Character
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Introducing Your Character
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Establishing Tone
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How to Establish a Theme that Resonates
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How does Act 1 Fit Into the 3 Act Structure?
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How to Structure a Strong Act 1
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Building a Foundation
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Your First 10 Pages - What to include (and omit)
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Is Your Inciting Incident Strong Enough?
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Predicament & Lock In
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Bonus: How to craft a logline and Query Letter (with handouts)
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Q&A with Jason
Executive
Jason Mirch is a feature film and television producer and executive with over 15 years of experience. Jason also served as the Director of Script Services at Stage 32 where he worked directly with screenwriters, filmmakers, and leading industry executives.
In addition to his work with Stage 32, Jason runs production and development for a company which produced low-budget genre pictures for an international audience, as well as serves as a business advisor to a successful post production vfx company which contributed to The Peanut Butter Falcon, Crawl, Martin Scorsese's Silence, Arctic, and Let them Talk for Steven Soderbergh and HBO.
Most recently, he produced a 3D animated feature film starring Jacob Tremblay, Emmy-winner Christopher Lloyd, Oscar-winner Mel Brooks, Emmy-winner Kenan Thompson, and Emmy-winner Carol Kane.
Mirch was the Head of Feature and Television Development at Image Nation, a finance and production company based in Abu Dhabi, UAE. There, he supervised the Image Nation contributions in the development of Flight, The Help, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Contagion, Careful What You Wish For, Ghost Rider 2, and 100 Foot Journey.
Prior to his work at Image Nation, Mirch was Co-Head of Development at Storyline Entertainment (Oscar-winning Chicago, Footloose, The Bucket List) where he developed a slate of feature film projects for New Line, Paramount, Summit Ent., and CBS/Paramount. He also developed and sold television projects and mini-series to CBS, NBC, Fox, ABC, and Lifetime.
Testimonials
"Plan on listening to it again and again!" - Peggy R.
"Jason had so much good information to share, he did it at a breakneck speed. It was hard to digest it all at once. The good news is we can revisit the webinar after the fact." - Michael G.
"Jason was great. He answered all questions and presented the information effectively!" - Barbie D.