"Michael Hauge's principles and methods are so well argued that the mysteries of effective screenwriting can be understood - even by directors…."

—Phillip Noyce
Director: Clear & Present Danger; The Quiet American

Call (818) 995-4209
or click here

During this special, all-day seminar, Hollywood script and story consultant Michael Hauge, will present his unique approach to creating compelling fiction, and eliciting emotion in your readers through story concept, plot structure, character development and theme. Michael will then reveal his proven method for getting the people in power to read your manuscript or screenplay. Selected participants will also get direct feedback on their story concepts and pitches.

Topics covered will include:

If you want to elevate your fiction writing to the highest possible level, this event is a must.

Michael also consults with attorneys, psychologists, corporations and individuals on employing story principles in their projects, their presentations, and their work with clients and patients.

For Michael's schedule, click here.

Whether you want your screenplay sold, your novel published or your play produced, you must master the key elements that transform any story into an artistic and commercial success. Michael Hauge will reveal the essential secrets for creating compelling fiction that will touch the widest possible audience, including:

• The primary goal of all story
• The power of desire, need, longing and destiny
• The essential conflict all characters must face
• Turning plot structure from a complicated concept into a simple, powerful tool you can easily apply to every story
• The single key to creating character arc and theme
• Creating unique, believable and fulfilling love stories
• Why genre is irrelevant – and why you must master it anyway
• Uniting your own passion with the demands of the market

Michael will also offer individual guidance and feedback to selected participants. If you want to elevate your fiction writing to the highest possible level, this event is a must.

For Michael's schedule, click here.

Love stories heighten both the emotional appeal and the commercial potential of your screenplay, and provide you with a powerful tool for revealing inner conflict, character growth and theme. Using the most successful romantic comedies and love stories of the last decade as examples, Michael Hauge will reveal the essential principles for writing believable, entertaining, and emotionally fulfilling romantic relationships in your novels and screenplays.

Also available on dvd! Click here to order.

For Michael's schedule, click here.

Whether at a pitch fest or on the telephone, screenwriters repeatedly face the challenge of having only a minute or two to convince the people in power to read their screenplays. This hands-on workshop will explore the key story components that will guarantee success at your Expo pitch meetings, as well as any time you're pitching your story on the telephone, at a conference or on the elevator. Michael also gives selected participants direct feedback on their story concepts and pitches, allowing you to master your own pitch by learning from the strengths and weaknesses of others.You'll also learn:

• The 8 R's of a powerful pitch
• Targeting agents, managers, publishers & producers
•Securing opportunities to pitch
•The 10 key components of a great story
• The pitching "rules" you should never follow
• The secret to beginning and ending your pitch

To buy the book, click here.

For Michael's schedule, click here.

The opening of your screenplay is your single most powerful weapon for acquiring an agent or securing a deal. Most Hollywood executives won't read past page 10 if they're not immediately involved in your story, but will forgive an abundance of weaknesses later in the script if you grab them from the moment they begin. Using examples from several Oscar nominated screenplays, this seminar will show you how to insure that your opening scenes draw readers into the world you've created, set the tone of your screenplay, establish empathy with your hero, lay the groundwork for character growth and theme, and compel readers to turn the page. Michael will give selected participants direct feedback on their opening scenes.

Also available on dvd! Click here to order.

For Michael's schedule, click here.

Good scenes are like great movies in miniature: they draw the reader into a unique reality; create empathy and identification with the characters; reveal compelling desires and insurmountable conflicts; contribute to character growth and theme; provide a blueprint for direction and performance; and elicit bigger-than-life emotions. Using examples from a variety of recent, successful films, this lecture reveals the elements of action, description and dialogue that will insure the overall success of your screenplay.

Also available on dvd! Click here to order.

For Michael's schedule, click here.

THE ROMANTIC COMEDY DAY with STEVE KAPLAN

Romantic comedies are one of the most consistently successful forms of story telling, but they force writers and filmmakers to master a high wire juggling act. They must be both hilariously funny and emotionally compelling, and must convey deeper levels of character arc and theme without becoming predictable, preachy or deadly dull.

For the first time, Steve Kaplan, one of Hollywood's top comedy experts and coaches, and Michael Hauge, one of its best known script consultants, authors and story masters, will unite to present a special, one-day event, guaranteed to increase the humor, emotional appeal and commercial success of your romantic comedies.

Using lectures, film clips, audience questions and some really cool charts and handouts, Steve and Michael cover such topics as:

• Making Love Funny
• Taking Humor Seriously
•The Comedy Perception Test
•Funny vs. Comic
•The Comic Equation
• The Six Hidden Tools of Comedy
• A (short) History of Comedy over the last 3,000 years
• Commedia and Archetypes
• The cornerstones of Romantic Comedy: Desire, Deceit and Disaster
• Lust, sex and commitment
• The ONLY reason movie characters fall in love
• Love story as metaphor
• The romantic tug-of-war: safety and isolation vs. passion and terror
• The Rival, the Sidekick and Mr. Wrong
• Sub-genres of Romantic Comedy: the Imposter, the Fantasy and the Lost Love
• Romantic Comedy Structure: Five Steps to Happily Ever After
• The Lie That Tells The Truth: The Comic Premise and Comedy Development in the Romantic Comedy

In addition to providing an abundance of principles and methods for transforming your romantic comedy screenplays, novels or plays, Steve and Michael share the stage analyze and debate scenes from both classic Romantic Comedies and box office duds; offer feedback to selected participants on their Romantic Comedy concepts; and to generally make fun of each other.

For more information, click here.

In every successful screenplay, the Hero takes two intertwined journeys, one of achievement, and the other of transformation. As the heroes of your stories pursue clear, visible objectives, they must also confront their deeper fears and desires in order to find true fulfillment.

After the basic story concept, the two most important elements of a screenplay are the structure of the plot and the inner transformation of the hero. Story structure provides you with a powerful framework within which to build the plot of your screenplay, and character arc is your primary means of connecting with your audience and revealing your underlying theme.

Yet structure and character arc are often needlessly mystifying or intimidation to writers and filmmakers. Using some of the top Hollywood films of the last few years as examples, this workshop will make these tools and concepts clear and accessible, and will reveal the magical connection between the stages of your characters' visible desires, and their invisible longing, identity, wound, fear, courage and ultimate transformation and fulfillment

This presentation provides a unique understanding of the ways plot structure and character arc are united, including:

• The 6 essential stages of a well structured screenplay
• The 5 traits that insure your heroes are compelling, complex and unique: wound, fear, identity, longing and essence.
• Uniting your heroes' outer journeys with their psychological and spiritual transformation
• Creating powerful love stories to develop character arc and theme
  

Heather Hale has written or produced over 45 hours of television credits which have won a couple of Emmys, two Tellys and "2001 Best New Series Pilot" from the Houston WorldFest. She is actively writing and producing feature films and television projects through Heather Hale Productions. She teaches screenwriting and PowerNetworking in LA and around the country at Film Festivals and Writers' Conferences. She speaks at colleges and universities as well as teaches "Writing Business Plans for Independent Films" for Cinema Arts Tech. She is the founder of http://www.TheIndustry.LA.

Just as a screenplay or film must be properly structured, so must a screenwriter's career – with a clear visible goal, key turning points, an accelerated pace and a happy ending. For the first time ever, Heather Hale and Michael Hauge will share the stage to reveal the most powerful ways to become the hero of your own journey, to map out the steps to writing and selling your screenplay, and to overcome both the visible obstacles and the inner conflicts you're sure to encounter on your way to success.

Heather and Michael will also answer questions on all aspects of writing and networking, and give individual guidance to selected participants.

Four of the biggest and most respected names in screenwriting came together for an incredible weekend of learning. This is a rare opportunity to hear four masters of the craft speak at length on the art and craft of screenwriting in a single weekend. Each speaker will teach a 4-hour session will educate, enlighten and entertain.

Michael Hauge will cover:

• The 6 Essential Stages of a well structured screenplay.
• The 5 traits that insure your heroes are compelling, complex, and unique: wound, fear, identity, longing and essence.
• Uniting your heroes' outer journeys with their inner journeys.
• The primary goal of all story.
• The power of desire, need, longing and destiny.
• The essential conflict all characters must face.
• Turning plot structure from a complicated concept into a simple, powerful tool you can easily apply to every story.
• Why genre is irrelevant – and why you must master it anyway
• Uniting your own passion with the demands of the market
• Psychological and Spiritual Transformation.
• Creating powerful love stories to develop character arc and theme.

—Tammy Ader
Creator/Executive Producer: Strong Medicine