The Nutshell Technique with Jill Chamberlain

Crack the Secret to Screenplay Structure

According to author and script consultant Jill Chamberlain, 99% of new screenwriters fail to tell a story. What those writers do instead is present a situation. Do you know the difference? In this information-packed workshop, Jill will walk through the Nutshell Technique, the method she created to visually demonstrate to writers the difference and to show them how to transform mere situations into surprising and satisfying stories. She’ll demonstrate how the Nutshell Technique works both for feature film and for episodic television. At the end of the workshop, she’ll work live with 1-3 participants who volunteer to workshop a feature or pilot they are working on using the Nutshell Technique.

This workshop will refer to TOOTSIE, GROUNDHOG DAY, and the pilot to ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT. Please watch or rewatch TOOTSIE before the class. If you’ve never seen GROUNDHOG DAY or the pilot for ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, also watch those prior to the class (if you’ve previously seen GROUNDHOG DAY or the ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, no need to rewatch those).

Please note that this is a live event only. There will be no recording made available to WGA members at a later date.

Jill Chamberlain is the author of The Nutshell Technique: Crack the Secret to Successful Screenwriting, one of the highest rated screenwriting books on Amazon, out of over 3,000 books on the subject. Oscar-winning screenwriter Han Jin-won (PARASITE) said “Jill Chamberlain sets a new standard for plotting stories. Use the Nutshell Technique to crack your story.” The Nutshell Technique is considered the go-to manual many professionals swear by and is on the syllabus at film schools all over the world including the acclaimed screenwriting programs at Columbia University and UCLA. It’s been published in Mandarin Chinese, Korean, and Italian, and in audiobook format. As a script consultant and script doctor, Jill has fixed and fine tuned scripts for major Hollywood studios, A-list screenwriters, top television showrunners, award-winning independent filmmakers, Emmy-winning screenwriters, and for many, many spec script writers. In 2006, Jill founded The Screenplay Workshop with Jill Chamberlain (www.thescreenplayworkshop.org) where she she has personally taught thousands of screenwriters feature film and episodic television writing. Find out more about her and her script consultancy at jillchamberlain.com.