The question you obviously will be asking yourself is, “Why should I take a class from Larry Wilson?” Since I’m going to be teaching you screenwriting, let me offer you my biography in movie form. Larry Wilson – The Movie!

THE BEGINNING

(MY 10,000 HOURS)

FADE IN:

A twenty-something Larry Wilson (me!) gets his first big break, becoming a union Story Analyst (script reader). While I’m writing my own screenplays, I read and analyze scripts to support my writing habit. I work at every major studio – Warner Brothers, Universal, Columbia/Sony, MGM, and ultimately Paramount Pictures. You may have heard of the ’10,000 Hour’ theory – that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to get truly good at something. Reading and commenting on seven scripts a week (some awful, a few great, most just okay) for nearly a decade, gives me my ’10,000 Hours’. I get very good at analyzing what makes a script great and what a screenwriter needs to do to make his reader WANT TO KEEP READING, which is really the key to a successful screenplay. (My ’10,000’ hours in the script-reading trenches never leave me, and I do my best to apply what I learn there to my own writing. That’s not always easy and that makes me appreciate all the more the struggle we writers go through, day-after-day).

THE MIDDLE

(MY BIG BREAK, MY BIG CRISIS)

At Paramount Pictures, my work as a Story Analyst is getting noticed by the Studio Executives, especially Jeff Katzenberg (who will soon become President of Disney’s feature division and Co-Founder of DreamWorks). I am offered a chance to audition for a Studio Executive position. I get the job and I do it well, writing extensive script notes on Paramount projects and working with screenwriters who usually love working with me because they know I’m ‘one of them’. (I also begin teaching at the University of California Los Angeles/Extension, the start of a 30 year+ teaching career. I become not only a good teacher but a very good coach, inspiring my students as they start their screenwriting careers).

But what about my writing, my own screenplays? Being brutally honest, I was suffering a major case of writers block. Now, I wasn’t writing. I was helping other writers write. I mean, who had time to write? I was working 16 hour days, I was on the winning side of the 1980’s movie studio wars. (Having struggled with my own writing means that I understand if you’re struggling with yours. I’ve been there, and having overcome my struggles, I can help you with yours. The techniques that I used to inspire myself are teachable, and I will teach them to you. I can help you unlock the doors to your own creativity).

THE NEW BEGINNING

(BECAUSE THERE ISN’T REALLY AN END)

Done with being a Studio Executive, I committed myself to being a full-time writer again and the result was BEETLEJUICE. I’ve never looked back and have successfully pursued a writing and teaching career since BEETLEJUICE became an Iconic hit. BEETLEJUICE was followed by the ADDAMS FAMILY, then THE LITTLE VAMPIRE, multiple episodes of TALES FROM THE CRYPT, and many more. BEETLEJUICE THE MUSICAL is now a smash Broadway hit and is set to tour the world. (And, as I write this, I’m working on a new screenplay assignment. That’s important because I’m able to bring the perspective of a working screenwriter, not just a teacher, to my classes).

I’ll end my movie there but stick around for the…

AFTER CREDITS SCENE

(ALL ROADS LEAD TO YOU)

The Wilson Writing Workshop is the culmination of my nearly 40 years of screenwriting and teaching experiences. I’m determined to bring in-depth screenwriting WORKSHOPS to writers of every level. I’m determined to not just repeat the same old structure diagram cliches but to bring something innovative and exciting to my classroom. And most of all, I’m determined to help you become the best writer you can be with a COMPLETED SCREENPLAY at the end of our journey together. So join me, okay?

FADE OUT…but we’ll meet again soon.