Anyone taking these classes?
https://www.masterclass.com

I signed up, but so far, I've only watched the first two. The first one had me a little worried, because this man isn't an expert communicator. But, he actually apologizes for that right away, so I forgave him. He can be a little hard to listen to. I think I heard more uhm's than normal when a person speaks. Especially for someone teaching. The second class was better, but still pretty basic. Intention and obstacles.

I took Patterson's class last summer, but never finished. Everything he talked about was stuff I already knew from screenwriting, so I was a little disappointed, to be honest. He spoke better though.  

I'm not taking them. But I'll look them up.

I do greatly admire his work.

He does a brilliant job of writing interesting, fully developed, non-stereo typical complex, women. Maybe better than anyone.  

His story telling skills are off the chart - can;t tell you how many times I've watched the "Two Cathedrals" episode from The West Wing. effing brilliant.

IMO - his Achilles heel is sometimes his dialogue gets on steroids. Some episodes of the West Wing and The Newsroom was emblematic of this. Too many of his characters know everything about everything, right down to the most arcane of facts outside their field of expertise. It makes for nice exchanges, but there can't be ten people in the room with encyclopedic knowledge of everything.  And sometimes the dialogue it is just a bit too preachy. But these are minor points - for me, he is in the pantheon.

There are 35 classes in all about 10 mins each. There's also material that can be printed out for those who like to see the printed word as well.

I'll comment more after I have seen a couple more.  

Oh, and there's a forum too for those who like to discuss with other writers. I think you can ask Sorking questions too.

Quoted from eldave1 IMO - his Achilles heel is sometimes his dialogue gets on steroids.

100%.

In Newsroom (HBO), there were too many times when it sounded like someone had a blast writing it, but it bore no resemblance to how people would really talk.

Better said - that is it

Never heard of him. But then I've never seen a single episode of the West Wing. I saw it advertised, but not really my thing. I don't get along well with US drama.

Pia... why do you need this class? You write great already. I probably couldn't see you writing an episode of the West Wing but it doesn't sound like he's teaching how to do that anyway. He's drawing from his life experience and writing about it. Just like we all do. I doubt that you'll get much, if anything, from his lessons.

Quoted from DustinBowcot Never heard of him. But then I've never seen a single episode of the West Wing. I saw it advertised, but not really my thing. I don't get along well with US drama.

He's a rather well known writer. Especially for his knack for dialogue.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0815070/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Quoted from DustinBowcot Pia... why do you need this class? You write great already. I probably couldn't see you writing an episode of the West Wing but it doesn't sound like he's teaching how to do that anyway. He's drawing from his life experience and writing about it. Just like we all do. I doubt that you'll get much, if anything, from his lessons.

I take any compliment I can get! Thank you!  

I feel very comfortable writing shorts. That's where I started and it was all I did for years. When I started writing features, I realized there was so much more to screenwriting. At least if I wanted to write a two hour movie that keeps people's attention throughout and in the end left people satisfied.

I had to start studying in order to learn this stuff. My problem with that is that although I love reading, I can only read fiction. Anything else intended for learning, I don't comprehend. I just can't learn by reading. I have a hard time even understanding a short manual for an appliance. I only learn when someone tells me or shows me. That's why I sign up for these type of things.

This past spring however, I read The Writer's Journey and something clicked. I had an epiphany! I finally realized what I've been missing in my features. Sure, I can string words together in an understandable way that reads fast. Well, in scripts at least.   What I was missing was the understanding of humans. What each character's role is in a movie and why. Why certain things need to happen and so on. I realized I have so much more to learn. Instead of being down about how little I knew, it spurred me on to get better. I have no desire to make this a career. None! But, that doesn't mean I don't have goals. I want to get to the next level. I want to be on the fucking Blacklist! Or at least the Bloodlist before I quit. That's my next goal. In order to get there, I have to get better. Dialogue is an issue for me so as well, so maybe I can learn something from Sorkin. If not, well, I've spent $99 on worse things.  

Quoted from DustinBowcot Never heard of him. But then I've never seen a single episode of the West Wing. I saw it advertised, but not really my thing. I don't get along well with US drama. Pia... why do you need this class? You write great already. I probably couldn't see you writing an episode of the West Wing but it doesn't sound like he's teaching how to do that anyway. He's drawing from his life experience and writing about it. Just like we all do. I doubt that you'll get much, if anything, from his lessons.

A Few Good Men - Social Network - Money Ball - etc. The dude's a writing machine.
West Wing was my favorite series of all time.

Out of all those, the only thing I've seen is A Few Good Men. It was OK, but I can't really remember what it was about. A courtroom drama, I think... ala John Grisham. I've read a few John Grisham novels. Got a bit samey after a while though. Like Robin Cook, the doctor. I think Michael Crichton was also a doctor. Although, to be fair, I'd place Crichton a league above Grisham and Cook.

I'm not so sure that being on the Blacklist actually means anything other than being there. I just want things made and I one day want to sell a script and raise a few million off it. Maybe some royalties from merchandising. See people wearing t-shirts with the name of one of my films on it... I don't want much.

Money Ball and Steve Jobs are great, he's a very talented writer.

Gis dialogue is a little like Tarantino, not necessarily realistic but punchy, witty and engaging.

Hope the course is good Pia, look forward to the end verdict... I may take a look myself.

Anthony

Quoted from AnthonyCawood Hope the course is good Pia, look forward to the end verdict... I may take a look myself.

Will report as I go along. Didn't have time to watch one today. There are 35 of them so it might take a month or so to finish.  

Sorkin is on James Corden's Late Late Late show promoting this... same episode James does carpool karaoke with Michelle Obama!

Yeah, it's everywhere. I firsst saw it on FB. Haven't had the time to watch further though. Maybe this weekend.  

Speaking of this class, someone on Reddit posted some cliff notes.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Scree.....tdxy&sh=3c077374

To be honest, and I hate to say this because I want to be supportive of everyone, but I find this class to be hard to sit through. Sorkin might be an amazing script writer, especially his dialogue, but listening to him speak is a chore. I also find that if you've written for a few years already, this course will seem geared more towards beginning story tellers. I felt the same about the James Patterson classes. I didn't finish them either. That's just me though. Others might love this.

Quoted from Steven Speaking of this class, someone on Reddit posted some cliff notes. https://www.reddit.com/r/Scree.....tdxy&sh=3c077374

I fell asleep after the first three sentences.

Quoted from DustinBowcot I fell asleep after the first three sentences.

Yep - seemed like story telling  101

Since I'm a newbie in this world, I was able to take a little bit away from the cliff notes:

-Showing not telling, especially with character traits and attitudes. I used to say something like this:

"He comes through the door, angry."

But now I understand that this works better:

"He bursts through the door, breathes heavy, fists clenched."

You get that he's mad from both sentences, but obviously the latter is preferable.

Some of that stuff is a given for the more experiences writers, but it's nice to see some elaboration on certain aspects.

Glad you're getting something from it, Steven.

One thing he said that I was surprised by, because we usually hear everyone tell us we need to write character bios, and he said DON'T do it!

I never do, but that's because I'm lazy and I often am told my characters are uneven. But, that's me the amateur. He's a pro.  

Update. I have only watched half of these 30+ classes so far and to be honest, I'm struggling. I would love to learn from this man, but I can't stand listening to him. He does not speak well. That's a shame because I'm sure he has a lot to teach.

I did sign up for the Kevin Spacey acting class. Not because I do any acting or have a desire to do so either, but I figured it might help with writing or directing. Wow! This one, so far, is a lot more helpful and helps writers understand what type of writing attracts actors! This one, so far at least, I can definitely recommend!  

I would watch or listen to Kevin Spacey read the dictionary so I can imagine his actor's class would be amazing.

YouTube is smothered with ads for this thing.

Question: Does Sorkin make those corny deadpan jokes the whole time?

Quoted from James McClung Question: Does Sorkin make those corny deadpan jokes the whole time?

No jokes. He just simply can't speak well. Each sentence has about five "uh...uhm...erm". VERY frustrating to listen to. A shame really. He should've written down what he wanted to say first and then used a teleprompter...

I suppose good writers don't necessarily make good speakers. I can relate to this.

The ads are packed full of zingers, though. Sorkin is no Bill Murray. Of course, maybe it's just the editing...

Quoted from Grandma Bear Update. I have only watched half of these 30+ classes so far and to be honest, I'm struggling. I would love to learn from this man, but I can't stand listening to him. He does not speak well. That's a shame because I'm sure he has a lot to teach. I did sign up for the Kevin Spacey acting class. Not because I do any acting or have a desire to do so either, but I figured it might help with writing or directing. Wow! This one, so far, is a lot more helpful and helps writers understand what type of writing attracts actors! This one, so far at least, I can definitely recommend!

Hey, not sure if it would help, but I actually used to be an s\actress before I took a hiatus to focus on my writing. I studied theatre and have a BA in it as well as acting creds.

So I can maybe help you out on that front if you need. While I'm not Kevin Spacey I may be able to give insight to certain things. I know a lot of times when writers are doing characters for certain races they get so hung up on not offending...well that was the case at Nano anyway...and they get hung up on writing proper beat moments for certain characters that the actor may need. It helps to avoid don't tell me how to do my job moments but I know as an actress sometimes it was appreciated to get the point across.

Just in case...

Thank you for that Ashlie!

How about you start a new thread on the screenwriting board about this? I'm sure others would like to know more about what actors see in scripts. We're all so into the writing here at SS that I think we often forget that there are more people out there to try to get interested in our scripts than studio readers. There are directors, producers and actors. Maybe you can help us better understand  what actors want? I had a feature optioned three years ago now with a lead attached. The distributor who's funding the project wanted a name actor for one of the smaller parts. I'm sure so they can just put that name on the poster. Anyway, the script went out to some very well known actors, including Mickey Rourke andEd Harris. All declined because the role they were looking to cast didn't have enough meat to it. So yes, I'd be very interested in learning more about writing roles that attract actors.  

Umm wow sure. I can definitely answer some questions. I guess I would put that in Screenwriting class.  

In your case I can only assume that these particular actors just weren't in that 'head' space yet.  And by that I mean 'Sure I'm down but I'm not out yet' mentality that actors have..especially when their seasoned...to avoid taking parts just because they haven't been working 'mainstream' in awhile.

It feeds everyone's interest but their own. The prod company gets a name. The writer get's their film made. The crew has work. And the actor has a paycheck and 'nothing' to show for it. Most people believe an actor dreams of fame when in actuality they dream of growth in a profession that does not always allow it. So now you have the 'work' or the 'art' to deal with when you get home from set. It's all cray!.

Not saying that is the case with your work at all. Just saying.