Course Description
Film and Television 33: Introductory Screenwriting, FILM TV 33
Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Not open for credit to students with credit for course C132/C430. Structural analysis of feature films and development of professional screenwriters' vocabulary for constructing, deconstructing, and reconstructing their own work. Screenings of films and selected film sequences in class and by assignment. P/NP or letter grading.
Key Information
Credit: 4 quarter units /
2.67 semester units credit
UC Los Angeles, Film, Television, and Digital Media
Course Credit:
Upon successful completion, all online courses offered through cross-enrollment provide UC unit credit. Some courses are approved for GE, major preparation and/or, major credit or can be used as a substitute for a course at your campus.If "unit credit" is listed by your campus, consult your department, academic adviser or Student Affairs division to inquire about the petition process for more than unit credit for the course.
UC Berkeley:
Unit Credit
UC Davis:
General Education: AH, VL.
UC Irvine:
Unit Credit
UC Los Angeles:
Major Preparation: Major Prep requirement for Film, Television, & Digital Media Majors and Minor
UC Merced:
Unit Credit (see your Academic Advisor)
UC Riverside:
General Education: Elective units
UC San Diego:
General Education: Revelle - Fine Arts; ERC 1 fine arts course, Seventh - 1 course towards Alternatives - Arts; Sixth - 1 course NAHR; Warren - May be counted depending on major/PofC/Area Study; Muir: petition as one course in matching Fine Arts sequence; TMC 1 course toward lower division disciplinary breadth if noncontiguous to major;Muir: 1 course in a Humanities theme in "Literary Narratives"
UC San Francisco:
Unit Credit
UC Santa Barbara:
Unit Credit
UC Santa Cruz:
Unit Credit
More About The Course
FTV 33 Introductory Screenwriting is a class designed to provide a comprehensive overview of feature screenwriting and the screenwriter’s importance within the film industry. This course is intended to be truly introductory; no previous screenwriting experience is expected.
Students work with TAs and classmates to develop an original story for a feature length screenplay guided by lectures, readings, TA instruction and feedback. Students will write the first 10 pages of said screenplay.
Emphasis is on structural analysis of feature film writing. Students will develop an understanding of the professional screenwriter’s vocabulary; three act structure; the requirements of cinematic characters; subplots and their role in relation to the main plot; dialogue; character specificity; and theme.
Course Creator
G.J. Huang
A screenwriter and director, UCLA Professor George Huang began his Hollywood career working as an assistant at Paramount Pictures, Universal, Warner Brothers, Disney and Columbia. He turned a decade of experience fetching coffee into his writing/directing debut, Swimming With Sharks starring Kevin Spacey, Frank Whaley, Michelle Forbes and Benicio del Toro.
This 1995 low-budget independent film garnered awards from the Deauville Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, Independent Spirit Awards and the New York Film Critics Circle. Varietycalled it a “must-see for aspiring producers and studio execs” and Entertainment Weekly declared the film “exuberantly nasty and shockingly funny.” Ten years later, AFI recognized Kevin Spacey's performance in its “100 Year...100 Villains” nominations. Sharks has also been adapted as a stage play in London, Singapore, Toronto and, most recently, Mexico City with Academy Award nominee Demian Bichir in the lead. It is currently being adapted as a TV series for the E! Network.
Huang has also worked on dozens of film and TV projects including S.W.A.T., Spy Kids, Machete and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. His wide range of experiences include Rock the Vote ads, a comedy channel on YouTube, actor Elijah Wood's audition reel for The Lord of the Rings, and a Nike short film starring basketball star Kobe Bryant. He has worked with acclaimed directors Robert Rodriguez and Luc Besson as well as many first-time filmmakers and students.
Huang’s most recently produced screenplay is Final Recipe, a South Korean-Chinese-Thai co-production directed by UCLA TFT Professor Gina Kim and starring Michelle Yeoh.
A screenwriter and director, UCLA Professor George Huang began his Hollywood career working as an assistant at Paramount Pictures, Universal, Warner Brothers, Disney and Columbia. He turned a decade of experience fetching coffee into his writing/directing debut, Swimming With Sharks starring Kevin Spacey, Frank Whaley, Michelle Forbes and Benicio del Toro. This 1995 low-budget ...A screenwriter and director, UCLA Professor George Huang began his Hollywood career working as an assistant at Paramount Pictures, Universal, Warner Brothers, Disney and Columbia. He turned a decade of experience fetching coffee into his writing/directing debut, Swimming With Sharks starring Kevin Spacey, Frank Whaley, Michelle Forbes and Benicio del Toro.
This 1995 low-budget independent film garnered awards from the Deauville Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, Independent Spirit Awards and the New York Film Critics Circle. Varietycalled it a “must-see for aspiring producers and studio execs” and Entertainment Weekly declared the film “exuberantly nasty and shockingly funny.” Ten years later, AFI recognized Kevin Spacey's performance in its “100 Year...100 Villains” nominations. Sharks has also been adapted as a stage play in London, Singapore, Toronto and, most recently, Mexico City with Academy Award nominee Demian Bichir in the lead. It is currently being adapted as a TV series for the E! Network.
Huang has also worked on dozens of film and TV projects including S.W.A.T., Spy Kids, Machete and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. His wide range of experiences include Rock the Vote ads, a comedy channel on YouTube, actor Elijah Wood's audition reel for The Lord of the Rings, and a Nike short film starring basketball star Kobe Bryant. He has worked with acclaimed directors Robert Rodriguez and Luc Besson as well as many first-time filmmakers and students.
Huang’s most recently produced screenplay is Final Recipe, a South Korean-Chinese-Thai co-production directed by UCLA TFT Professor Gina Kim and starring Michelle Yeoh.
