Online High School Screenwriters Workshop

Learn to write for film and television with an online course in screenwriting. Collaborate with high school students from around the world and transform your ideas into a short screenplay. Complete pre-recorded course modules and assignments and schedule live, one-on-one video meetings with the Tisch instructor. The online screenwriting workshop for high school students is for college credit and is offered every summer and fall.

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Core Curriculum

Screenwriters Workshop

SPEC-UT 201
4 units
Fall 2025 Tuition: $8,008


Intensive screenwriting exercises will introduce students to the basic principles of writing for film and television. Students will develop story ideas and characters, and learn film language and script structure. There will be film story analysis sessions with screenings of important work. The workshop sessions with the instructor and students provide an opportunity for you to present your work, which opens dialogue for critiques and rewrites. The workshop culminates with submitted scenes, a short screenplay, and a synopsis of a feature film and television series. This is an asynchronous course with weekly assignments and video meetings.

Application and Program Dates:

Fall 2025

Monday, October 13, 2025 - Friday, November 21, 2025

Application Deadline: September 9, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. ET  

Meet the instructor.

Workshop Format, Schedule, and Time Commitment

Students should be prepared to dedicate 6-10 hours per week for this course.

  • The fall workshop is a six-week course with daily deliverables. 
  • The summer workshop is a four-week course with daily deliverables.

This class will be delivered through an asynchronous model, which means you will not have to meet at a designated time each day. Instead, the program is offered through online lectures that are pre-recorded and released each week. You can view those modules at your own pace. However, there are daily deliverables and/or weekly assignments you will have to complete and upload onto the Smashcut platform by the deadline provided in your syllabus, and faculty/TA/classmates will be interacting/collaborating with your work on this timeline. The entirety of the class takes place on the Smashcut platform. Synchronous sessions will be scheduled during the term with your professor/TA/classmates. We understand you signed up for an online course to have the flexibility of online learning, so you will have the opportunity to choose the best meeting time for your schedule.

Participation and Grading

This is an online workshop for college credit. Participation is required and assignments and projects have deadlines and will be graded (students will receive letter grades). While the online format provides flexibility in that students may participate remotely from wherever they are, students should consider the time commitment for this workshop if simultaneously enrolled in other courses or extra curricular activities.

The program requires students to participate in group projects where students must collaborate with fellow crew members. Every crew member can be in a different time zone and often in different countries; it is each student’s responsibility to communicate with their crew members for how to collaborate on parts of the project asynchronously or to find a time to meet and collaborate on their project to meet assignment deadlines. Crew collaboration and active class participation positively impact a student's experience in the course.

Equipment and Technology

Students are required to supply their own technology for this class. 

Students must use a desktop or laptop computer with a webcam, microphone, and audio capability. 

This online course works best with a fast, reliable internet connection, and requires Chrome web browser.

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Video still image of an excerpt of a screenplay

Read these articles about online high school workshop alumni on the Tisch Special Programs Blog:

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"The workshop stood out to me because it was online. It meant I would have freedom and be able to do things at my own pace while still being able to learn the fundamentals of screenwriting."

— Siobhan Lucey, summer 2023
Online High School Screenwriters Workshop

Maria Angelini making a note on a post-it stuck to a window as she looks outside

Summer 2021 Online High School Screenwriting alumna Maria Angelini

Program Dates

Summer 2026

Monday, July 6, 2026 - Friday, July 31, 2026

*Students should be prepared to dedicate 6-10 hours per week for this course.

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Tuition and Fees

Summer 2026 tuition is $8,008.

Please review the Tisch Special Programs cancellation policy.

Admissions

The summer 2026 application is open.

The priority application deadline is May 11, 2026 at 11:59 pm ET.

The scholarship application deadline is May 18, 2026 at 11:59 pm ET.

The regular application deadline is June 10, 2026 at 11:59 pm ET.

*Please note, you must apply by the priority application deadline to be eliglible for the scholarship.*

Eligibility

Open to high school first-years, sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

  • Online application fee: $75

Please read through the Online High School Workshops Application Requirements.

Additional important dates are available on the Tisch Admissions Calendar.

Student holding phone in front of an open laptop

Photo by Dylan Kenseth