Essentials of Screenwriting: The Art, Craft, and Business of Film and Television Writing by Richard Walter (Plume/Penguin, paperpack June 2010)

Anyone fortunate enough to win a seat in Professor Richard Walter’s legendary class at UCLA film school can be confident their career has just taken a quantum leap forward. His students have written more than ten projects for Steven Spielberg alone, plus hundreds of other Hollywood blockbusters and prestigious indie productions, including two recent Oscar winners for best original screenplay-Milk (2008) and Sideways (2006).

In this updated edition, Walter integrates his highly coveted lessons and principles from Screenwriting with material from his companion text, The Whole Picture, and includes new advice on how to turn a raw idea into a great movie or TV script-and sell it. There is never a shortage of aspiring screenwriters, and this book is their bible.

Praise for this book from Walter’s former students:

“Richard Walter is the best screenwriting teacher in the business.  He makes good writing — which is amorphous, scary and impossible — seem definite, unthreatening, and achievable.  Take his advice, turn on your computer, and go.” – David Koepp, writer of Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible, and Spider-Man

“Richard Walter was my very first screenwriting teacher, and his lessons have stayed with me throughout my career.  Like his class, this inspiring and comprehensive book teaches the nuts and bolts of screenwriting with clarity, wisdom and humor.” – Alexander Payne, writer of Sideways, Oscar winner for Best Screenplay

Richard Walter has been the Screenwriting Chairman of the UCLA Film, Television, and Digital Media writing program for almost thirty years. A screenwriter and novelist himself, he lives in Los Angeles, California.