Aaron Sorkin to Teach Online Course on Screenwriting
For $90, Aaron Sorkin will share his tricks of the screenwriting trade.
Sorkin, scribe of such films such as “A Few Good Men,” “Steve Jobs” and “The Social Network” and TV shows including “The West Wing” and “The Newsroom,” will provide more than 25 video lessons through online-education startup MasterClass later this summer. The course — the first for the award-winning screenwriter — will also include a 30-page workbook and interactive assignments.
“There’s a great tradition of writers from one generation giving a hand to the next group coming up — a tradition I got a lot of benefit from,” Sorkin said in a statement. “I think new screenwriters will come away from the MasterClass with a new sense of confidence.”
Sorkin’s class will cover topics including dialogue, character development, story pacing, plot and his process of working. Pre-enrollment for the class is now open at MasterClass’s website.
The online course joins MasterClass’ roster of other offerings, also available for $90 each, from Christina Aguilera (singing), Kevin Spacey (acting), Usher (performance), Serena Williams (tennis), James Patterson (writing) and Dustin Hoffman (acting). In addition, the company is working with Werner Herzog to produce a filmmaking class.
San Francisco-based MasterClass, which launched in May 2015, is backed by investors including New Enterprise Associates, WME Ventures, Michael Bloomberg’s Bloomberg Beta, Advancit Capital, Robert Downey Jr.’s Downey Ventures, Javelin Venture Partners, Harrison Metal Ventures and individual investors including Casper CEO Philip Krim.
Sorkin, who is repped by WME, made his Broadway playwriting debut with the military courtroom drama “A Few Good Men,” which he later adapted into the film starring Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise. He will make his directorial debut with the film “Molly’s Game,” based on Molly Bloom’s memoir about her years running an underground poker ring, and he is also adapting Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” for Broadway, slated run during the 2017-2018 season.
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