Every Tuesday morning, a dozen students walk into a classroom in the Granoff Center for the Creative Arts and are treated to pastries courtesy of their professors. But beyond baked goods, students in LITR1010E: “Advanced Screenwriting” have the opportunity to hear from a slate of Hollywood professionals, including filmmaker J.J. Abrams, who spoke at the University in February.
The course, taught by visiting lecturers and husband-and-wife duo Jennifer Levin and John Eisendrath, is designed to prepare students for professional television and film writing.
Both are professional TV producers. Levin has written for shows such as “Chicago Hope” and “Felicity,” while Eisendrath’s writing credits include “Alias,” “Beverly Hills, 90210” and “The Blacklist.” Eisendrath was also executive producer on these shows.
The pair structured the class to simulate the working environment of a writer’s room, offering students a hands-on approach to screenwriting from seasoned professionals, they said. “Our goal is a vocational education to teach kids about the rules of the road,” Eisendrath said.
“Everybody should take a screenwriting class,” he added, noting that in his view, screenwriting skills are widely applicable. “It’s about telling a compelling story, and you need to know how to do that to sell a product, to win a case, to explain your patient to other doctors.”
Class time is dedicated to talking about a student’s script ideas, and in the spirit of a writers’ room, the group collectively decides which idea to move forward with. This collaborative atmosphere teaches students how to work together to develop stories, write outlines and tackle the numerous stages of script development, Eisendrath and Levin said.
The class also mimics real-world practices, as one student is designated to take notes during discussions, completing the tasks traditionally done by a writers’ assistant.
“Most writing classes, the kids will be writing from almost the very beginning of the class. Nobody writes anything for at least two months in our class, because we are trying to replicate the way it really works,” Levin said.
Brown’s Hollywood Creator Series — a series of talks connecting students with professionals from various corners of the entertainment industry — is held in collaboration with “Advanced Screenwriting.” Students in the class are required to attend the lectures, which are also open to the wider Brown community.
Abrams was the first speaker in the six-part series. On April 3, producers Sarah Timberman and Ed Redlich will take the stage.
Abrams’s “willingness to let screenplay writing not always be productive, and instead playful and adventurous, reminded me not to lose the essence of this work even as it grows more professional,” said Celine Dipp ’25, a student in the class.
Zach Susini ’25, another student in the class, said he appreciates the course’s collaborative nature.
“Hearing all the different directions that others want to take the story helps me see if people are on the same wavelength as me and picking up the core ideas and emotions I’m trying to get across,” Susini wrote in a message to The Herald.
Dipp has particularly enjoyed “when Jen and John have made passing comments about their times in the writers’ room,” she wrote in an email to The Herald.
“As a young writer, so much of my exposure has been to recycled lessons,” she added. But “class with (Levin and Eisendrath) is filled with fresh moments.”
