Story Master Class

• Lectures and personal tutoring by acclaimed Hollywood teachers
• In-depth studies of concept and character development
• Tools and techniques that enhance the narrative and boost your efficiency
• Building your platform as a professional screenwriter
• Promote and pitch your script and ideas using professional sales argumentation
• Three multi-day meetings – where course management, students and teachers convene for workshops and seminars

Story MasterClass is held entirely in English. The course utilizes digital communication platforms such as Zoom, Dropbox, Slack and Skype.

Concept Development

• Build powerful stories using Hollywood dramas.

Narration

• Build a powerful story with writing techniques developed by Hollywood's top dramatists and taught at world leading film schools USC and UCLA.
• Create themes, living characters and dramaturgical structures that can affect a universal audience.

Screenwriting

• Create memorable, visually strong and dramatic scenes.
• Write to reach the one to judge your script.
• Practical techniques for building the various parts of your story.

Promotion and Pitch

• Presentation and argumentation techniques developed by professionals.
• Feedback from fellow course participants and active professional film producers
• How to build your platform as a professional screenwriter
• Practice and perfect your professional pitch

Subtext

Learn to communicate subtly through subtitles — what isn’t said or visible.

Midpoint

Learn the importance of a strong midpoint in the story

Point of view

Get unique knowledge in how you can work with the so called POV (point of view) both in telling and in the actual script and how you change POV without losing the interest of the viewer or the reader who is judging your script.

Scene Writing

Learn how you can construct the structure for powerful scenes and good transitions between them.

Dialogue

Learn theories how to create unique voice for your character, that also communicate the theme effectively.

Characters

Learn how to create unforgettable characters and how you get them to convey themes from different perspectives.

Structure

Learn several theories to structure an organic plot, in which the character/characters act out of the plot and their own role as well as personality in it.

Theme

Learn different ways to make the theme or underlying issue of the story become visible.

Action vs event

Gain tools to create active characters and the motives that they base their actions on.

Format & Style

A badly written script won’t be read by professional producers. Learn to write like a professional—and give the producer reading your script a fantastic experience so that your script can be realised!

Act 2

Most stories fail in the key part known as ‘act 2’ and which the course will teach you everything about.

The World

Get an understanding of the importance of creating a unique world for the story so that the themes of the film may be conveyed. 

Discipline head, instructor
Arvid has built up and is the creator of Story Academy on Gotland. Arvid has worked with films for over 25 years and on several scripting projects, for example, for the Swedish film industry. Arvid Unsgaard’s films have been acclaimed in the media and have won many international awards.

Paolo Vacirca
Lecturer, Instructor
Paolo Vacirca works as a screenwriter, executive producer, and story developer at the Scandinavian Content Group. He has worked as a development manager at AB Svensk Filmindustri. Paolo has written many scripts for assignments. He has wrung credits for Hypnotist, Abomination, and latest the horror movie Feed.

Karel Segers
Lecturer, Instructor
Karel Segers is a story consultant, writer, and producer. Karel is also a certified teacher whose lectures have inspired students worldwide. His clients include award-winning filmmakers, of which three Oscar nominees. He has writing credits for Danger Close.

Steve Mazur
Lecturer, Instructor
Mazur has taught screenwriting for the past ten years, including four years at AFI and five years with the Professional Writing Program at USC. He’s written or co-written scripts for Universal, DreamWorks, Warner Bros., MGM, Imagine, Paramount, Sony, CBS, A&E, Spike TV, and Disney, including LIAR, LIAR, and the latest ”The Philosophy of Phil.”

Paul Gulino
Lecturer, Instructor
Honing his skills through writing for the theater and practicing the craft as taught by Frank Daniel and Milos Forman, Screenwriting, he says, isn’t a craft you can learn from a book. ”The best way is to learn from someone who knows the craft, so you can see how theories can be applied to your work.”

Karen Janszen
Instructor
She teaches part-time at the AFI; her screenwriting credits include Mars, Dolphin Tale, Gracie, A Walk To Remember, The Matchmaker, And From The Earth To The Moon. Duma was named a top ten pick of 2005 by the LA Times.

Thomas Pemberton
Lecturer, Instructor
Professional Script Developer with a decade of experience working on all aspects of the script development process. Currently working as a Development Executive for Kevin DeWalt at Mind’s Eye Entertainment, He has also worked as a reader for BBC, Channel Four, STV, and HBO Europe.

William Rabkin
Lecturer, Instructor
Veteran TV writer/showrunner William Rabkin is the author of the best-selling Writing the Pilot and Writing the Pilot: Creating the Series. He is an associate professor of television writing. Twice nominated for the Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America, he is currently developing and writing a 12-episode thriller for Chinese television and consulting for a major Dutch production company.

Neil Landau
Lecturer, Instructor
Award-winning screenwriter and executive producer. He was also known as the author of”The TV Showrunner’s Roadmap” and ”screenwriters roadmap. Neil has taught at both UCLA and USC and was dean at UCLA.

Bob Schultz
Lecturer, Instructor
Bob Schultz has spent more than a decade as a screenwriter, producer, screenwriting professor, and organizer of more than 25 screenwriting conferences in Canada, the USA, and the UK. He has taught screenwriting, pitching, story structure, and independent producing in a dozen countries worldwide.

Jeff Kitchen
Lecturer, Instructor
Jeff has taught thousands of students from Broadway to Hollywood. Jeff was classically trained as a playwright in the works of Aristotle and the legendary Broadway script doctor, W.T. Price, who, in the early 1900s, established the world’s only playwriting school. Price instructed twenty-eight students, and twenty-four of them had hits on Broadway. So why wasn’t everyone studying him? Price’s complex techniques and thinking processes were not easily understood.

José Silerio
Lecturer
José Silerio, a screenwriter who served as Blake Snyder’s Development Director, has been integral to the success of Blake’s workshops and classes as he worked alongside Blake schooling writers in the Cat! Method. “José is my right-hand man when it comes to script consultations.”– Blake Snyder.

Jen Grisanti
Lecturer
International speaker Jen Grisanti is an acclaimed Story/Career Consultant at Jen Grisanti Consultancy Inc., a Writing Instructor for Writers on the Verge at NBC, and a former 12-year studio executive, including VP of Current Programming at CBS/Paramount. Grisanti started her career in 1992 as an assistant to Aaron Spelling. She covered all Spelling’s shows, including Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, Charmed, Medium, Numbers, NCIS, 4400, and Girlfriends.

Chris Vogler
Lecturer
Chris is a Hollywood development executive, screenwriter, author, and educator, best known for working with Disney and his screenwriting guide, The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers, from 2007.

Some of all the guest teachers and instructors we had through the years. Many of them are returning.

Dan Attias
Lecture
Episode Director for 100 + episodes

Chris Mack
Q/A Lecture
Director, Creative Talent Investment & Development at Netflix

Masako Masuda
Lecturer
Set designer with work from Avengers, Jurassic Park, Benjamin Button, West world, House of cards, and much more.

Neil Landau
Lecturer
Screenwriter, producer, teacher, and author, The showrunners roadmap.

José Silerio
Lecturer
The screenwriter worked tight with Blake Snyder and his Save the cat method.

Chris Vogler
Lecturer
He was working with Disney and his screenwriting guide, The Writer’s Journey.

Erik Bork
Lecturer, Instructor
HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and From the Earth to the Moon won two Emmy and two Golden Globe Awards as part of the producing team.

Iris Yamashita
Lecturer, Instructor
Clint Eastwood hired her to write the Japanese side of the story of Letters from Iwo Jima. She was nominated in 2007 for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Karl Iglesias
Lecturer
Best-selling author. He teaches at UCLA Extension’s Writers’ Program. He writes a regular column on the craft for Creative Screenwriting magazine.

Börje Hansson
Lecturer
Swedish producer with over a hundred titles.

Robert Bryant
Lecturer
A game developer who has worked for years and written the book ”slay the dragon” about how to register for games.

Steven Katz
Lecturer
Author of the best-selling film directing book Shot by shot.

Alvaro Rodriquez
Lecturer
The screenwriter is most known for ”from dusk to dawn the series and Machete.

Anders Lennberg
Lecturer
Swedish screenwriter and Director. He is known for his newest movies, Pool and Same Same.

Michael Colleary
Lecturer
Screenwriter and producer - who wrote the classic movie Faceoff.

Marco Cyris
Lecturer
He has been Nicholas’s cage stand-in for ten years. For movies like Adaptation, Lord of war, National treasure, Matchstick man, Super 8, etc.

Carole Kirschner
Lecturer, instructor
The Director of America’s Showrunner Training Program & CBS Diversity Writers Mentoring Program. I have heard over 3,000 pitches, bought hundreds of projects, and was involved in developing dozens of television series.

Jennifer Graeser
Lecturer
Jennifer is a screenwriter, author, speaker, and forensic specialist.

Kathie Fong Yoneda
Lecturer, instructor
30+ years of industry experience, executive positions with Walt Disney Studios, Touchstone, Island Pictures, and Walt Disney TV Animation.

Warren Lewis
Lecturer
Screenwriter with credits as Black rain and 13th warrior.

Billy Mernit
Lecturer, Instructor
Screenwriter, author, story analyst at Universal, and award-winning teacher at UCLA Extension.

Soni Jörgensen
Lecturer, Instructor
Soni Jorgensen is a Swedish screenwriter working for producers in the US, Europe, and Sweden. She received her training at the USC Graduate Screenwriting Program.

Malin Nevander
Lecturer
Head of drama development at the Swedish television.

Paul Chitlik
Lecturer
Screenwriter and expert in the rewrite process.

Johan Brisinger
Lecturer
A Swedish Screenwriter, director, and producer. With much production in his portfolio.

Alexander Kantsjö
Lecturer
A Swedish Screenwriter who worked on the famous series ”Jordskott.”

Stephanie Varella
Lecturer
Story developer for series on shows like; without a trace, cold case, CSI, and Fearless.

Cindy Mollo
Lecturer
Experienced film and series editor, with titles such as Ozark, Book of Eli, House of cards, and Madmen.

Steven Bernstein
Lecturer
Is an American cinematographer, director, and screenwriter. Known for the movie Monster and the upcoming movie The Last call.

Cilla Jacket
Lecturer
One of the most experienced Swedish Screenwriter with titles such as ”Vår tid är nu,” Känn Ingen Sorg, Molander, and ”Tunna blå linjen”.

Filip Hammarström
Lecturer
Executive producer and showrunner most known for Jordskott.

Mikhail Krichman
Lecturer
Photographer for movies like Leviatan, The return, and loveless.

Steve Kaplan
Lecturer
Steve Kaplan has been one of the industry’s most sought-after experts on comedy.

David Sacks
Lecturer
Emmy award Screenwriter and producer with credits for the Simpson, 3rd rock from the sun, Malcolm in the middle, and the new Final Space.

David N Weiss
Lecturer
A screenwriter who was written Shrek 2.

David Trottier
Lecturer
He is a produced screenwriter, top script consultant, and award-winning teacher.

Jeff Schechter
Lecturer
He is an American screenwriter and executive producer with credits in the series Stitchers, Overruled.

Douglas Soesbo
Lecturer
He is a screenwriter and former Story analyst at Universal Picture. Writer credits for the movie Boulevard with Robbin Williams.

Linda Aronson
Lecturer
She is an Award-winning Scriptwriter, Playwright, and Novelist. Teachers & consults on screenwriting internationally.

Linda Seger
Lecturer
A legendary screenwriting & story coach and screenplay consultant.

Bob Schultz
Lecturer
He is a producer and screenwriter, and experienced pitch lecturer.

Danny Rubin
Lecturer
The screenwriter is most known for Groundhog Day.

Sign Olynik
Lecturer
She is a producer and screenwriter known for Below Zero.

Chris Soth
Lecturer
Screenwriter and lecturer who is mainly known for his mini-movie method.

Bob Dolman
Lecturer
He is a writer and producer known for Willow, Drömmarnas horisont, and SCTV Network 90.

Story Academy produces exceptional, high-caliber scripts that consistently impress.

We’ve had the pleasure of working with Storyutbildningen Story Academy and Arvid Unsgaard for several years, and the experience has been outstanding. The quality and professionalism from this program are exceptional.

As a Los Angeles-based screenplay analysis service, we’ve evaluated works from top US university programs like UCLA and USC. Yet, Storyutbildningen’s students consistently impress us with their advanced storytelling skills and high-caliber scripts.

Coverage Ink highly recommends Storyutbildningen Story Academy. Their students’ work is consistently top-notch, showcasing profound storytelling and excellent script presentation.

— Jim Cerile, Partner, Coverage lnk.com

Story Academy is the best screenwriting programme I’ve seen in 20 years. The students' professional level is remarkable

To say that ’ve been overwhelmingly impressed by the way that Arvid runs Story Academy is a massive understatement. He has put together what I can only describe as the best screenwriting programme I have had the pleasure of working on in my 20 years teaching screenwriting in Masters programmes and development labs, predominantly in the UK, but also across the world. I have consistently commented to colleagues in the UK that there is something really extraordinary about Story Accident, not only in its selection of students, but also in the way that they are developed in their craft and that we should all be looking at Story Academy as the exemplary and most prestigious European screenwriting programme. Arvid has not only brought together a first-class series of teachers, and compiled an excellent learning and development programme, he is clearly an exceptional teacher himself. Many of the students that I have recently worked with at Story Academy are writing at the calibre of the professional writers that I work with in the UK film and TV industries and this really is a phenomenal achievement as it usually takes many years of practice after a postgraduate screenwriting programme to reach this level. For many months, I imagined that Arvid must have a sizeable admin team working for him behind the scenes. It was only in my last conversation with Arvid that he confirmed he runs the course alone. How Arvid does this remains a mystery to me, but it is very, very, very impressive.

— Kira-Anne Pelican, Screenwriter and author

Story Academy Masterclass provides an excellent opportunity to focus on feature film and TV-series screenplay development with renowned scholars and industry leaders. The flexible and well-designed yearly structure allows you to work on your two major projects while participating in various, inspiring workshops to keep you afloat in your highly intensive writing process. The classmates are a great bonus on this journey as they bring their versatility in their writing and provide great feedback across the board.

— Kaan Organmat

At Story Academy we’ve had exceptional mentors as well as guest lecturer’s including Hollywood screenwriters such as Christopher Vogler, Paul Gulino and Stephen Mazur. It’s been an amazing journey, that has given me a lot of tools to improve my writing. My classmates have been very supportive, and I’ve really enjoyed seeing their stories take form. This Masterclass has exceeded all expectations. You won’t find anything like this anywhere else.

— Josephine Hoj

Story Masterclass has been an amazing experience, I’m still awed by the teachers we’ve had, people whose books about screenwriting I had read earlier, but never thought I would interact with face to face. The feedback and different views on screenwriting that they have given me have been invaluable and made my writing much more confident.

— Anna Söder

StoryAcademy manages to be both very hands on, and highly theoretical at the same time. Both my skills and my scripts are many times better after the MasterClass course!

— Henrik Summanen

I’m so glad that I got the opportunity to attend the Story Masterclass. It has lived up to everything it said it would and so much more. During this year we’ve had the opportunity to work with so many amazing lecturers and mentors that really meet the highest of international standards. Especially Thomas Pemberton who has been so dedicated and caring for all of our stories. I couldn’t ask for anything better than that.

— Tobias Björklund Lehto

Before attending Story Academy I didn’t know anything about writing screenplays, only that I wanted to do it. Several bad ideas and even worse executions of them later, and I’m now in contact with producers interested in my writing. I owe it all to the terrific instructors, lecturers and mentors at the school and the opportunities Story Academy has given me.

— Nathan Langenheim

Story Masterclass gave me the possibility to fully expand my filmmaking within screenwriting. From the most established teachers I learned fundamental and extensive insights about everything needed to feel safer with my writing. While developing my own ideas I got support in everything from creating story arcs to writing dialogues. While the first half a year gave me a safe space to develop my feature, the second half was followed by one eye opener after another about series development. Arvid Unsgaard who put together this program created something entirely great and unique here.

— Dennis Stormer

You are eligible to apply if you meet the following requirements:

• You have professional experience in screenwriting and dramaturgy.
• Have written scripts for short, feature films and/or drama series.

To make your application, please send an email to Den här e-postadressen skyddas mot spambots. Du måste tillåta JavaScript för att se den.

We need the following information in order to register your application:

• First and last name
• Date of birth YY-MM-DD
• Address

These documents should be submitted to the application

• Birth certificate (no more than 3 months old)
• Grades from previous educations. Attach as a PDF.
• Emplyer’s certificate. Attach as a PDF.
• Letter(s) of recommendation. Attach as a PDF.
• Personal letter. A letter in which you describe yourself. No more than one page long.You are free to express yourself in what way you want but the letter has to contain:
  • Who you are and why you make an application to the education.
  • Your experiences when it comes to writing screenplays
  • A preview on where you see your self career wise in 5 years from now.
• Work samples. All work samples are to be written in English.
  • 2 feature film concepts, each not more than one page. Both concepts should have one scene, correctly formatted, attached that is not more than 2 pages,
  • 2 drama-series concepts, each not more than one page. Both concepts should have one scene, correctly formatted, attached that is not more than 2 pages,

Compile all work samples in one single PDF document with numbered pages.

Please write your full name on the front page of the document.

We apply a continuous admission and you can be called for an interview in person or by phone even before the application period ends.

Notification of admission is ongoing but must have reached everyone by the end of June, with the exception of residual places that can be offered until the start of the course.

Tuition at the folk high school is free.

The costs for literature, travel, consumables, digital platforms and technology are paid by you as a student. At Story MasterClass, the cost is SEK 9,500 / academic year.