Screenwriter Mary Ruth Clark, co-writer of Meet the Parents and script doctor to many, leads a workshop for screenwriters, novelists and memoirists on the art and craft of writing cinematic scenes. Scenes are comprised of what an audience will see and what it will hear. Learning how to tell a story in this external reality is the screenwriter's most basic craft—and it can dramatically improve the page-turning qualities of a novel or memoir, too.
In this workshop, Mary Ruth Clark discusses the craft of screenwriting, then analyses the cinematic potential of member-submitted, 1-2 page scenes. Please email these scenes to ocww.info@gmail.com by November 22 in order to be included in the handout and discussion.
Mary Ruth Clarke co-wrote and starred in the original “Meet the Parents” and co-adapted it into the blockbuster version, starring Robert De Niro. Her screenplay “Chimney Rock” is under option, and she has been a script doctor for many screenplays, including “A Guy Thing” and “Desperation Boulevard.”
She teaches screenwriting and writing for television at Chicago Dramatists, where she is a resident playwright. She is also a regular guest lecturer at the Chicago Screenwriter’s Network monthly meet up. Her plays have been produced by The Agape Actors Co-op in Austin, Texas, the Beacon Theater in Philadelphia, the Provision Theater in Chicago and Meta Theater in Los Angeles. She is a member of the Writer’s Guide of America East and the Dramatists Guild.
