Attention filmmakers and screenwriters! Learn how to think like a horror writer. Has the allure of horror cinema beckoned your creative spirits? Unleash the might of the keyboard and the magic of the lens!

This filmmaking webinar, open to all including students, professionals, and enthusiasts, will guide you through the intricate labyrinth of horror storytelling under the masterful direction of Neal Bell, an award-winning writer and professor of play and screenwriting at Duke University who has received grants from the Rockefeller and Guggenheim Foundations, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Winner of an Obie Award for sustained excellence in playwriting, he’s been a script consultant for HBO, and also received an Edgar Award for Best Mystery Play for Spatter Pattern.  He is the author of the book, “How to Write a Horror Movie,” an esteemed publication by Focal Press / Routledge.

So, join us as we lift the veil on the world of horror storytelling. This webinar is your gateway to mastering the art of horror filmmaking.

Webinar Schedule

Mastering Storytelling in Horror Filmmaking
Story-driven Techniques and Psychological Tools
With Award-Winning Writer Neal Bell

• Date: Wednesday, June 21, 2023
• Time: 10:00am PST to 11:15am PST (California Time)
  • 1:00pm EST to 2:15pm EST (New York Time)
• Location: Live Online via Zoom
• Cost: FREE for Members. (For a limited time, Members is FREE. Don’t miss out, sign up now!)
• Registration: Pre-registration is required. Click Here to Register Now.

Unmasking Horror: A Portal to Another Dimension

• Venture into the crypt of the horror genre.
• A captivating exposition of the timeless formula: ‘Normality is threatened by the Monster.’

The Fabric of Fear: Dissecting ‘Normality’ and ‘Monster’

• Deep dive into the dark corners of ‘Normality’ and ‘Monster’ through iconic scenes.
• A chilling montage of how these elements weave into societal and political canvases.

Unraveling Secrets and Shadows: The Monster’s Hidden Agenda

• Dive into the enigmatic whispers and clandestine forces at play in horror films.
• Crack the code of the ‘Monster’, unearthing the allegories and startling revelations that dance in the shadows of power and influence.

Crafting Chills and Thrills: Strategies that Give Life to Horror’s Layers

• Immersive deconstruction of celebrated horror film strategies.
• Connect with the artful tapestry that seamlessly blends storytelling with the resonances of society.

Echoes of the Past: When Horror Speaks the Language of History

• Walk the tightrope between contemporary horror and the echoes of historical atrocities.
• Analyze how these films act as a mirror to society’s inner demons and the social fabric.

Q&A Session

About the Speaker

Neal Bell is the author of “How To Write A Horror Movie” (Routledge, 2020) and the Edgar Award-winning mystery play, Spatter Pattern (2005). His other plays have appeared in New York at Playwrights Horizons, and at regional theaters including the Mark Taper Forum, Berkeley Rep and Actors Theater of Louisville. Two of them have been filmed – Two Small Bodies (directed by Beth B. 1993) and Therese Raquin (an adaptation of the Zola novel, directed by Charlie Stratton, 2013). Mr. Bell currently teaches play and screen writing at Duke University.

Awards:
John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship
Writers Guild of America Award, for the TV series “All My Children.”
OBIE award winner for ‘sustained excellence in playwriting.’
Edgar Award, Mystery Writers of America – Best Play 2004 – Spatter Pattern
Flora Roberts Award/Dramatists Guild — for distinguished work in the theatre
Amblin/Playwrights Horizons Playwriting Grant
Rockefeller Foundation Playwriting Grant
National Endowment For The Arts Playwriting Grant
Appointed to a named chair at Duke, 2023 – the Mary Duke Biddle Trent and James H. Seamans Professor of the Practice of Theater Studies
Taught at Princeton, the New School in New York, New York University and Boston University.
Currently teaching at Duke University.
Play- adaptation of the Zola novel, “Therese Raquin,” has been made into a movie, “In Secret”, starring Elizabeth Olsen, Oscar Isaac and Jessica Lang.
Play “Two Small Bodies” was filmed, directed by experimental-film director Beth B. and starring Suzy Amis and Fred Ward.

Interested in ordering the book?
To order “How To Write A Horror Movie” in either Paperback or e-Book format, click here.