Screenwriting 101
(High School Screenwriting)
(Fall 2026)
Registration is open.
Grades: 9th—12th
Time: 4:00–6:30 PM
Dates: September 30–November 18, 2026
Session Length: 7 Classes. One Day/Week, Wednesdays
Size: 10 Students Max
Cost: $475
Camp and Course Policies at the Lab
Scholarships are available for participants with financial need. Scholarships are limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis. Click here to apply now.
Screenwriting 101
Everyone has at least one great idea for a movie — what’s yours?
In Screenwriting 101, you’ll learn the fundamentals of writing a script from Act I to The End — plus you’ll get an inside look at how the industry works, from loglines and treatments to series bibles and pitches. Don’t know what I’m talking about? No problem, that’s part of what we’re going to learn in Screenwriting 101!
In this 7-week course, we’ll read and analyze the scripts of classic big budget and indie films. Each week, we’ll discuss a screenplay in order to study structure, character, and genre. We’ll also work on creating our own short film scripts, and by the end of the class, everyone should emerge with a presentable screenplay. What comes next is up to you! Make it? Sell it? Turn it into a hit Broadway play?
Anything is possible, but you gotta know the basics before you hit the bigtime.
Course Dates:
September 30
October 7
October 14
October 21
October 28
November 4
November 11 – No class
November 18
Instructor
Chelsea Rae Mize
Chelsea Rae Mize is a cartoonist, author, and screenwriter currently based in Peekskill, NY. She earned her BA in English and Theater from Duke University and is a member of the Writers Guild of America, West. Her work has been bought and/or produced by studios including CBSTV, Nickelodeon, and SONY, and she is a USA Today bestselling author of over thirty mystery novels. She likes to make zines, curate art shows, and generally get other people to do creative stuff. She also moonlights as a typewriter poet. Storytelling is her favorite thing, no matter the form, and she is excited to share that at the JBFC, at the Theater and the Media Arts Lab.
CampDoc
We are excited to partner with CampDoc, a third party program we will be using to collect and consolidate student registration information in order to streamline the registration process, and enhance the parent and guardian experience while your child is participating in our program(s). CampDoc will give parents and guardians full access to their own participant portal which they can log into at any time to view course details and information, and previously submitted documents.
Once a course has been purchased on the JBFC website, an email from CampDoc will follow within a few days with instructions on how to create a CampDoc account (if you do not have one already) and submit additional required registration information, such as an updated immunization record, a list of allergies, names of individuals who are authorized to pick your child up, doctor and insurance information, etc., and the deadlines by which this information must be received. We look forward to seeing your child this year.
