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BIO

Mika Collins is an award-winning Canadian screenwriter, performer, and producer, originally from South Africa. She spent her first five years running wild in a remote village where no one objected to her dislike for wearing shoes. Hard to say if this influenced her writing. But it was the start of a journey that spanned several countries and cities, and a quest for intimate stories in unusual settings.

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Mika has written for and performed in series and films for HBO, Netflix, Syfy, Lifetime, CBC, Showcase, and more. Select writing credits include Vagrant Queen (Syfy), and Travelers (Netflix/Showcase), Northern Rescue (Netflix/CBC), and several Shaftsbury digital series. Mika is the co-creator, writer, producer, and performer of the web series, Deep Six, (Winner Best Web Series: Los Angeles Independent Film Awards 2019, London Independent Film Awards 2020, and Hollyweb Film Festival 2019 and CSA Nominee), and the festival favourite short film, The Pamplemousse, (Winner Audience Favourite: Palm Springs International Shortfest, First Prize Best Comedy Short: Rhode Island International Film Festival, etc.) Mika started in theatre as the playwright and performer of her play, Capturing Freedom, (Winner of NOW Magazine’s Outstanding New Play and Outstanding Performer awards).

CLASSES

SCREENWRITING FOR ACTORS - January 2021

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It’s all been done, but not by you.

 

Do you have great story ideas, start writing with epic enthusiasm, or trepidation, and then… get stuck? Or lose faith? Your first draft feels like a mess. And the script is never finished. Maybe never even started. This doesn’t mean you’re not a writer. It just means you don’t know how to overcome the obstacles. But you can. And if you have a background in acting, you’re halfway there. Writing For Actors is a six-week class to get your inner writer thriving.

 

Actors develop a strong understanding of character, but not necessarily structure and how to weave all the great ideas into a compelling screenplay. I designed the course I needed when I was an actor branching into writing. I was often derailed by self-doubt, I didn’t have good writing habits, or fully understand structure. I thought writing should be easy. Turns out it's not, even for the most prolific writers. And self-doubt is everyone's obstacle. The way to conquer it is with knowledge, tools, support, perseverance. It can all be learned, and I’ll share the things that work for me, my fellow writers and mentors. Whether it’s a short, feature, or TV pilot, this will be a positive, supportive, and productive way to help you write that script! 

 

Goals of the Class:

 

Develop the skills you need to significantly advance your own script. Weekly lessons will include theory, practical exercises, homework with further reading, ways to apply the learning to your script, as well as individual script feedback. Depending on where you start, by the end of the class, you might have finished your first act, your rough draft, or even your final draft. And you’ll have a writing community to keep you going beyond the class.

 

DATES & TIMES 

January 12th - February 16th, Tuesdays, 3pm - 5pm. 

CAD $250 Plus HST ($282.50) for 6 classes. A six-week Zoom class meeting once a week for 2 hours. I’ll keep it small and customize it to meet you where you’re at and get you where you hope to go. 

 

Curriculum:

 

The Truth About Writing 

Myths and facts, conquering self-doubt and procrastination, a writing mindset, productive habits, and creating a writing schedule that works.

 

Best Ways to Start 

Finding and growing ideas, goal-setting, accountability, importance and pitfalls of research, the joy of blue-skying, how to create a central argument, and why theme is the life-blood of your story.

 

Story Design

Structure, the bones of your story, how to write a great scene, carding, the beat sheet vs the outline.

 

Writing The Script

Script format, art of the vomit draft, writing is rewriting, the first draft, fixing structure, getting notes.

 

Individual Script Notes & Advanced lessons 

From the second draft (or fifth) to the polish. What then? Pitch docs, industry standards, getting your script read.

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Feel free to reach out to me with any questions about the class.

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