Lipscomb’s Cinematic and Theatre Arts programs are working together to create “Drama Major,” a mini-web series that will showcase students both in front of and behind the camera.
During a week this summer, students and faculty joined together for long hours in a writer’s room with Dean Batali -known for producing and writing “That ‘70s Show” and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
“Dean [Batali] knows so much about writing, I am even learning new things,” said Dave DeBorde, Film and Creative Media professor.
During the writing sessions, Batali taught students how to build a good TV series from scratch.
“You want to be able to pitch a show to the top of the yellow steno pad,” Batali said. “The shorter the description, the better.”
“There is so much more to think about in a TV show than I thought,” graduate film student Josh Link said. “This is such an amazing learning experience.”
Batali guided students through structure, noting that each episode is a three or four act play in itself. Students participated in the creating of the play while Batali “worked the writer’s room” by guiding writers to conjectures.
“We hope that everyone at Lipscomb will watch the mini-series, and as far as I know, I think it is going to be really good,” said Steve Taylor, Lipscomb’s filmmaker-in-residence.
Photo courtesy of Lipscomb University