The academy award winning screenwriter of "The Social Network", Aaron Sorkin is here to teach you the tricks, strategies, and secrets to professional and award-winning screenwriting through his exclusive Aaron Sorkin Masterclass!
About Aaron Sorkin
"The Social Network" or simply Aaron Sorkin is an American Academy award-winning screenwriter, director, producer, and playwright globally known for his screenwriting works particularly in Hollywood and several acclaimed TV shows. His most commended and accomplished works include the likes of:
- The Social Network
- A Few Good Men
- The American President
- Charlie Wilson's War
- Moneyball
- Steve Jobs
- A Few Good Men
- The Farnsworth Invention
- To Kill a Mockingbird
Sorkin is widely known and acclaimed for his trademark rapid-fire dialogue and extended monologues which are often complimented in television by frequent collaborator Thomas Schlamme's characteristic directing technique called the "walk and talk".
These sequences often involve multiple characters engaging in conversation and the setup consists of single tracking shots of long duration as the characters move through the set. The art in this shot is that the characters enter and exit the conversation as the shot continues without any cuts.
Aaron Sorkin Masterclass Review in Detailed 2019: Is It Worth It ? (Pros & Cons )
Early life & works
Aaron Sorkin was born on June 9, 1961, was born to a Jewish family in Manhattan, New York City. His first taste at acting and theater came when he attended Scarsdale High School. He became involved in the drama and theatre club when he was in eighth grade. He played General Bullmoose in the musical Lil Abner. During his junior and senior years at high school, he served as vice president of the drama club and graduated in 1979.
Sorkin enrolled for a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts in Musical Theatre graduating from Syracuse University and graduated in 1983. Soon after graduation, Sorkin moved to New York City where he spent much of the 1980s as a struggling, sporadically-employed actor. During those days, he also worked odd jobs, such as delivering singing telegrams, driving a limousine, and more.
After a few more years of struggle, he wrote his first play "Removing All Doubt" which was staged in 1984 for drama students at his alma mater, Syracuse University. His next play"Hidden in This Picture" debuted off-off-Broadway in 1988at Steve Olsen's West Bank Cafe Downstairs Theatre Bar in New York City.
The Social Network, success, and later works
Sorkin's most critically acclaimed play till date is "A Few Good Men" which was later adapted into a movie of the same name. He finally shot to peak fame with the release of the biographical drama "The Social Network" in 2010. Based on the founding of the social networking site Facebook and the resulting lawsuits, the film was immensely successful both critically and commercial and he won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, among other awards.
His first major contracted work was in the early 1990s under contract for Castle Rock Entertainment, Inc.Since then he wrote globally acclaimed scripts for "A Few Good Men", "Malice" and "The American President". All the three films grossed about US$400 million worldwide, establishing him as one of the best screenwriters of the modern era.
Sorkin worked alongside Bartlett Sher as he adapted Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" for the stage. His adaptation opened at the Sam S. Schubert Theatre on Broadway in December 2018 to acclaimed reviews. Later on, he wrote the script and also made his feature directorial debut in 2017 with "Molly's Game".
Masterclass
Masterclass is an exclusive online education platform created in 2015 by Aaron Rasmussen and film editor and director David Rogier in 2015 that allows students and learners from across the globe to connect with leading creative professionals Entrepreneur, top influencers and award winning personalities from the art industry including Oscar award and Grammy award-winning filmmakers, actors, screenwriters, Multi-billion dollar grossing directors, and many more.
Masters at Masterclass
The masterclass is a great way of learning online from top creators as it brings in the best influencers from the art industry under one platform. The platform gives you the opportunity to learn various forms of arts like Creative Writing, Photography, Directing, Cooking Techniques, Acting, Music and much more from an elite list of masters like:
And many more!Aaron SorkinMasterclass
The Aaron SorkinMasterclass is the virtual temple for aspiring screenwriters who are aiming to make it big in the industry one day. Just jump online and get instant access to the 35 exclusives "Nowhere to be found" lessons consisting of guidelines and personally tested tricks and secrets on professional screenwriting from the Academy Award-winning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin himself!
IntoductionMeet your personal instructor Aaron Sorkin, the ace screenwriter, Oscar winner, and TV hitmaker. Get a comprehensive introduction to the writer of some of the smartest dramas ever to hit the screen.
Intention & ObstacleAaron Sorkin has grown in the field with the idea that every great story is born from intentions and obstacles. Learn from the Oscar winner himself, how to build the "drive shaft" to find the perfect captivating idea that will set your script in motion.
Story IdeasJust having an idea and drafting it down as a script is not enough, you need to know if your idea is good enough to turn into a script. Aaron is here to walk you through the steps every writer should take to test an idea. Furthermore, he will also guide you on how to decide whether your idea will work best in TV or film.
Aaron Sorkin's work in The Social Network is arguably his best till date and won him his first Oscar. Now in this lesson, he shares some of the decisions he made to develop some of his most unforgettable characters, particularly Mark Zuckerberg's in The Social Network's and The West Wing's Toby and Leo.
One important thing to remember while drawing characters is that they don't necessarily have to be likable or like you. Sorkin explains why he always empathizes with his characters while drawing examples from A Few Good Men and Steve Jobs, even if he disagrees with them.
ResearchA great script lays the foundation to a great story but is baseless without good research. Bad research is a waste of time, talent and efforts. In this lesson, Aaron shares lessons from Malice and The Social Network so that you gather the information you really need to tell the difference between a good and bad script.
Incorporating ResearchYour research must be extensive but all your pages of research need not necessarily be a part of your script. Aaron teaches you how to seamlessly weave research into your story by avoiding clunky expositions.
The AudienceThroughout his storied career, Aaron Sorkin has understood that the audience isn't just watching his work, but they're also participating in it. Learn from the Oscar winner on how to write stories that will keep your viewers engrossed, entertained and hooked to their seats throughout.
Rules of Story
Some golden rules of great drama always remain golden, even if they are centuries old. Aaron takes up this lesson to explain how most of the essential rules to great screenwriting were laid out more than 2,000 years ago by Aristotle in his Poetics. Not just that, he also takes things a level higher to teach you how to become a diagnostician for your own story ideas using those ancient lessons.
Page numbers are a great tool for tracking the act-structure according to the Aaron Sorkin and equally important for pacing of your story.
A "Writer's block" is defined as those points of the script where screenwriters get stuck or lost for ideas, and even Aaron admits to getting writer's block. In this lesson, Sorkin will tell you how he tackles this block and what writing tools he personally uses to make sure he's ready when inspiration strikes.
- Group Workshop: Untitled by JJ Braider
Aaron shares his tips on writing action scenes while workshopping J.J.'s script. He explains the scenes that move as fast on the page as they will on the screen.
- Group Workshop: E is for Edie by Jeanie Bergen
Aaron created a perpetual hit when he crafted offbeat characters in Jeanie's script. In this lesson, Sorkin warns about the dangers of getting feedback from close-minded studio executives. (Warning: explicit content)
- Group Workshop: Chronic by Roland Zaleski
Aaron reveals a simple trick while discussing Roland's script that writers can use to justify improbable events in their stories.
- Group Workshop: The Merc by Evelyn Yves
The opening scene of any movie or TV show packs the first and perhaps the most decisive punch to the viewer's minds. In this lesson, Evelyn Yves talks about the importance of showing your audience something they've never seen before as she kicks off a conversation about opening scenes using her TV pilot "The Merc".
- Group Workshop: From Here to Alli by Corey Wright
Aaron discusses the importance of having confidence as a writer, after workshopping Corey's script and learning about his background. He also goes on to share his own origin story, taking you into a virtual flashback of his days as a struggling New York actor.
In this lesson, you will learn how great story is not just limited to a collection of great scenes and how to give your script momentum from one beat to the next.
Any script you create can and will have only one opening scene and it should be your dedication to make it memorable. Aaron Sorkin will teach you the art of crafting the perfect opening scene by introducing your theme, grabbing the audience, and setting up your characters' intentions and obstacles.
Aaron explains how crucial aspects like high stakes, strong intentions & obstacles, and competing tactics make for an exciting scene to write as he gives you a comprehensive case study of a scene from Steve Jobs.
Aaron takes you through the scathing confrontation scene between President Bartlet (Martin Sheen) and Governor Robert Ritchie (James Brolin) as he analyzes this classic scene from The West Wing.
Writing Captivating Dialogue
Aaron Sorkin has garnered widespread critical and commercial acclaim for his trademark rapid-fire dialogue and extended monologues. Now Sorkin grants you the opportunity to learn how to write such dialogues, as he shows how to make music with your words and put them to the test by performing your own scenes out loud.
Aaron conducts this lesson to take you through an in-depth analysis of the musical nuances of dialogue in the Bartlet-Ritchie scene.
Aaron Sorkin shares how Aaron reworks and strengthens his screenplays during the rewriting process to make you understand that script rewrites every now and then aren't a sign of a bad script at all, but are rather a sign of a good writer.
As a continuation of the previous lesson, Aaron talks about how he reworks and strengthens his screenplays with help from trusted advisors, teaching you how rewrites aren't a sign of a bad script.
Aaron literally "breaks" part of the Season 5 premiere, an episode he's never seen as he creates a virtual writers' room for you.
In this lesson, Aaron teaches you how to reverse engineer a plot as he discusses what is needed in the teaser of the show.
Aaron and the students continue to work together to break episode 501 of The West Wing.
Aaron and the students discuss the limitations of the 25th Amendment to understand how can research drive the plot forward.
Aaron guides you on how to keep your protagonists active as he elaborates on his golden advice"When you have great characters, use them".
Aaron never discourages a bad idea, and rather works on brushing it up. Watch how he and the students run through various plot ideas as the writers' room continues.
Aaron Sorkin has often been noted saying "You don't have to assault the audience with plot".Get tuned to this lesson as the writers discuss the limits of reality within fiction and the value of pacing.
Aaron and the students discuss the lessons they learned as they wrap up the virtual writers' room.
Now that you have got your perfect screenplay, it's time to pitch it. It's time to learn how to effectively answer the questions Hollywood's decision-makers will ask you during a pitch.
- Group Workshop: Aaron Pitches Mission to Mars
Aaron pitches his writers his idea for a brand-new TV series called Mission to Mars as he turns the tables on them.
This is the final lesson where Aaron Sorkin leaves you with one more assignment that will last the rest of your life as he offers his parting wisdom.
Masterclass Prices
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The All- Access Pass comes in real handy when you wish to take more than one Masterclass, so this means that there is no limit on the number of Masterclasses on the All Access Pass.
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Over To You : Aaron Sorkin Masterclass Review 2019: Is It Worth It ? YES Totally
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