Professor Franziska Buch
Professor Christoph Fromm
Maren Ade - Alexander Adolph - Gloria Burkert - Keith Cunningham - Stefan Dähnert - Robert Dannenberg - Brigitte Dithard - Karin Franz - Dr. Claudia Gladziejewski - Sonja Heizmann - Dr. Heidrun Huber - Silvia Itscherenska - Prof. Lutz Konermann - Andrea Kuhn - Bernd Lange - Prof. Ulrich Limmer - Claudia Messemer - Angelika Niermann - Daniel Nocke - Matthias Pacht - Stefan Scheich - Hans-Christian Schmid - Katharina Schwarz - David Steffen - Laila Stieler - Johanna Stuttmann
Igor Dovgal, Program Coordinator
Michael Achilles, Scriptpool Mentor
Since early human history the role of the storyteller has been both a respected and dangerous one: Even today, the Bobo tribe in central Africa still observes the custom that requires every newcomer to tell an exciting story to the village elders around the campfire at night. If the listeners are bored, the unfortunate traveler is thrown into the fire without further ado. Given that we would like to spare our students such a fate, the Screenwriting department at the Filmakademie Baden-Wuerttemberg in Ludwigsburg should also be seen as a training school for adventure-travelers.
On their four-year journey, our young authors encounter heroes, myths, dreams, archetypes, the collective unconscious - and thus the question of where stories come from. Subsequently we send them out into reality as hunters and gatherers, refining their documentary gaze as they research their world. It is here that our authors get to know the originals from which they will model their fictional figures and stories. In this process, we face the questions: What makes for an exciting character? What makes for an enthralling story? What are the themes and conflicts that can captivate our audience? We deal with depth psychology and the psychology of character and relationships as well as with diverse dramaturgical models, narrative structures and the architecture of stories, the structure of acts, sequences and scenes. Particular attention is given to a solid grounding in the writing of dialog. We also encourage our students to write prose, and a number of the texts produced in this context have already been successfully published.
During the two-year introductory program, we train not only screenwriters but also students from other faculties such as Directing and Production how to develop material for long and short films and how to professionally read, edit, and adapt existing scripts. However, during the two-year advanced, project program we deal exclusively with Screenwriting students. In these two years the knowledge gained in the introductory phase is deepened and extended. Different seminars focus on various film genres such as comedy, thriller, family entertainment, science fiction, historical drama, social drama, and literary adaptation. During this period, which also involves individual dramaturgical guidance, students produce a range of scripts for short films and series and above all a full-length feature film project, which they submit as their final project.
Since the 2006/2007 academic year, students who can show that they have a solid grounding in screenwriting also have the opportunity of enrolling in a two-year advanced program with a focus on either fiction film or television series. For those who select fiction film, the first semester also commences with the study of series formats, since we assume that most screenwriters will later make a living writing in this field. Students then move on to the development of a treatment for a feature. In their second year, students develop their diploma film script with the help of a supervisor. This will be their most important calling card when they embark on their later careers.
The Filmakademie’s involvement with these script projects extends beyond the actual diploma program. Concrete contacts are maintained and cultivated with production companies, television editorial boards and film funding bodies to ensure that as many of these scripts as possible are filmed for cinema or television.
When training our students, we place great value on preparing them for the commercial requirements and conditions of the German film and television market. However, we believe it is equally important that the academy’s program offers the freedom for individual artistic development and aesthetic and narrative experimentation. It is in this spirit that we encourage our students to realize their own narrative dreams and visions.
The Screenwriting department is proud that its students are taught by renowned screenwriters, authors and dramaturgs who come from a range of fields. They represent the living and exciting diversity that we also wish for in our students.
That is why it is with a sense of confidence that, after four years, we send our students out into even the more adventurous corners of the world, knowing that they now have the ability to successfully survive not only Bobo campfires but also German TV broadcasters’ editorial meetings.
by Professor Franziska Buch and Professor Christoph Fromm
