My name is Laurie H. Hutzler. I teach screenwriting in the Master of
Fine Arts program at the UCLA Film School. I consult internationally on
script development for feature films and television programming. I’m the creator
of the Emotional Toolbox.
I’d like to personally welcome you to this website. Here you’ll find a
set of tools that will help you create characters and stories that resonate
powerfully with an audience. These tools and techniques will help lift your screenplay or teleplay to a level above the rest.
Here's a Real Life Example
"I did your workshop when I was in the middle of my first writing commission. I'd already written one episode but was able to apply your ideas when writing the second. When I saw the two episodes on the screen I couldn't believe the difference-- the second episode was full of wonderful chacter moments and had a real depth that was missing from the first... It also helped me to rework a script that later went on to win a writing competition. This was the first time I used your tools to map the three main characters and I found it invaluable for generating conflict, differentiating characters and giving each character an attitude and a POV. I had the characters in my head at the time of the workshop but found your advice brilliant for giving them focus. I feel like you've unlocked the world of character for me." Dierdre Alexander, Writer and Script Editor, London
Getting to the Heart of the Story through character is what
the Emotional Toolbox website and free newsletter is
all about. You’ll discover lots of information to help you find your script's focus, develop a clear emotional journey for each of your
characters and create a deep connection with the audience.
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What's on The Emotional Toolbox website?
The Emotional Toolbox® website provides a set of simple concepts, exercises, tools, and
reference materials for screenwriters, directors, show-runners, game
developers, actors, producers and development executives. You can use these tools to
create the emotional clarity that distinguishes great characters. Great characters make great scripts. Great scripts are the foundation on which great films and television programs are built.
The world is getting smaller everyday. The importance of internatonal markets grows daily. There is so much talent around the world eager to tell their stories through film and television. This website is designed to help you find the universal connection, through the heart, that makes a script resonate world-wide.
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My Approach to Screenwriting |
 What's in The Emotional Toolbox?
I developed the Emotional Toolbox®
approach to screenwriting to
solve the most difficult television and film script problems I
encountered as a story analyst, screenwriter and consultant. My methods
analyze and strengthen the emotional content of entertainment
programs. I have successfull applied these methods to feature films and
television programs around the world.
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Lessons from a Nobel Prizewinner |
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September 2006 Newsletter Issue
Naguib Mahfouz was the first Arab author to be awarded a Nobel Prize in
literature. He wrote fictionalized accounts of his life in Cairo. His
work is full of the vibrant life of the streets around him.
I was inspired by Naguib Mahfouz's life because I found such strong echoes of the principles in The One Hour Screenwriter.
My goal in writing this eBook is to demonstrate step-by-step how to
write what you know, how to write every day, how to be present to your
everyday life and how to break the barriers to your own creative
expression.
Here are
some writing lessons we can draw from this great man’s life and work:
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Generating Conflict In A Clash of Values |
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A Quick Exercise to Inspire A Compelling Scene
A
scene is the fundamental building block of a screenplay, teleplay or
webisode. It is a series of actions in one setting, taking place over
the course of a continuous period of time. Each scene should put your
character’s values at risk or in conflict.
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The language of great scripts is emotion. And that language is
universal. Whether your feature film or television prorgam takes place
in Argentina or Zaire (or any place in-between) if the emotions ring
true audiences from America to Zanzibar will understand and be moved to
laugher or tears (or any emotion in-between).
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Intro to Emotional Toolbox 