Scott, I'm thinking about the Network Hollywood course. Does this fill up fast? Is it limited to a small number of people?

Marc, it's quite popular, but to my knowledge Tom doesn't set a limit on enrollment. We do, however, in our workshops [6 max] to ensure quality feedback for all participants.

You guys are great..and your posts are very insightful, especially for screenwriters in asian countries like me..Wish I could get an opportunity to be a part of your workshops..thanks a ton

Vijay, all Screenwriting Master Class courses and workshops are online. This means you do almost all of the class work on your OWN time. The only live component is teleconference and we almost always figure out a time that works for people no matter what part of the world they live in. Off the top of my head, I have worked with writers in these countries: Canada, England, Iceland, Spain, France, Germany, Norway, Russia, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, India, South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Costa Rico, Guatemala, and others. I love the online experience, it's really THE best way to do education. I'll do a post on the advantages of online education some time this week.

What would you recommend for a high school junior who is trying to figure out how his interests in film and writing will be connected in the future? Is a BA in a related field best or is it better to go for film school?

ktb, why don't you email me and give me more particulars about your situation? Happy to give you some feedback. Generally speaking, there are some advantages to going to film school, an immersion in the craft being one of them. But since the odds of success in the entertainment business are considerable, this represents quite a risk. If you get into USC, UCLA, NYU or UT-Austin, to name a few, there is additional benefit of networking and connections in Hollywood. But again, consider the odds. There's a lot to be said to study something else, a broad liberal arts major where you read great books, study music, art, history, politics, and the like. Join film groups, take film classes, maybe even minor in film studies if they have it. A key part to success as a writer of any sort [broadly speaking] is to live life. The more and wider experiences a person has, the more they can - at least theoretically - bring those experiences to their writing. Here's an interesting possibility: At UNC-Chapel Hill, I teach in the Writing for Screen & Stage program. It's a minor which means you can major in some area with less vocational risk involved and still explore screenwriting, playwriting, and film studies. To my knowledge, there is no other program like it in the U.S. including a History of American Screenwriting class, Film Analysis from a story perspective, and the ability to have by the end of your senior year two original screenplays, one full-length, one short film, and two play scripts, one full-length, one short play. Plus all the faculty, myself included, have extensive backgrounds working in Hollywood, so the theory is grounded in reality, not just a bunch of academics who don't know their cinematic ass from a hole in the ground. But as I say, shoot me an email and we can talk further.