Join the more than 2,700 students learning from our courses!

Filmmaking is about Story Telling – I created “The Fundamentals of Screenwriting & Story Structure” to help you get your story ideas out of your head on the written page so that you or an indie filmmaker you know can actually shoot it, so you can get your story on a screen where it belongs!

Why Shortfilms? Contrary to popular belief, short films are not a lesser form of cinematic storytelling. In fact, it requires the same skillsets as writing a feature, just on a smaller scale, but with the added benefit of saving a ton of time and money, and they increase your chances of getting accepted into festivals. Here are just a few shorts that launched careers (and were turned into feature-length films:

• Monster – The Babadook
• Whiplash
• Saw 0.5 (Saw)
• Alive in Joburg – District 9
• The Customer is Always Right – Sin City

Born in the trenches of low and no-budget filmmaking by an active indie filmmaker, The Fundamentals of Screenwriting and Story Structure won’t waste your time with irrelevant and outdated theory – you learn what you really need to know to turn your ideas into short films. I know this stuff works because it’s exactly how I write and shoot my short films on a budget of coffee and donuts!

What You’ll Learn:

• How to write a screenplay that people want to read and actors want to be in!
• How to create compelling characters that people will get emotionally invested in
• How to write believable dialogue
• How and Why to use suspense, drama and conflict
• You will learn the Screenwriting Elements you need to know, how to properly format and use them, and so much more!

What Students are saying:

• The trainer talks everything through his experiences, that’s the best part of it. I am going to come back and listen to everything again, the information he provides is vast. Loved the Bonus Podcasts at the end.
            ~ Jayachandran (Udemy Student  – gave the course 4 1/2 stars!)
• Kenn is a REALLY GREAT instructor. I love how this course was just right..It had ALL the pertinent information, the encouragement without being too long. He is great to respond to questions. Thank you Kenn! Many blessings to you in your filmmaking. I loved this course!
             ~ Rita (Udemy Student – gave the course 5 stars!)
• Really helped me pull together my thoughts on some script ideas. Seeing a few of Kenn’s own films made it all come together for me. Thank you.
            ~ Susan (Udemy Student – gave the course 5 Stars)
• The only thing I can see that would make this better, is to physically be in a room watching the instructor. Or a video from the front seat of the class.
            ~ Felix (Udemy Student  – gave the course 5 stars!)

What people outside Udemy are saying about Kenn:

• “Natural and compelling dialogue is key to screenplays that really stand out. Kenn Crawford understands the importance of effective dialogue; as a result, his screenplays flow perfectly. Kenn also structures his screenplays to maximize audience interest. His characters and situations feel real, and each story is compelling. I highly recommend Kenn Crawford’s course on screenplay writing. It will help you take your ideas and turn them into tightly written screenplays that are ready for production.
            ~ Professor Michael G. MacDonald, Cape Breton University. Stage and Film Actor
  
• Kenn is a visual writer. His dialogue is natural, his settings real, and his stories entertaining. I was fortunate to have Kenn guide me through the screenwriting process for THE ROSE and THE TATTOO. Believe me when I say, if he can teach me how to write a screenplay, he can show anyone.
            ~ Dan Yakimchuk, PhD., Cape Breton University
• Kenn is a hardworking guerrilla filmmaker who embraces the DSLR revolution. He is proof you don’t need a million bucks to make a movie, just passion and elbow grease.
            ~ Brett Holmes, Indie Filmmaker