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COURSE DETAILS

Welcome to Catalyst!

Storytelling is our global currency. It's how we learn, connect, inspire, and shape our world. Catalyst aims to provide storytellers, actors, writers, and producers with the knowledge and opportunities to share their creative visions. Our Story Institute program is a step-by-step pathway of meetings, classes, workshops, festivals, and social events designed to develop your story producing skills, showcase your work, advance your career opportunities, and grow your professional network. Previous students have gained jobs, signed with agents, sold projects, and made career partnerships.

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Who Can Register?

  • No previous experience is required

  • Ages 18+ are welcome to attend our professional level classes detailed on this page below

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Institute Registration Includes:​

  • Access to in-person classes & events at Dillard University in New Orleans, LA

  • Access to our virtual library of over 100+ educational seminars & virtual events from the United States

  • A general meeting with our industry team to discuss your career path, goals & projects

  • Your career profile & project info listed in our content database for global industry executives to discover

  • Potential inclusion in our production lab program where a teams of NOLA storytellers will produce projects to be screened at events and festivals

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Types of Courses 

​Catalyst is not a traditional film school. Our courses focus on practical production knowledge and career experience. We currently offer three in-person courses in NOLA: acting, writing, producing.

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The Class Teachers

​Catalyst teachers are industry professionals from the United States who each have over 20+ years of experience working for major networks such as HBO and Netflix, as well as smaller independent projects and social media content. All teachers will be present in-person in NOLA.

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Cost

  • $500 per adult per track

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Location

In-person classes are held at Dillard University

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Schedule & Class Length

  • There are three tracks: Acting, writing, and producing. You can choose 1 track, 2 or all 3!

  • Each track has 12 total hours of class time plus homework.

  • Acting classes are Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 6-8pm

  • Writing classes are Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 4-6pm

  • Producing classes are Tuesday and Thursday from 5-8pm​

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Video Recording

Classes are not recorded and no videos are made of any acting scenes or script readings.​

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Class Topics

The following topics will be covered:

ACTING

  • Practical acting (how to take direction, the craft, how to read and prepare for your role – how to study the script)

  • Auditions (virtual, in person, getting accepted to audition, where to find, know your role)

  • Working with Directors

  • TV vs film vs theatre acting

  • Acting for social media

  • How to breakdown a scene and determine the character arc

  • Scene work (the actors can choose the type of scene they want to do)

  • When and when not to improvise

  • Creating a backstory

  • Finding your personal sense of self in your craft

  • Where acting fits in the bigger picture of the industry process

  • Voice and movement exercises

  • Emotional grounding & trust of your craft

  • How to listen in a scene

  • Cold reading​

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PRODUCING

  • Working with Agents, Managers & Lawyers

  • Budgeting for production, contract basics, IP & fiscal responsibility

  • Working with Guild & Unions

  • The differences between Studios vs Networks

  • How to collaborate with creatives

  • How to tell a director how to shoot it without telling a director how to shoot it

  • Line producers make the world go round; everyone needs to understand what this role does and how what they do will relate to this role

  • Production overview (walkthrough of all jobs on a production)

  • Storytelling 101

  • Producing short form and social media content

  • The set versus the production office (how to run both, chain of command, how to make the tough decisions, delegation, etc.)

  • How TV Really Works

  • Pitch decks

  • How to pitch

  • How to write grant applications

  • Showrunning

  • How to raise money

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WELLNESS

  • How to maintain a healthy creative lifestyle balance (discipline, schedule, rent, etc.)

  • Dealing with harassment (long hours, food on set, sexual, emotional, etc.)

  • How to critique/give feedback

  • Professional development (expectations, behavior on set, maintaining connections, marketing yourself, how to say no to people [knowing when the answer is no and how to make as few people hate you as possible])

  • How to deal with social media content and feedback

  • What notes are, how to interpret them & how to deal with feelings of being attacked emotionally

  • Your support team (manager, agent, etc.) and tips how to grow your career

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WRITING

  • Attention to detail in writing your story

  • Breakdown scenes in a film & breaking a series

  • Character development

  • How to “kill the baby” & letting go of ideas

  • What are loglines and how to make one

  • How to write short form and social media content

  • Script coverage

  • Script formatting

  • Pitch decks & summaries

  • How to write a treatment & synopsis

  • The basic structure of storytelling

  • The process of story drafts (what to do with them? action lines, silent movie, visuals, dialogues, character breakout, etc.)

  • Tricks for breaking through writers block

  • What an assistant director does with your script

  • What happens to your script after you're doing writing it. How does it end up on screen?

  • How to begin your story notes and script

  • Agents, managers & lawyers

  • How to sell your script

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