Writing a Successful
TV Series Online Course
If you want to develop ambitious, original TV Series projects at any budget level for a global audience, this online course was made for you!
Master Series Pitching and Development for Television and Online Streaming in 10 Hours
Design an original series and increase your chances of reaching a wide audience, at home and abroad, without limiting your creative freedom!
Based on Oberg’s innovative Story-Type Method®, this interactive online course explores the crucial distinction between conventional TV Series formats (3-act, 4-act, 5-act, 7-act...) and the story structure lying underneath.
It aims to equip storytellers (writers, directors, creative producers, creators, showrunners, development execs, story editors) with a detailed understanding of the principles at play in the pitching and development of a TV Series in order to help them design, troubleshoot and deliver outstanding stories!
Using examples and exclusive case studies from successful, recent TV series such as Stranger Things, Killing Eve, Sex Education, Occupied, Big Little Lies, Fleabag, Happy Valley, Transparent, Mr. Robot and many others, this course lifts the veil on the flexible yet powerful tools and techniques needed to master this popular storytelling form.
'Writing a Successful TV Series' will show you how to create an irresistible bible, a compelling pilot, unforgettable characters and addictive storylines that audiences around the world will want to watch week after week once they’re hooked on the first episode...
Video Interview & Success Story
Denise Deegan is an Irish novelist & PAGE Award-winning screenwriter who did two TV Series workshops with us during 2021-2022 and whose career has since seen a meteoric rise! As part of these workshops, completed this TV Series online course and she discusses her experience with Emmanuel in the interview below. After the video, you'll find links to the parts directly related to this course:
- 03'05'' - Why did you decide to apply for our TV Series online workshop?
- 04'36'' - How did you find the self-led TV Series online course?
- 05'46'' - What did you learn in the self-led course that was immediately applicable?
About the Course Creator
Emmanuel Oberg is a screenwriter, author and creative consultant. As a writer, he has worked for:
Practical Info
This interactive television online course screenwriting course is open to individual participants, worldwide. There is no live interactive element included as standard, but there is a lot of interactivity thanks to a chat assistant, quizzes and gamification, as well as optional one-to-one feedback on projects.
Group licenses and cohort enrolment are available for groups or teams of five or more, along with optional live interactive elements (Q&A sessions, group work or one-to-one meetings), but these can't be purchased directly from the website. Don't hesitate to contact us for more information.
If you need more practical details, you'll find the answers to most questions in the FAQs below, after the testimonials. You might also want to check the success story of Denise Deegan, who took this course recently. Otherwise, just keep reading...
What's Included in The Course?
One year access to the 'Writing a Successful TV Series' (self-led interactive online course). This course is also included as part of our "Showrunner" and "Storyteller" memberships. | |
10 hours of content in 8 training modules, hosted on one of the most advanced online training platforms in the industry, featuring English subtitles and transcripts for each training video. | |
Hands-On videos, focusing on project development, raising questions and suggesting practical tips so that you can apply the content of each module to your work as you go along. The last hands-on, 'The Rewrite Stuff: 12 Ways to a Stronger Series', looks at twelve key areas for your upcoming rewrite. | |
Interactive quizzes at the end of each training module that help you check how much you've remembered and clarify your understanding. They also provide instant feedback depending on your answers, for example suggesting which topic you might want to revisit. | |
Creative Freedom Game: As you go through the content and take the quizzes, you earn points depending on your answers. You can check your progress on your way to creative freedom and see if you earn a spot on the 'All-Time Best' leaderboard... The reward points you earn as you play the game can be used to claim up to 10% off a future course ($100 max). | |
Detailed Case Studies of successful series including Stranger Things, Sex Education, Big Little Lies, Fleabag, Mr. Robot and Happy Valley. | |
Interactive Chat Assistant, available 24/7 in the course, that provides instant information, guidance, examples and references about the course content as you explore or revisit it. This chat assistant is similar to the one available on the lower right corner of most pages on the website (including this one), except that instead of helping with the content of the website, it helps specifically with the content of each course. | |
All the slides shown in the course put together in a single PDF file for easy reference. | |
Course Certificate:
Participants who finish the course will receive a certificate of completion. | |
Complete Flexibility:
Suggested course schedule: Week 1 is for series watching; Week 2 is for Modules 1-3 (Series Design and Project Development); Week 3 is for Modules 4-8 (Case Studies and Conclusion); the remaining weeks are to revisit the content of the course and implement it. In the end, it's up to you: The entire course is available right away, so you can binge it all in a week or take a whole year to go through the content and implement at your own pace. |
Bonuses
BONUS #1: Permanent access to the Advanced TV Script Development Vault, including:
all the slides shown during the course; Oberg's exclusive in-depth analysis of 'Stranger Things' (detailed scene breakdowns, storylines and strands maps for the eight episodes of the first season); free 80-page e-book and book samplers (first 70 pages of Oberg's books plus a Story-Type Method glossary); recommended reading and links to libraries of produced bibles, pilots and episodes. | |
BONUS #2: Participants who complete the course receive 25% OFF a 'Script Chat' if they would like one-to-one feedback on a project. This discount goes up to 100% if they select the standard price for the course (see bonus #5 below). | |
BONUS #3: They can also claim up to 10% OFF the Advanced Script Development Online Course (any applicable tier) or our monthly premium memberships using reward points earned during this course. | |
BONUS #4: "Earn-As-You-Learn": Once they complete the course, participants can join our affiliate program, which allows them to offer an additional discount to their team, friends and colleagues and / or to earn a commission on each referral. This means they could recoup their investment in just a few referrals! | |
BONUS #5: Our "Pay-What-You-Can" pricing allows participants to select up to 70% OFF the standard price of the course, depending on what they can afford. Participants selecting the standard price can claim a FREE 'Script Chat' (a GB £495 / U.S. $650 value) when they complete the course (until we reach capacity). Please see here for more information. | |
BONUS #6 Our monthly premium memberships allow participants to save even more money or spread payments (pay-as-you-go, cancel at any time) if they don't need a full year access to the course or one-to-one feedback. | |
BONUS #7: FREE Access to the mini-course "The Three Dimensions of Screenwriting" to give you an overview of the Method if you haven't done the main Advanced Script Development Course or Workshop. |
Here's an Overview of Each Module
In this first module, after discussing current trends, we’ll look at series types and how TV series are conventionally developed. It’s important to understand this logistical approach because although it’s only moderately useful when designing TV series, it still shapes most discussions around series development.
So this module might not be the sexiest in the course, but the idea is to lay out the fundamentals before we can go on to more exciting stuff...
Now we’re getting into more exciting territory, because this second module focuses on the underlying series design. It’s all about achieving a strong emotional identification for the audience rather than obsessing over an arbitrary number of pages or minutes for each act.
So we’re going to talk about the fractal aspect of story structure in a series, how we can use Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to widen our potential audience, and how managing information is often what makes or breaks a series. It’s time to update your story structure software to the 21st century... Enjoy the upgrade!
Now that we’ve put aside the logistical approach to story structure and have started to look into the underlying design, let’s put this into practice as we explore the pitching and development of a series.
In this third module, we’re getting into the nitty-gritty of designing a bible and writing a compelling pilot or first episode, using "Killing Eve" as a first case study.
In this fourth module, we'll see how we can handle the most classical story-type without being formulaic.
After a quick intro, we’re going to spend time on an in-depth case study of "Stranger Things", because understanding plot-led series design will be relevant for all series, irrespective of their story-type.
This case study includes detailed scene breakdowns and strands maps by Emmanuel Oberg for all the episodes of Season One of "Stranger Things".
In this fifth module, we’re going to see how we can structure a series or a season over the evolution of a main protagonist and in which way this design is different from the other story-types.
After a quick recap, we’ll dive deep into another case study to see how this works in "Sex Education".
In this sixth module, we take an in-depth look at theme-led series. While procedurals are primarily plot-led, many contemporary serials are theme-led or have a strong theme-led element. Theme-led series are multi-stranded narratives with more than one protagonist, usually one for each strand or storyline.
After a quick recap, we’ll dive into our theme-led case study, "Big Little Lies", and we’ll see how the different strands or storylines are designed, mapped and weaved together.
The previous case studies were clearly plot-led, character-led or theme-led, but many successful series, especially serials, are hybrids or exceptions in some way. The main challenge is to find out if the story works or not, and if it doesn’t, why and how it could work better.
The key to successful exceptions often lies in managing information. In this seventh module, after a short intro we'll take a look at a few examples to illustrate this.
Now let’s wrap it up in this final module with “The Rewrite Stuff: 12 Ways to a Stronger Series”, a flexible template designed to inspire you — and guide you — in the rewrite of your series.
After this tactical send-off, you should be ready to put into practice all the tools and principles we've explored in the course.
Important Note Regarding Preparation
The 'Welcome to the Course!' section is freely accessible to allow you to look at the 'Preparation and Resources' topic and get a sense of how much preparation is involved. That way, should you want to, you can prepare ahead of your purchase in order to maximise your access window to the course. You'll find more information about preparation (and everything else!) in the FAQs below, after the testimonials.
Writing a Successful TV Series Online Course
(One-Year Access or Monthly Subscription)
Option 1: Purchase a One-Year Access
Writing a Successful TV Series
One year access to the “Writing a Successful TV Series” interactive online course (10 hours of self-led content in 8 training modules). Note: Participants selecting the standard price can claim a FREE ‘Script Chat’ (U.S. $650 value) when they complete the course.
Price excluding UK VAT and all sales taxes (where applicable).
Different currencies (EUR, GBP, USD and others) can be selected at checkout. Rates are updated daily.
In addition to any discount code, reward points earned in a previous course can be used to redeem up to $100 OFF.
Option 2: Access the Course Through a Monthly Subscription
NEW: Alternatively, this course is included as part of our "Showrunner" and "Storyteller" monthly premium memberships, which might allow you to spread payments and save money if you don't need access to the course(s) for a full year:
“Showrunner” Membership
Permanent access to all the free resources on the website, plus 1-month access to premium support, premium TV Series case studies and to “Writing a Successful TV Series”, our acclaimed interactive online course add-on. Auto-renews until cancellation.
“Storyteller” Membership
Permanent access to all the free resources on the website, plus 1-month access to premium support, all the premium case studies and premium online courses, including the Advanced Script Development course and the TV Series add-on. Auto-renews until cancellation.
Price excluding UK VAT and Sales Tax (where applicable).
Different currencies (USD, EUR, GBP and others) can be selected at checkout. Rates are updated daily.
What People Say
The course had more jaw-dropping moments than Game of Thrones.
To sum it up in one word, INSPIRING! The content was on point and helped make it easy for me to categorize and break down a story that I was struggling to tell. When I get stuck at a certain point, be it treatment or bible, I search high and low for a spark or key to unlock the issue so that I can move on. I now feel like the janitor walking about with a master key, no longer intimidated by the daunting task of holistically bringing everything together in a single document. That’s a powerful tool to have in anyone’s arsenal.
Meticulously designed to make every bit of information comprehensible and enjoyable!
I am blown away by the attention to detail and care that was shown by Emmanuel in constructing this course. I have never been on a writing course that is so meticulously designed to make every bit of information comprehensible and enjoyable. It took one week with Emmanuel for me to understand story design, character and structure at an in-depth level I didn’t think was possible to attain in such a short time. I can’t wait to get stuck into my TV pilot knowing I have all the tools and material I need to make a compelling show.
If you are going to do one TV writing course, do this one.
I had the pleasure of doing both Emmanuel’s online course and then experience the rewrite course in person. His online course is by far the most succinct, clear and easy to follow guide to help you in planning/developing or writing a TV series that I have ever completed. It’s also broken down in neat sections so you are not overwhelmed, and you have the slides as a take away so that you can refer to them in the future. In person he has a clear understanding and passion for TV series and he delivers his patented 12 steps in an entertaining, patient and concise fashion. I would highly recommend for people working in development and TV writers to take his course, a lot of the information is stuff you probably know on a subconscious level, but his course clarifies all of that into simple useful tools. I would say if you are stuck writing a TV series and something is not working, his 12 steps will be hugely beneficial, and you will take away methods you can use forever. If you are going to do one TV writing course, do his, it covers everything and will leave you with everything you need to move forward, or to go plan a new TV series. Happy writing.
A liberating revelation
I took the Screenwriting Unchained-course as a live course at the Swedish Film Institute a few years ago. It was a great (and intense 3-day) experience. Not to say a revelation. After the Hero’s Journey, Truby and McKee with 9, 12 or 20-whatever steps (not bad at all and very useful – but still) it was very liberating.
The TV Series-course takes the same thoughts and applies them on ideas and stories (and storylines) that are meant to last for a whole season (or in some cases several seasons). So far I haven’t come across a take on story structure that has been as helpful and useful as this one. (Ok, Aristotle, but that’s where we all start.)
Inspiring and educational course
I read the book Screenwriting Unchained and I found the title very appropriate as it unshackled me from the logistical dramatic approach that I always found restricting. The follow up course [on TV Series] was intense and demanding but rewarding and more than worth the effort. Thank you Emmanuel and looking forward to the course in early May in Galway. Mícheál Ó Meallaigh
A superb and refreshing online course!
‘Writing a Successful TV Series’ is a superb online course. The story-type method is a refreshing approach, driven by dramatic conflict rooted in causality and understandable character action, reaction and evolution. It is a welcome alternative to the plethora of other structural analyses out there that often appear to strive for adherence to time-based units of progression without prioritising the internal dramatic engine. I absolutely agree with the idea of the fractal aspect of storytelling at season, series, episode, sequence and scene level – nature is built on fractals so it makes complete sense that drama that resonates with us is too. I would thoroughly recommend the course for any aspiring and indeed many experienced writers.
Helping me to understand and appreciate the stories I want to tell.
Emmanuel’s passion for storytelling throughout the course was infectious from the get go. Having such an engaging tutor was a huge help to me in bringing my own stories to life.
Sign up for his course today; you won’t regret it.
Thought provoking and practical
I found the ‘Writing a Successful TV Series’ hugely informative, thought provoking and practical in terms of giving you an additional ‘toolset’ for the development of stories. The case studies are excellent, and feature a forensic level of analysis of dramatic structure in hit TV serials. Highly recommended!
Great self-learning experience
It was a great self-learning experience that was really flexible to get done because of the videos provided which allowed for watching in your own pace and time schedule. I enjoyed the course taught by Emmanuel Oberg a lot and feel that I can use the tools provided very well for current and future projects in series but definitely also feature films. Highly recommended as a course to learn about strategic approaches to creating and checking the stories you work on – also as a producer!
Great!
I did this course online and loved it from start to finish. I think it gives writers a very clear understanding of some really useful tools which can be used to design a story/storylines or to diagnose why a story might not be working and how to fix it. I loved having the ability to pause and rewind and take notes at my own pace. I also found the quizzes at the end of each module and the feedback on right/wrong answers super useful. I think I will come back again and again to all I’ve learned here.
A deep dive into story structure
“Emmanuel’s course is like a deep dive into story structure. You think you’ve got it mastered and then you realise how much more there is to learn. I feel so much more equipped as a screenwriter and script reader after this course.”
Creating a common toolbox for writers working together
TV Series is a wonderful aid for writers and producers working together. Since completing the ADW in 2018, and the TV Series course in 2020, I’ve come back again and again to Emmanuel’s methods when troubleshooting my own work or steering others in development. Recently, along a group of writers I’m working with, I completed the latest online TV Series course. It has created a common language with which to discuss story issues and character development that has been invaluable in shortcutting how we communicate. The course is thorough and well presented, with clips and case studies that make it easier to put these gems of writing wisdom into practice. Emmanuel’s methods put the audience at the heart, helping the writer to amplify their message and maximise the chances of getting their story out into the world.
A brilliant and comprehensive one stop shop
I was a novice writer coming into this course with a head busting full of ideas. This course helped to focus my ideas and give them direction, steering me away from wasting my time. It’s a brilliant and comprehensive one stop shop that cuts through all the excess and illuminates the path to writing your best script. Emmanuel is very easy to listen to and makes the journey of learning that good bit more enjoyable. Cúrsa den scoth! Nár laga Dia a lámh.
An engaging masterclass in storytelling
With a background in documentary and podcast making for the BBC, I have always wanted to take some of the skills I have acquired over the years and learn how they might translate into visual storytelling. But I didn’t know where to begin. Then I did Emmanuel’s course and that soon changed. This course provides focus around the practical matters of how to go about developing your ideas for the screen; the different trends when it comes to writing a TV series, the importance of a strong bible, how to identify the type of story you have and what that means for how you go about telling your story. No stone is left unturned. The use of samples such as Stranger Things and Big Little Lies to further detail the points he was making was fantastic. I love the tone Emmanuel has by not coming across preachy but that he really wants your stories to be the best they can be. Emmanuel was engaging throughout and his passion for storytelling has definitely encouraged me to put pen to paper.
An insightful, clarifying and fun workshop!
Emmanuel Oberg’s workshop offers an insightful and comprehensive way to approach tv series narrative and structure. His method is simple but very clarifying, a useful tool when dealing with episodes, pilots, bibles, strands, seasons, cliffhangers, franchise and all sorts of often confusing concepts even for the experienced film producer. It is also fun and I really enjoyed taking it. I can say that I feel much better equipped now to face the development of my series project.
A great tool box to find your own approach
Emmanuel’s approach to dramaturgical structure is the right mix between craftsmanship and the knowledge that each project is individual. He gives you a great tool box to find your own approach.
Thanks, Emmanuel!
Of all the many international workshops I have done, I have rarely experienced one that offered such a steep learning curve. Thanks, Emmanuel.
This is the way to go!
If you want to dig deep and even deeper: this is the way to go. It is explained well, every step of the way, so you can apply what is thought.
Impressive knowledge!
I had the pleasure to attend two of Emmanuel’s workshops. His knowledge about the different screenwriting approaches is impressive and enables him to recombine and rethink them to a new approach. I highly appreciate his work no matter if you already know a lot about screenplays or not.
FAQ's
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Writing a Successful TV Series: The Book vs. The Online Course
Although the book covers some of the same ground at episode level, the online course goes much further with an in-depth exploration of each story-type in relation to TV Series and a detailed analysis of the first season of many successful series, complete with scene breakdowns and strands maps. Here is a comparative table to help you evaluate the main differences between the book and the course (as well as the competition):
Writing a Successful TV Series | E-Book and Print Book (260 pages) | Interactive Online Course (10 hours of content) | Competition (Other Books or Online Courses) |
Training Videos with English subtitles & transcripts | |||
Series Clips with English subtitles to illustrate how many tool are used | |||
Interactive Quizzes to check your knowledge | |||
Gamification to keep you motivated & entertained as you progress | |||
Interactive Chat Assistant to answer your questions as you go through the content | |||
Hands-On Videos with English subtitles and transcripts to apply the content on your project as you progress | |||
25% OFF an optional One-to-One Meeting to get help & feedback on your project | |||
Explanation of the difference between Story Structure and Story Format, a crucial aspect of Series Design | |||
Latest trends in the TV industry (they change all the time!) | As of Date of Publication | Topic Regularly Updated | Missing or No Updates |
Explanation of the differences between the main series types (procedural, serial, anthology, etc.) with many examples | |||
Case Studies of the pilots of Killing Eve and Stranger Things | |||
Detailed Case Study of the first season of Stranger Things, Sex Education and Big Little Lies with a Strands Map | |||
Bonus Case Study of the pilot & first season of Occupied, with a Scene Breakdown and a Strands Map | |||
Advanced Case Study of Stranger Things with Scene Breakdowns and Strands Maps for all the episodes of S01 | |||
Brief Case Study of the first season of hybrids & exceptions: Mr. Robot, Happy Valley and Fleabag | |||
Reward Points for up to 25% OFF your next Online Course | |||
Certificate of Completion | |||
Price | From $9.99 | From $77 | Variable |
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