Exploring “Screenwriting” at Brooks

Written by "Going Viral: Marketing Winter Term" student Eva Karoly '25

Have you ever wondered about the world of screenwriting, where stories come to life in movies, shows, and productions? Brooks School’s “Screenwriting” Winter Term, led by Ian Speliotis ’14, lets students create their own short scripts while developing characters, settings and plot lines. 

“I love that I have the opportunity to create my own story and improve on my writing skills,” states Michelle Caiazzo ’26. 

“Screenwriting” acts as a three-week writing workshop and gives students the opportunity to become familiar with the format, vocabulary and techniques of scripts. 

“We have watched lots of movies and read lots of scripts to see how the dialogue and writing shows up on screen, which I liked,” Caleb Hatch ’26 shared. 

Learn more about Brooks School's Winter Term

Sharing her ideas for the class and expressing excitement about her work with Mr. Speliotis and her fellow classmates, Amaia Gomez ’25 said: “My screenplay is about an Italian mob leader and a Russian mafia boss and their ongoing feud. The mafia boss flies to Italy to overthrow the mob by killing him.” 

When asked about her writing process, she said that they use the Final Draft website to create block boards and slug lines, which help them craft their final screenplay. “I’m also excited for our trips to the Boston Public Library and the movies!”Amaia Gomez shares. 

After completing a full writer’s workshop with edits and revisions, the students will print their scripts and do table reads of their final products. Each year, Mr. Speliotis submits one or two of the scripts into a short script competition. 

Centered around the saying  “a bad script written is still better than an amazing one that is not,” students in “Screenwriting” collaborate with peers and teachers to develop a written piece of work and spark a passion for writing and media. 

Written by Eva Karoly '25