KCC Ovations
Brian Katz Scripts a New Path to Teaching Screenwriting
In 2015, Brian P. Katz, a seasoned assistant professor in Kingsborough Community College’s English department, hosted an event that would become his “aha” teaching moment: He invited legendary rapper and Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famer Daryl McDaniels (DMC) to speak to students in his poetry class. “He electrified the classroom and had us all spitting rhymes.” Together with the Student Life office, he then taped a public interview with DMC in the MAC Rotunda. “DMC didn't leave until he greeted every attendee. His kindness and wisdom seemed more valuable to my lessons than just about anything I could assign from a textbook. He changed my approach to teaching.”
Fast forward a couple of years, and we find Katz working with creative writing colleagues John Keller and Eben Wood to develop a new screenwriting course (English 60). “We had this idea that any course focused on writing scripts should also focus on the professional side of what it means to be a writer.” They also sought the “zero textbook cost” option, using Open Educational Resources (OER) in lieu of expensive text books.
Building on the DMC experience, Katz, a director, screenwriter and actor himself, reached out to the many friends he and his filmmaker wife, Maria Rosenblum, have come to know in the worlds of theater, film, television, comic books and video games for guidance.
He had planned to invite guests into the classroom so students could learn directly from professionals—and then the pandemic hit, initiating a necessary change to how he shared his guests with students. Katz used the shift as an opportunity for innovation rather than a setback. What evolved was a series of taped Zoom interviews that now guide his students’ scripts. The online format not only ensures course continuity but also enables broader outreach and flexibility in instructional delivery.
“These videos are our textbooks. I use each discussion in two ways: as an introduction to possible writing professions for our students and as guided lessons that relate to our weekly assignments in scriptwriting.”
After each video interview, he asks students to share their thoughts about certain aspects of the discussion. “In the light of my guests' many experiences, students discover the viability of writing and developing scripted content—from film to TV to video games to online media. But often, my students crave more information. For example, when Tony Isabella, co-creator and writer of “Black Lightning,” shared his thoughts on the lack of diversity in comic books in the 1970s and how he needed to rectify the dearth of representation, some students wanted to know more about his thoughts regarding the range of characters being portrayed on our screens today. Believe me, Tony has a lot to say about today's superhero movies and television shows (and this topic will need to be explored in a future video), but the fact that some of my students were seeking answers to a question that, in many cases, related to their own projects was proof that they were analyzing their work in the context of our era.”
Initially worried there would be a lack of engagement between students and the guests in an online format, he found the opposite occurred. “My students watched the interviews in their entirety; through posts and direct email to my guests, they asked some of the most pertinent questions I’ve ever read, and many developed a new understanding of a wholly unexpected yet attainable profession. The students who start to see themselves as writers really want to know if having a career in media is possible.”
As important as the videos are, actual screenplays are the primary tools. “Among our model examples is Barry Jenkins' “Moonlight,” a script that easily, elegantly introduces the basic structure of a screenplay. Why rely on a textbook explanation when Jenkins offers his masterwork for the world to read (and see)?”
Looking ahead, Katz is doing final edits on three more interviews for this semester, including one with founder and director of the master of fine arts in TV and screenwriting program at Stephens College and “Star Trek: Enterprise” writer Ken LaZebnik, and plans to expand the roster of guest speakers by conducting three more in the spring. “It's gonna be an ongoing thing until I retire from CUNY.”