Today we’d like to introduce you to Jill Chamberlain.
Hi Jill, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started as a frustrated screenwriter living in New York City. I had gotten a little bit of paid work but not enough to live off of. I was getting a note about my writing along the lines of “this is a situation, not a story.” I could tell something was missing in my writing, but no one could tell me how to fix it. So I stopped writing for a while and started analyzing movies. I discovered there were eight dynamic, interconnected elements in every movie that successfully told a story. That was the birth of my screenplay structuring method that I call the Nutshell Technique.
Twenty years ago I moved to Austin where I was surprised to find out there weren’t any short-term writing workshops, so I started my school, The Screenplay Workshop with Jill Chamberlain. Since then I’ve personally taught thousands of writers how to write feature films, episodic television, and novels. My program centers on my unique method and teaching writers how to ensure they are telling a story and not just presenting a situation.
I also worked as a screenplay consultant during this time. I’ve worked with Oscar-nominated and Emmy, BAFTA, and Sundance-winning writers, top TV showrunners, and screenwriters whose films have grossed over $1.5 billion. I’ve presented my master class on story structure at industry institutions all over the world — from the Writers Guild of America East to Canacine (Mexican Chamber of the Film Industry) to YLE (Finland’s national broadcaster).
In 2016, my book on my method, “The Nutshell Technique: Crack the Secret of Successful Screenwriting,” came out. It’s taught at top film schools worldwide and has been published in English, Mandarin Chinese, Korean, Russian, Italian, and as an audiobook. I’m proud to share that Han Jin-won, Oscar-winning co-writer of Best Picture winner “Parasite,” said of it, “Jill Chamberlain presents a fresh standard for visualizing story structure. I hope The Nutshell Technique will serve as a true ‘nutcracker’ to break open your stories.”
Since my book and method are known all over the world, I’ve moved my teaching and consulting 100% online. My students and clients are all over the world and all different levels, from complete beginners to major industry players.
I don’t write as much as I used to since I spend so much of my time consulting on other writers’ stories, but this year I returned to my own writing and wrote a feature screenplay that is now in development. It’s been gratifying to put the method I’ve spent so many years teaching back to work on a story of my own.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, not smooth at all. First of all, this wasn’t my first career in the arts. Before becoming a screenwriter, I was a documentary filmmaker, an actress, and a journalist, and none of those careers worked out the way I’d hoped. I’m very grateful that I discovered this method and have been able to contribute something unique to the field of screenwriting. And as I said, I’ve been doing this for over twenty years now. There were definitely some lean years. Building a career around something I had essentially invented myself took time, and there wasn’t exactly a roadmap for it.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I specialize in story structure. I’m best known for creating the Nutshell Technique, a method that helps writers understand whether they actually have a story and, if not, what’s missing. I use it in my teaching and in my consulting work with screenwriters, television writers, and novelists.
What I’m most proud of is that the method gives writers a concrete way to solve problems that are often discussed very vaguely. Rather than telling someone a script “needs more stakes” or “isn’t working,” I can usually help identify the specific structural issue underneath it causing the problem. That ability to diagnose story issues and give writers a practical way to fix them is what sets my work apart.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
I think my strongest quality is my ability to analyze a story and identify what’s really going wrong. I’m very good at seeing patterns and then explaining them in a way that’s concrete and useful to writers. That skill is what led me to develop the Nutshell Technique in the first place, and it’s still at the center of both my teaching and consulting work.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thescreenplayworkshop.org
- Instagram: @jillchamberlainauthor
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-screenplay-workshop-with-jill-chamberlain-austin
- Other: https://jillchamberlain.com
