Mary Ruth Clarke & Tonya Coats - The Crisis Decision: A Scene Competition
Schedule
Thu, 20 Nov, 2025 at 09:30 am
UTC-06:00Location
620 Lincoln Avenue, Winnetka, IL | Winnetka, IL
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"The crisis forces the protagonist to make a decision that will determine the outcome of the story’s central conflict. It’s a do-or-die moment with no room for error. " (Robert McKee, Story).A crisis decision is a revelation of true character because it is a choice made under pressure; one that could cause us to achieve our desire or lose what we want forever. The crisis forces your protagonist to face a true dilemma—to choose between two irreconcilable goods or the lesser of two evils in a situation of extreme urgency. How to effectively represent that dilemma through dialogue is the objective of this session.
Participants are invited to submit their scenes no later than Thursday, October 30 for consideration as examples to be read by professional actors at the workshop. If this is part of a larger work, participants should also send along brief bullet points that will get us up to speed on what we need to know.
SUBMIT HERE FOR THE CONTEST: [email protected]
We’ll jump right into reading your scenes, followed by a Bonus Presentation: Get Your Work on the Radar - Fast. In this 20-minute talk, award-winning screenwriter Dr. Tonya Coats shows how to target the right contests, package winning submissions, and leverage Intellectual Property (IP)—whether you’re adapting your own books or seeking partners. Learn where to find opportunities, avoid red flags, and build a submission plan that opens doors to reps, labs, and producers.
Submission Criteria:
Plays, Screenplays, Teleplays
2-3 characters preferred
Maximum 6 pages
Formatting Criteria:
Click here for formatting criteria for the Dramatists Guild.
Click here for formatting guidelines for screenplays or teleplays
MARY RUTH CLARKE is a screenwriter and playwright, best known for Meet the Parents film franchise, starring Robert De Niro. She is on the faculty of the Second City Film School and heads up the screenwriting/television program at Chicago Dramatists and Story Studio. She is a screenplay consultant for clients in LA and Chicago.
Dr. TONYA COATS, OCWW's Vice-President is a native Chicagoan and semi-retired Family Physician. She has completed two novels available for publication that she is adapting to screenplays. Her poetry has placed 1 st in the Social Science category of the 2021 Poets & Patrons of Chicagoland contest. She has placed essays in the New York Times, Riverteeth Journal and Memoir Magazine, to name a few.
Onsite and remote.
Register at: https://ocww.info/event-6282820
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Where is it happening?
620 Lincoln Avenue, Winnetka, IL, United StatesEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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