Workshop Breakdown
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Week 1: The Edit — A New Story Begins
Focus: Working with your editor and reshaping your story.
Objective: Learn why editing is the “final draft” of your script.
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Choosing the Right Editor
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Why your editor must understand the heart of your film.
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What to look for when hiring: taste, instincts, collaboration.
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The Rough Cut Shock
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Why your first viewing will feel like a panic attack (and why that’s normal).
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Understanding that your editor is showing you your film through their eyes.
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Story in the Edit Room
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How entire narratives can shift. (Fresh Kills needed a whole new ending in post.)
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When to cut scenes you love but don’t move the story forward.
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Week 2: Sound & Music — The Invisible Forces
Focus: How sound and score shape emotion and meaning.
Objective: Understand how to use sound and music as storytelling tools, not background.
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Sound Design
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Adding, removing, and manipulating sound to tell your story.
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Case study: Fresh Kills used silence to show Rose’s world closing in.
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Tiny details (like the closing door in the final scene) can redefine your film.
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Music Choices
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Finding a composer whose work is another voice of the story.
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Why it’s not about “pretty” music, but truth in tone and theme.
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Working with a music supervisor to handle rights and legality.
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Week 3: Color & Finishing
Focus: Working with your DP and colorist to finalize the visual identity of your film.
Objective: Learn how color grading shapes tone, emotion, and continuity.
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Working with a Colorist
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Why every frame matters. Sitting with your colorist shot by shot.
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Adjusting darkness, brightness, palette to heighten emotion.
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The DP/Colorist Partnership
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Maintaining the visual intent of how the film was shot.
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Fixing mistakes in post (wrong cars, continuity issues).
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Picture Lock
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Knowing when your cut is final.
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Week 4: Festivals, Distribution & The Road Ahead
Focus: Getting your film seen — and surviving the process.
Objective: Understand the pathways for independent films and how to strategize realistically.
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Film Festivals
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Using FilmFreeway, building an account, applying strategically.
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The reality: it’s expensive, competitive, and sometimes heartbreaking.
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Distribution
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Traditional distributors vs. self-distribution.
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The truth about marketing budgets: why you can’t compete with the majors.
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Thinking outside the box: grassroots campaigns, online platforms, alternative models.
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Feedback & Allies
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Why you must show your cut to trusted peers before locking.
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Filtering notes: when to listen, when to trust your gut.
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Part Three: Post-Production
& Beyond
4-Week Deep Dive
Start Date TBD | Live on Zoom
You finished your shoot. The hard part is over, right? Wrong.
Welcome to post-production — the stage that can make or break your film. This is where your story is reshaped, refined, and sometimes completely rewritten without a single page of script being touched. It’s also where you face the harsh reality of what it takes to get your film seen in the world.
This four-week class takes you through the journey of Fresh Kills in post-production — from the first terrifying rough cut, through sound, music, and color, to the bittersweet grind of festivals and distribution. You’ll learn how to survive the edit room, build the right post team, and start carving out a life for your film.
By the end, you’ll leave with a clear understanding of what to expect, what to fight for, and how to give your film its best chance in the world.
NO PERMISSION NEEDED.
Why This Matters for You.
Because finishing your film isn’t the finish line. It’s the beginning of a whole new fight.
You’ll leave with:
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A clear understanding of how post-production reshapes story.
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Knowledge of how to work with editors, sound designers, colorists, and composers.
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A realistic picture of what festivals and distribution really look like.
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Practical tools to plan your film’s life beyond the edit room.
At the end of these four weeks, you’ll know how to carry your film through the final stages — with clarity, courage, and a strategy for finding its audience.
What You’ll Get.
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Four live 2-hour sessions (Zoom)
Four, two-hour sessions focused on post-production and beyond—editing, sound, music, color, festivals, and distribution.
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Full Q&A Access
Bring your biggest question. Participants get the chance to ask Jennifer directly and receive guidance rooted in her own filmmaking journey.
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Fresh Kills Case Study
Go inside Fresh Kills in post-production—from the rough cut panic to the choices in sound, music, and color that reshaped the story, plus the festival and distribution grind.
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Festival & Distribution Guide
A practical resource with top festival breakdowns, distribution pathways, and clever indie marketing strategies to help you give your film its best shot.
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Post-Production Tools & Exercises
Practical assignments that teach you how to reshape story in the edit, use sound and music as storytelling tools, and define your film’s color palette.
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Strategy for Your Film’s Future
A clear picture of what to expect from festivals and distribution, with tools to build your own audience and roadmap for your film’s life beyond the edit room.
Carry Your Film Into the World.
Post-production isn’t the finish line. It’s where your story takes its final shape and where the fight to get your film seen begins. This class gives you the tools to survive the edit room, build the right post team, and face festivals and distribution with a clear-eyed strategy. By the end, you’ll have the confidence to finish strong—and the roadmap to carry your film into the world.
Important Notes.
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This is Part Three of the three-part From Script to Screen series. Take it on its own to understand post-production — or continue the journey to master the scriptwritting process, pre-production & filming.
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Space is limited to keep the group intimate.
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All sales are final. No refunds.