New! Zoom: Creating Three-Dimensional and Non-Stereotypical Characters - 2-Week Online Screenwriting Class with Marilyn R. Atlas, Talent & Literary Manager / Film Producer, Atlas Management

Tuesday, October 21, 2025, 7pm ET / 4pm PT

Marilyn is the co-author of a relationship-based, screenwriting guide called Dating Your Character, about an organic approach to character creation for Stairway Press’s Summer 2016 catalog. 

In this 2 week online class, Marilyn will cover creating screenplays with a memorable cast of characters.

What constitutes a memorable character is a conscious interweaving of the characters thoughts, wants, goals, secrets, flaws and delusions. For a character to move us, they must move the plot forward in a true way that is consistent with his DNA.

Marilyn will discuss several facets of the "evolution of personality" that are present in the best screen and television examples. Since, the pacing requirements of film are radically different from the opportunities in the novel, you will study how back-stories (info into a characters past life) lead into the interactions of the present via subtext rather than through the use of flashbacks.

Marilyn will be giving handouts and students should be familiar with some of the following films/TV shows by the class:

FILMS: Power of the Dog, Little Miss Sunshine, Silence of the Lambs, Do The Right Thing, Born on the Fourth of July, Thelma and Louise, Wedding Banquet, Real Women Have Curves, Transamerica, There Will Be Blood, 500 Days of Summer, The Hurt Locker, Iron Man, Imitation Game, Whiplash, Birdman, Boyhood

TV: Succession, Euphoria, The Wire, Mad Men, The Good Wife, Damages, Downton Abbey, Breaking Bad, Orange is the New Black, The Blacklist, Game of Thrones, House of Cards

Marilyn will also screen and discuss scenes from several films.

As for the technical aspects of the course, there will be homework and some short writing exercises dealing with character from Marilyn's book to help you as a screenwriter.

What to Prepare:

Students will be expected to participate in conversation as well as come prepared having read the handouts before class. No special materials will be needed, just familiarity with movies, specifically the ones previously mentioned, and characters.

Marilyn will send a sample sheet out at least 24 hours in advance.

Please follow the procedures listed below:

• Please update your headshot and fill out the MY INFO section of your AC account upon registration.

• The room will be open 30 minutes before the event is scheduled to start. Please arrive at least 10 MINUTES before your event begins as your host will give important information about the event at this time.

• Instructions and the ZOOM link for access to this online event will be emailed to you in advance. If you have not received the link by one hour before the event, please reach out to registration@actorsconnection.com.

Our online office hours are 9am-6pm Monday-Friday

If you have an emergency for a class you are participating in outside of these hours, please email help@actorsconnection.com and your host will be able to respond.

**No recording of any kind is permitted by participants during class.**

**Actors Connection classes and programming are for ADULTS (18+). Unless it is disclosed above, with permission, some teens (14+) are allowed to take adult programming. To inquire about getting permission, please send an email to: info@actorsconnection.com**

**Please keep in mind that all programs at Actors Connection are for educational and professional development purposes. Participating in any class or event is not a promise of employment.**

Marilyn R. Atlas

Marilyn R. Atlas is a talent and literary manager and award-winning producer. Her clients have appeared in shows such as Star Trek, Fringe, Pretty Little Liars, How to Get Away with Murder, 90210, Revenge, Hart of Dixie, NCIS:LA, True Blood, Dexter, Chuck, Castle, and Criminal Minds. 

She was film producer on Real Women Have Curves for HBO (now a new Broadway musical), which won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival; A Certain Desire, starring Sam Waterston; and Echoes, which won the Gold Award at the Texas International Film Festival. She's currently a producer for The Trouble with Dreamers (in development) with NEO Studios.

In addition to producing a variety of programming for the cable/ pay TV market. In live theater, Marilyn co-produced the West Coast premiere of the musical God Bless You Mr. Rosewater by Ashman and Menken (the writers of Enchanted and Tangled).  She also co-produced the award-winning play “To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday.”

Marilyn herself has been in development on pilots for Showtime and ABC Family. In addition to Marilyn’s film/TV credits, she has sold (first time) novels Chasing the Jaguar to HarperCollins to Hachette Book Ave Maria Bed & Breakfast  to Grand Central Publishing, and the Hungry Woman in Paris, Group, and the Last Ride of Caleb O’Toole  to Sourcebooks.  Her Lifetime movie The Choking Game based on the YA book by Diana Lopez aired in summer 2014.  She is also featured in the book Write Now! from Penguin/Tarcher. She is the co-author of a relationship-based, screenwriting guide called Dating Your Character, about an organic approach to character creation for Stairway Press’s Summer 2016 catalog.