Table Of ContentINCLUSIVE SCREENWRITING FOR
FILM AND TELEVISION
Breaking down the traditional structures of screenplays in an innovative and
progressive way, while also investigating the ways in which screenplays have been
traditionally told, this book interrogates how screenplays can be written to reflect
the diverse life experiences of real people.
Author Jess King explores how existing paradigms of screenplays often
exclude the very people watching films and TV today. Taking aspects such as
characterization, screenplay structure, and world- building, King offers ways to
ensure your screenplays are inclusive and allow for every person’s story to be heard.
In addition to examples ranging from Sorry to Bother You to Portrait of a Lady on Fire,
four case studies on Killing Eve, Sense8, I May Destroy You, and Vida ground the
theoretical work in practical application. The book highlights the ways in which
screenplays can authentically represent and uplift the lived experiences of those
so often left out of the narrative, such as the LGBTQIA+ community, women,
and people of color. The book addresses a current demand for more inclusive
and progressive representation in film and TV and equips screenwriters with the
tools to ensure their screenplays tell authentic stories, offering innovative ways to
reimagine current screenwriting practice towards radical equity and inclusion.
This is a timely and necessary book that brings the critical lenses of gender studies,
queer theory, and critical race studies to bear on the practice of screenwriting, ideal
for students of screenwriting, aspiring screenwriters, and industry professionals alike.
Jess King is an Instructor of Screenwriting and Cinema Production at DePaul
University, USA. Jess is an educator, scholar, and interdisciplinary filmmaker,
teaching courses in screenwriting, independent television, and film analysis. King’s
creative scholarship revolves around frameworks for reimagining screenwriting for
inclusion and social justice.
INCLUSIVE
SCREENWRITING FOR
FILM AND TELEVISION
Jess King
Cover image: © Alamy
First published 2022
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2022 Jess King
The right of Jess King to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 77220- 8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 77218- 5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 003- 17031- 0 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003170310
Typeset in Bembo
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
For Julie
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ix
Introduction 1
PART I
Towards a Critique of Screenwriting 13
1 Screenplay Manuals and the Homogenization
of the Imagination 15
2 Reimagining Character 27
3 Rethinking the Role of Conflict 40
4 Changing the Narrative (Structure) 49
5 On World- Building 60
PART II
Towards an Inclusive and Intersectional Practice
of Screenwriting 71
6 From Killing Eve to an Eve Who Kills 73
7 Queer and Trans World- building in Sense8 85
viii Contents
8 The Generative Power of Paradigm Destruction in I May
Destroy You 100
9 The Explicit and Specific Politics of Vida 114
Conclusion: A Way Forward 132
References 140
Index 147
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am immensely grateful for the thoughtful feedback, enthusiastic encouragement,
and generous support of many of my colleagues at DePaul University, including
David Gitomer, Dustin Goltz, Anna Hozian, Susan McGury, and Brad Riddell, all
of whom read and gave feedback on early drafts of this book. I’d also like to thank
Fatou Samba for our many generative conversations about problematic media rep-
resentation and how screenwriters can do better to upend it.
Throughout this process I’ve been consistently delighted by my students’ earnest
engagement with and practical application of the ideas presented throughout this
book in classes like The Female Gaze, Writing the Independent Television Series,
and Queer(ing) Narratives. Thank you to Dominique Prince- Points and Karan
Sunil for talking with me about writing characters who code- switch. And I’m
overwhelmingly grateful to Liv Krusinski and Tessa Melvin, who, as undergraduate
research assistants, provided limitless questions, additional relevant examples, and
thoughtful suggestions from a student perspective.
In addition to my colleagues and students, I’d like to thank Claire Margerison
and Sarah Pickles at Routledge for being champions of this book and demystifying
the publishing process with grace and kindness.
And, finally, to Julie, my love. I could not have done this without you. You
encouraged me every step of the way. You read and commented on so many drafts
without ever acting like it was a chore. But I know it was. Thank you.
