Analyzing Principles, Returning to Intuition: A Journey Notebook from Creator to Creator
Screenwriting is a process full of challenges.
Beyond opening up the imagination and exploring their inner world, creators also need strong communication skills when working with development teams, film crews, and the marketplace.
In response to these challenges, director and writer Hsu Jui-Liang has distilled years of first-hand experience—learning, trial and error, and practice—into a two-day course to share with participants.
The content includes:
- The dramatic theories he learned from Hollywood creators while working on The Victims’ Game (Season 1) and Taiwan Crime Stories – Under the Wave.
- The international script development approaches he encountered while leading the NETFLIX x TAICCA Scriptwriting Workshop.
The core principles of storytelling and their psychological mechanisms, along with the shared language, concepts, and processes of writers’ room teamwork. This course is not about a “correct” method of creation, because every perspective has its limitations.
What we aim to do is provide ample knowledge and tools to help each creator return to themselves—
to follow intuition and develop their own creative method. No prior experience required, and not limited to screenwriters.
Directors, actors, producers, or anyone interested in storytelling are welcome to join.
Course Information
9/27 (Sat) 10:00 – 17:00
- Full course presentation provided
- Audio recording provided
9/28 (Sun) 10:00 – 17:00
- Full course presentation provided
- Audio recording provided
Fee: NT$3,200
Includes a complimentary Giloo 30-day full-site viewing code
Location: Greater Taipei Area (detailed venue will be provided after registration confirmation)
Venue Co-organizer: Taipei Film & Drama Union
Course Outline
9/27 (Sat) 10:00 – 17:00
Session 1: Theme / Entertainment — Balancing the Relationship Between Author and Audience
- Unlocking the creator’s inner resources: connecting with emotions, deep exploration, and transformation
- Understanding the principles of dialectics and opposites to refine the core spirit
- Main genres and formats, and their corresponding audience expectations
- Grasping core principles and their related psychological mechanisms
- Introducing the “Story Engine”: designing the momentum and potential of a story
Session 2: Character Development / Conflict and Plot
- Key elements of the Hero’s Journey / Principles of change
- Layered portrayal: the triple journey of action, emotion, and belief
- Character network: expanding the ensemble, creating variations, and deepening the theme
- The actor’s perspective: stepping out of the writer’s mind and entering the inner world of the character
9/28 (Sun) 10:00 – 17:00
Session 3: Structure / Worldbuilding / Scenes and Dialogue
- Building a world: the world as an extension of the character’s inner self
- Dialogue: letting go of lines, searching for verbs
- Making good use of the beat sheet: both complex and simple, creating within a holistic field
Session 4: Writers’ Room / Creation
- Techniques, tools, systems, processes, and mindset for collaborative creation in the writers’ room
- The four-way dialogue between writer / director / producer / actor: breaking down authority and effectively exchanging notes
- The foundation of a script: understanding collaborators and making the script the blueprint for the entire production team
- Embracing the AI era: continuously evolving workflows / the subtext unique to humans
- Creation: the soul of an artist, the mindset of an engineer
Instructor – Hsu Jui-Liang
◎ In Development: Series Loser Family and Unknown Aliens — Director / Screenwriter / Producer
◎ Disney+ Series Taiwan Crime Stories: Under the Wave — Director
- Busan International Film Festival Asian Contents Awards – Nominated for Best Asian Drama Series
- Golden Bell Awards – Nominated for multiple categories including Best Drama Series and Best Director
- Topped Taiwan’s program charts for 7 consecutive weeks; ranked #1 in Hong Kong, and Top 10 in Singapore and Indonesia
◎ Netflix Original Series The Victims’ Game (Season 1) — Co-Writer / Early-Stage Director
- Trinity International Film Festival 最佳導演
- 好萊塢國際學生影展 ISFFH 最佳外語短片
- Golden Bell Awards – Nominated for 8 categories including Best Drama Series and Best Screenplay
- Busan International Film Festival Asian Contents Awards – Nominated for 5 categories including Best Creativity and Best Screenplay
- Singapore Media Academy Awards – Nominated for 5 categories including Best Drama Series
- Netflix Taiwan Top Ranking – #1 for 2 consecutive weeks; achieved the world’s highest global growth rate in its first week of release
- Selected for FOX Creative Lab U.S. TV Drama Training Program
◎ Short Film The Flame — Director / Screenwriter
- Taoyuan Film Festival Taiwan Award – First Prize
- Golden Horse Awards – Short Film Selection
- Golden Harvest Awards – Best Student Narrative Film
- Singapore Chinese Film Festival
- Paris Taiwan Film Festival
- Selected for permanent collection at Kaohsiung Film Archive
◎ Short Film My Funeral — Director / Screenwriter
- Golden Harvest Awards – Honorable Mention in Narrative Category (General Division)
- Legend Film Festival – First Prize
- Over 1.5 million views on YouTube
◎ Short Film Cocoon — Director / Screenwriter
- Trinity International Film Festival – Best Director
- Hollywood International Student Film Festival (ISFFH) – Best Foreign Language Short Film