For nearly a century, audiences have been captivated by stories of love, laughter, and personal growth in romantic comedies. These timeless films are filled with relatable characters, hilarious moments, and heartfelt connections that resonate long after the credits roll.
Created by experienced screenwriter and UBC instructor Zac Hug, these two online courses will help you tell your own romantic comedy story. Through insightful lectures, assignments, and interviews with industry experts, you will learn how to outline and write a script that brings your rom-com vision to life.
Format: Online, asynchronous, non-credit.
Audience: Open to anyone, suitable for writers new to screenplays, and for experienced writers looking to create their first rom-com.
Duration: Five weeks each. 4-6 hours per week.
Cost: $379 CAD per course.
Refund policy: We will issue a refund or full fee transfer to another course, less a $50 administration fee, when you fill out and submit our Course Withdrawal Form at least three (3) business days before the course start date. We cannot offer refunds or course transfers for withdrawals after this deadline.
Writing the Rom-Com Outline
Every script starts with an outline.
In these five modules, you will discover the ins and outs of crafting a story that will eventually become your romantic comedy script. We’ll look at your main character and your love interest, as well as the attraction and the conflict between them. After discussing genre, setting, and the secondary characters that will help fill out the world around your main story, we’ll dive into how we can use a three-act or nine-act structure to figure out where to strengthen your stories. We’ll also watch some great movies!
Rom-Com Outline – Course Syllabus (PDF)
Writing the Rom-Com Script
Every outline wants to become a script.
In these five modules, you’ll learn how to move from the outline to the script. Or, as we describe it, how to write the outline again, only this time in script form. We’ll discuss topics that include action writing and how a script is much more a visual story than a dialogue story. We’ll show you how to make your characters stand out from not just each other but from other rom-com stock characters, and we’ll do a deep dive into dialogue and rewriting. And, of course, we’ll watch some classic rom-coms.
Rom-Com Script – Course Syllabus (PDF)
Questions? Email us at crwr.noncredit@ubc.ca
About the Instructor
Zac Hug is a television and screenwriter. TV includes Drop Dead Diva (Lifetime), and Shadowhunters (Freeform), The Twelve Dates of Christmas (Hallmark). Zac has written just south of 20 movies for Hallmark, including Road to Christmas, Matching Hearts, The Ghosts of Christmas Always and the Sister Swap and Christmas in Evergreen series. His plays have been produced by the New York Fringe Festival and the Williamstown Theatre Festival Workshop. His web series These People won Best Writing in a Comedy at the Indie Series Awards. He teaches Screen and Television writing at the University of British Columbia and splits his time between Vancouver and Los Angeles with his husband Dan and an old man dog named Pickles.