NORTH WEBSTER – North Webster Community Center is offering workshops on comedy improv and screenwriting. Monday night, the students from the the first comedy improv workshop performed four exercises for the public, and then played a game of “freeze tag”. The four exercises included “one-word story”, “slide show family vacation”, “panel of experts” and “movie reviewers.” The showcase was a culmination of the five weeks of study of the basics of improv. The improv workshop group chose the name “Room For Improv-Ment”, and included Benita Joldersma, Ayden Collier, Owen Stech, Derick Gamble, Maddi Hart and Taylor White. Taught by Chicago actress and instructor Jessica Hardy, the next comedy improv workshop starts Tuesday. It will meet each Tuesday through Aug. 21 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the North Webster Community Center. Cost is $75. Beginning Wednesday, filmmaker Brent Kado will teach a five-week workshop on screenwriting. Kado has written and directed two feature comedy films, including “Welcome to Gentle Waters”, which was shot in North Webster, and several music documentary series. He is an accomplished writer and has a master’s degree in cultural studies. He is pursuing his doctorate in American film studies. Kado is on the board of directors for Chicago Comedy Film Festival and Chicago International Social Change Film. The workshop will meet from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Aug. 22 and costs $50. Kado said he will go through how to get a story idea, what the structure of a screenplay is, how to formulate good characters and how to write good dialogue. He also will tell attendees his own story and give advice on getting into the filmmaking business. “We live in a great time to be able to communicate,” Kado said, but the screenwriting business is still 85 to 95 percent in Los Angeles, Calif. Everyone has a good story to tell, he said, but it just needs to be “Hollywoodified.”To sign up for either the comedy improv or screenwriting workshops, contact the NWCC at 574-834-1600. For more information on Hardy, Kado or the workshops, visit their websites at jessicahardy.org or brentkado.com
