Writing & Selling Romantic Comedy Screenplays

The many ways that ＂happy after ever＂ can come about--case studies and analyses include Due Date, I Give it a Year, Midnight in Paris, Ted, and Tamara Drewe

Contemporary film audiences want and need sophisticated, authentic films that show how we now live and love--so what does this mean for the screenwriter developing a romcom? And how does one write heart-warming stories for a genre that is constantly evolving, from bromcom to zomcom to famcom? This guide offers a fresh approach to creating narratives for this ever-changing genre. Moving away from rigid and limited definitions that have evolved out of mainstream genre films, the book embraces a working definition that crosses cultural and national boundaries to give screenwriters a truly international perspective on writing comedic love stories. It will be the first screenwriting guide to reflect the diversity of approaches in today’s films that deal with the human need for emotional and physical intimacy using humor--the contemporary romantic comedy.

Craig Batty is a screenwriter, a script consultant, and script editor, and the author of several books, including Screenplays: How to Write and Sell Them.