Screenwriter Paul Guyot Shares Insight And Guidance With Performance Studies Students
Performance Studies students learned about the art of screenwriting during a recent workshop event with Paul Guyot, a professional producer and screenwriter.
Dr. Michelle Simms, lecturer, invited Guyot to work with students in the Special Topics: Story for the Screen course for two weeks in March to produce their own screenplays. Funding was provided by a grant from the Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts.
Simms said she structured the course for students to work alongside a professional screenwriter, who would lead class activities designed to produce a short film script during the visit.
“My goal was to investigate if this contextualized collaborative writing activity would develop more efficient and deeper concept attainment than I have seen in students in past semesters,” Simms said. “I am seeing a positive impact using this approach.”
Los Angeles-based Guyot worked as a screenwriter and producer for television series including “Felicity,” “Judging Amy,” “Leverage,” “The Librarians” and “NCIS: New Orleans.” He graduated from the University of Arizona with a creative writing degree and has been a professional screenwriter since 1999.
“I remember going out in Hollywood with my handwritten scripts in a spiral notebook,” Guyot said. “I spent almost 10 years as a stand-in for movies and then finally got my first writing gig in television.”
Guyot created a website titled Screenwriting Truth and turned to TikTok to promote it.
“I started making videos talking about screenwriting and it kind of blew up on TikTok in early 2021, all the way through into 2022,” Guyot said. “Suddenly I had thousands of followers, and everybody would ask me about screenwriting books. I tended to talk about what is wrong with all of the current screenwriting books, and finally I was told I should just write my own book — which I titled ‘Kill The Dog.’”
“Kill The Dog: The First Book on Screenwriting to Tell You the Truth,” was published in September 2023 by Domestique Inc.
Guyot told the students the best way to learn how to write a screenplay is to actively write.
“You can really only learn by doing it, by writing,” he said. “You have to embrace the writing of it. It has to be about language and syntax and storytelling. All of these things that aren’t mechanical and aren’t the scaffolding of structure and inciting incidents — that will all happen organically if you tell a great story.”
Students had two weeks to write a screenplay. On the last day of Guyot’s class visits, the students presented their screenplays in groups and read them aloud. Guyot gave critiques after each, and noted how enthusiastic each student was to participate.
“Everyone has been so engaged,” Guyot said. “I have just been so impressed reading their scripts. They were under tremendous pressure and had such little time to write. There wasn’t one script in this that I thought was really weak. I was just really impressed by the talent level here.”
Kioko Arteaga, a senior Visualization student, said she is a big fan of Guyot, and even had a T-shirt made with the words “Guyot Dang!” to wear during his class visit. Arteaga said Guyot took the class out for ice cream and offered additional screenwriting advice.
“Having the opportunity to have someone in that industry who is so talented and experienced give us his feedback and his thoughts, was just an incredible opportunity,” Arteaga said. “He told us so many things about his experience in the industry and about what drives him as a creative. He gave us so much advice and encouragement.”
William May, a junior Telecommunications and Media Studies student, said Guyot visited a show by improv troupe Freudian Slip, of which May is a member.
“It was pretty awesome that he came to one of our shows,” May said. “We also interviewed him and used that to inspire one of our improv games. It was really cool.”
May said Guyot helped him to feel confident about screenwriting if he chooses to pursue it as a career.
“Paul talked to us about how he became a writer, and it was really valuable,” May said. “After this experience, I feel like I have an extra tool in my kit if I ever want to start screenwriting.”
Top photo, from left: Kioko Arteaga, Lauren Enriquez, Stephan Ashburn, Will May and Justin Haynes. Photo by Bailey Brown.
