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StoryFest 2025 Presents: Writing Heroes & Villains: A Screenwriting Crash Course With Claire Ayoub
Workshop Details
Saturday, October 18, 12-1:30 pm (McCall Room #216)
Tap into your storytelling skills to create 3D heroes and villains. In this 90-minute workshop, screenwriter and film director Claire Ayoub will discuss her favorite films and then break those films down into a clear understanding of the hero’s journey. Learn how to build a three-dimensional hero with clear wants and fears, as well as how to create challenges for that hero — including a most excellent villain.
Great for all ages, especially 4th Grade and up. Adults are welcome to join as well!
About the Instructor
Claire Ayoub (she/her) is a comedy writer, director, and producer dedicated to creating empowering and educational work through her production company Try Anyway Productions. She is the writer and director of the award-winning film Empire Waist, a heartfelt comedy about teens learning to love their bodies through fashion design, starring Rainn Wilson, Missi Pyle, Mia Kaplan, Jolene Purdy, and Jemima Yevu. Claire is also the co-creator of the Empire Waist Confidence Curriculum, a free and vetted resource of videos and activities made for tweens, teens, and adults to talk about their own body image and self-confidence journeys inspired by the film. After beginning her career in the NYC comedy scene at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater and as an essayist for Amy Poehler's Smart Girls, Claire went on to create two original web series — A Series of Comebacks and Your Hair Looks Great Today — and now loves to teach creative writing and mentor filmmakers as they bring their own creative dreams to life. To learn more about Claire's work, visit www.claireayoub.com or subscribe for updates on Substack.
About StoryFest & StoryFest 2025
Now in its eighth year, StoryFest is the largest annual literary festival in Connecticut and one of the biggest in the Northeast. It is a celebration of the story in all its forms and storytellers from across all media, each year drawing scores of authors and hundreds of readers, writers, and fans.
The 2025 edition runs October 13 to October 20, starting with Julian Brave NoiseCat’s book launch for We Survived the Night and ending with a 10th anniversary celebration of Shonda Rhimes’ New York Times best-selling memoir, Year of Yes.
The festival rings in its hallmark weekend on Friday, October 17, by showcasing storytelling through film and music with a screening of the documentary Bonnie Blue: James Cotton’s Life in the Blues, followed by a concert event with James Montgomery’s Blues Band featuring SNL Beehive Queen Christine Ohlman.
Saturday, October 18, will feature a series of events starting at 10 am and going until 6 pm — including panel discussions, author talks, book readings, signings, and more.
Past participants include National Book Award finalist Jason Reynolds; Goosebumps author R.L. Stine; acclaimed essayist and memoirist Roxane Gay, New York Times best-selling authors Michael Lewis, Mitch Albom, Claire Messud, Angie Kim, Stephen Graham Jones, and Caroline Kepnes; young adult superstars Nic Stone, Tiffany Jackson, and L.L. McKinney; Emmy Award winner Sheila Nevins; best-selling memoirist Isaac Fitzgerald; Kirkus Prize recipient Saeed Jones; and Pinkalicious author/illustrator Victoria Kann.
About Verso University
- Classes are usually structured as a consecutive series.
- Class size is often limited.
- Each series has a one-time fee registration fee covering all classes in the series.
- Registration is mandatory.
- The Westport Library wants to ensure that all interested students are able to participate in Verso University courses. If the registration fee is a barrier to entry for you, please contact [email protected].
Verso University is the Library’s lifelong learning and education initiative, serving up year-round offerings of classes, workshops, and lectures designed to further education and learning. Offerings run the gamut of educational opportunities, ranging from one-time lectures to ongoing courses to classes that meet weekly or perhaps monthly.
Verso University programs are made possible by the generous support of the Nancy J. Beard Lifelong Learning and Education Fund.
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The Westport Library is committed to intellectual freedom, inclusivity, and lifelong learning. Our mission is to provide welcoming spaces for the free exchange of ideas. The Library does not endorse or condemn points of view, including any program content or the views expressed by presenters or participants.
