PMA Associate Professor Austin Bunn's new guide to short film screenwriting has drawn high praise from Filmmaker magazine. His book Short Film Screenwriting: A Craft Guide and Anthology, published by Bloomsbury in October 2024, combines 10 essays about screenwriting with a curated, diverse anthology, including revealing interviews with the writers and directors.
In her review, Holly Willis, Professor and Chair of the Media Arts and Practice division in the USC School of Cinematic Arts, writes that “Bunn gets how the business works, knowledge that shows in his framing and practicality. Plus, because it’s adapted from his many craft talks, the book is conversational and thus eminently readable…. The information here is clear, grounded, specific and, well, exhilarating: every chapter is actionable.
“Bunn acknowledges—and then moves deftly around—the paradox of developing a character’s inner life in a medium that only presents exterior reality in the form of actions and dialogue for the camera. He beautifully re-tools the idea of journey and character arc for a 10-minute film, underscores the power of voice, touches on less traditional story forms and dissects the revision process. All of this is gold and incites a rush of possibility."
Willis is herself a media artist, curator, and co-founder of Filmmaker magazine. “Bunn’s book redirects us to the art and craft of the short form," she writes, "reminding us that we crave stories because we desire characters who serve as our proxies for connection, struggle and transformation.”
Read the full interview in Filmmaker
Pre-order Short Film Screenwriting: A Craft Guide and Anthology
Read more about Bunn’s work.
