Yeshiva College junior Rami Cohen boasts some experience when it comes to screenwriting. "I've written one full-length screenplay and am working on several others," Cohen says, "as well, I've studied screenwriting for some time." A natural outgrowth of his education, Cohen understands, is for him to share his knowledge with others; as a result, he has helped create a screenwriting workshop in the form of the newly initiated Yeshiva University Screenwriters' Club.
The interest in dramatics at Yeshiva, notes Cohen, is often restricted to select areas. "It's a shame that there is no academic program - even within the Speech & Drama Major - that funnels students into dramatic writing," laments Cohen, adding that he feels "that there's not a lot of interest because there's not a lot of knowledge."
The Screenwriting Club plans to meet rather frequently, perhaps as often as once a week, for students to work together and provide feedback on each other's scripts. The most significant potential benefit of the club is the possibility of promoting teamwork in student writing. Concludes an enthusiastic Cohen, "if we can pair up students that have specific talents, such as one who's better at dialogue with one who's better at story structure, and they end up with a script that's stronger than one that either of them could have come up with on their own, then we'll truly have accomplished something."