ANIMATION WRITING
MASTERCLASS:
From Pitch To Pilot
Take your show idea from concept to calling card with the help of an Emmy Award-nominated screenwriter and producer
A course for the next generation of animation screenwriters.
Do you have a great idea for an animated series, but don’t know where to start?
Do you want to learn what will make development executives sit up and take notice of your work?
Do you want to learn the fundamentals of writing for animated television - or want a taste of what it’s like to work in a writers’ room?
Whether you’re an aspiring writer, an animation student, an early-career creator with a great idea, looking to brush up on your storytelling skills or explore a new medium: this is a course designed to help you sell your show - and yourself - to the TV industry.
Across five weekly classes, Emmy-nominated screenwriter and producer James Hamilton will walk you through the process of developing ideas into a script that showcases your talent - and show you how to craft a compelling series pitch that will help you stick in the minds of TV executives looking to hire for their next animated project.
You will leave this class with an understanding of the tools you need to craft your “calling card” pilot script and series pitch for TV animation.
Getting your foot in the door as a TV writer is more challenging than ever before: learn what you need to stand out from the crowd.
What you’ll learn:
How to create an industry-ready pitch doc for your idea
How to develop your idea from premise to pilot
The storytelling fundamentals behind a great script
Avoiding the common mistakes in series pitches
How to turn bad notes into helpful ones - and how to collaborate
Your instructor.
James Hamilton is a multi-award winning and Emmy-nominated British screenwriter and producer - originally from London, now living in Los Angeles.
James is head writer of Netflix’s Emmy-winning YA action-fantasy series Jentry Chau Vs The Underworld (“a painstakingly created labor of love, complete with three-dimensional characters, intricate world-building, and the perfect blend of quippy humor and gripping drama” - AV Club).
Before that, he was head writer and co-developer of Netflix’s critically acclaimed series Dogs In Space (“Consistently smart and deft - just snarky enough, just silly enough and just sentimental enough” - The New York Times), and co-wrote more than fifty episodes of Cartoon Network’s BAFTA and Emmy winning series The Amazing World of Gumball, including the multi-award winning episode “The Copycats”.
James currently has shows in development with Apple TV, DreamWorks and Ubisoft. He has also created and produced his own live-action indie series, Murder for Dummies, which has won several film festival awards.
James’s writing credits include:
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![Jentry Chau Vs The Underworld]()
Jentry Chau Vs The Underworld
James was nominated for Outstanding Writing by the Emmy Awards in 2026 for his work as head writer on this critically acclaimed action-fantasy series, starring and exec produced by Ali Wong.
“A painstakingly created labor of love, complete with three-dimensional characters, intricate world-building, and the perfect blend of quippy humor and gripping drama” - AV Club
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![Netflix series Dogs In Space]()
Dogs In Space
James was head writer and co-developer of this all-ages sci-fi comedy series, which the New York Times described as one of the Top Three Netflix Cartoons You Should Be Watching:
“Consistently smart and deft - just snarky enough, just silly enough and just sentimental enough”
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The Amazing World of Gumball
James co-wrote more than fifty episodes of Cartoon Network’s multi-BAFTA and Emmy winning series. One of his episodes, The Copycats, won two British Animation Awards.
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Upcoming Mattel Series
In 2025, James worked as head writer on a rebooted, beloved global preschool franchise…
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![Unikitty Time Capsule Trouble]()
Unikitty!
James wrote two episodes of this utterly delightful series for Cartoon Network / Warner Bros Animation.
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Bravest Warriors
On this YA space comedy series created by Adventure Time’s Pendleton Ward, James got to fulfil his lifelong dream of writing an episode of a show that culminates in the main character eating some ghosts.
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![Unicorn Academy]()
Unicorn Academy
James was brought in to co-write an upcoming season finale episode of this epic, delightful series!
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![Love Monster]()
Love Monster
Based on the beloved children’s books, James was honoured to write two episodes of this exceptionally sweet preschool series for the BBC.
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![Space Chickens In Space]()
Space Chickens In Space
James co-wrote nine episodes of this bonkers animated series for Disney XD, making him a natural fit for Dogs In Space a couple of years later.
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Monster Beach
James wrote a couple of episodes of this madcap resort island series for Cartoon Network - including a supervillain team up!
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![Incredible Ant]()
Incredible Ant
James was a co-story editor on this series, and co-wrote nine episodes with his longstanding writing partner James Huntrods.
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Casual Violence
James has won multiple live comedy awards as part of his work leading UK sketch comedy troupe Casual Violence over ten years.
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Wooden Overcoats
James co-wrote some fan-favourite episode of internationally beloved podcast sitcom Wooden Overcoats, including “Altar Ego” and “A Funeral House Divided”.
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Murder for Dummies
James is the writer, creator and executive producer of this six episode horror-comedy murder mystery mockumentary!
It’s gone on to win several film festival awards - find out more or watch the series free on murderfordummies.com.
The Course
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Week One: Developing Your Idea
The difference between being a professional writer and “having a great idea” is all in the execution.
In our first 90-min class, we’ll cover the fundamentals of developing your idea into the foundation of a TV series, cover the common mistakes James sees when he’s hired to help develop a show, and equip you with the tools you need to get started on your script.
We’ll explore story engines, theme, and crafting compelling characters - and the key question you’ll always have to answer when you pitch.
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Week Two: A Map for Your Story
Are you one of those writers who launches themselves straight to script with your latest idea, flies through the first ten pages - but then gets stuck and abandons the whole thing?
If you have a graveyard of half-started scripts, James is here to help you raise the dead. This 90-min session covers the merits of outlining vs improvising, and teaches how to write a professional-level script outline.
James will share examples of successful outlines from his work on previous shows, and cover how the notes process works at the earliest stages of your story.
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Week Three: A Stand-Out Script
James reveals what he looks for in scripts when he’s hiring writers, and covers the fundamentals of crafting a compelling pilot in this 90-min class.
From clear characterisation to nifty exposition to writing great jokes, we build on the work from previous weeks to learn the difference between a script that will get you a meeting and a script that will get ignored.
Pilots are held to a higher standard than any other script: make sure the executive reading your work will keep reading!
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Week Four: Diagnosing Your Script
We all get a little sensitive about feedback sometimes… but learning how to work with notes from executives is an essential skill for professional writers.
We cover how to figure out what’s not working with your script, addressing difficult feedback, and how even seemingly “bad” notes can help you improve your story. Get your pilot from first draft to final draft with the tools we introduce in this 90-min session.
We’ll also discuss the benefits of collaborating with other writers and artists on your work, and what to do if your script needs a complete overhaul…
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Week Five: Building Your Pitch (+ Q&A)
Having a great script is half the battle… but the other half matters too!
In our final class, James covers the essentials of making a leave-behind pitch doc to sell your show, and draws on his experience of successful sales to help you pitch your series directly to executives - be it over Zoom or in person.
We’ll be bringing together ideas from across the previous classes to unify your work into a great “pitch pack”!
James will wrap up the 2hr class with a Q&A session to answer any lingering questions you have about the subjects we’ve covered.
Sign up today.
ANIMATION WRITING MASTERCLASS takes place over five weeks - on Saturdays at 9:30am PT (12:30pm ET / 5:30pm UK time). Our first series of classes begins on Saturday 5th September, with the fifth and final class taking place on Saturday 3rd October.
Classes will be 90m each, but the fifth and final class may be an extended session if there’s a lot of questions to answer!
As a limited time course launch special, you can book at the sale price of $200 until July 1st!
Participants signed up for the classes will also receive 50% off a script feedback package from James, including a one-to-one Zoom follow-up call to discuss your TV pilot or animated feature script, and help guide your next steps. See below for further details on script packages.
Contact James directly if you have purchased your place on the course and would like 50% off a script feedback package.
Script Feedback Packages
Detailed feedback from James on your feature-length animated movie script (120 pages max). Includes written notes provided within two weeks and a 1hr follow-up Zoom consultation to help you with your next steps.
Detailed feedback from James on your 22-30m animation pilot (thirty pages max). Includes written notes provided within two weeks and a 45m follow-up Zoom consultation to help you with your next steps.
Need feedback on your first draft? Hit a roadblock with your story? Want to make sure your script’s up to scratch before you send it to a TV exec?
James offers industry-level feedback to help raise your pilot to the next level.
Detailed feedback from James on your eleven-minute animation pilot (fifteen pages max). Includes written notes provided within two weeks and a 30-45m follow-up Zoom consultation to help you with your next steps.
FAQs
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The classes will each be built around a presentational lecture from James, with opportunities for participants to ask questions at regular stages.
Feel free to bring specific questions about your own projects or work, as long as you don’t mind sharing with the class!
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Yes! This course has been designed for writers at any experience level, including “none”.
As a baseline, we will be assuming you know some the basics of what writing for television entails, including some of the terminology (eg: what a pilot script is) and are interested enough in writing as a craft to let us go deep on character, story and theme.
But there’s no such thing as a stupid question! If there are any terms or ideas you don’t understand, there will always be opportunities to ask questions. Or you can email me privately between classes if there’s something you need clarification on.
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Yes! The skills, tools and methods we’ll be exploring will be applicable to writers of all experience levels. The course will cover all the things I regularly do in my everyday work as a high level animation writer.
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Yes! While we will be covering the specific nuances of writing for animation, the storytelling and pitching toolset we explore will be applicable to screenwriting for live action as well.
Writers from mediums outside screenwriting will also find helpful guidance in this course: much of what we’ll cover can be broadly applied to storytelling for novels, comics, theatre and more.
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James will provide a recommended “watchlist” of animated TV and movies ahead of the class, and some of these will be discussed during the class, but these are not obligatory viewing.
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There will be opportunities for discussion and questions built into every class, but there is no obligation to interact if you don’t want to.
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James will make a recording of each class available for a limited time to all attendees. Please let him know in advance if you are unable to attend one of the classes.
However, in-person attendance is strongly recommended. If you are likely to miss more than one class, we recommended signing up for a future course.