Jacob Krueger Studio

Signing up for Jacob’s Write Your Screenplay course was truly a turning point for me. As someone who has toyed with the idea of screenwriting (and more generally, filmmaking) for the last five years only to find myself lacking the creative discipline to write anything meaningful, I was liberated by Jacob’s writing philosophy. If you’re unsure about taking his class, just take it. You’ll thank yourself later.

I have taken many classes at the Studio with all different teachers and it is always a great experience. I can’t believe how much I have learned about my own writing, the craft and the «business». The teachers, the mix of class offerings and the staff’s experience in the «real world» creates a full package for any writer.
On a personal note — this studio has become a very safe place for me. I deeply trust the teachers. They have all been great guides in my artistic journey. I have found my writer’s voice and am eager to continue my journey and explore. I HIGHLY recommend this studio!
AND…if you can swing it, the annual Writers Retreat is a beautiful gift to give yourself. It is an amazing experience!!!

I have taken quite a few writing & screenwriting courses over the decades & have ‘been around’ as they say, from being a producer & documentary film-​maker & selling a few episodics as well– but my experiences w/​the Jacob Krueger Studio in NYC in various on-​line classes (since I currently live in L.A.) have been the best there is!
Jake is an acclaimed, produced & working writer & tremendously informed of the industry for many a year, & a highly skilled, caring & energetic teacher, as is the equally talented and uniquely creative & humanist perspective of Jessica Hinds. Jess teaches an invaluable class called «Meditative Writing» which gets to the core of one’s characters & their wants, needs & motivations in a very freeing & exciting way, which then deepens one’s insights & abilities to far more than what they thought they were capable of!
The Studio/​school & their site
also generously offers plenty of supportive & free archived useful materials & bonuses as well, & so from beginning writers to ongoing produced writers, I whole-​heartedly recommend the fresh, fun & deeper methods of the Jacob Krueger Studio! & ‘see u at the movies’ when it gets done! Cheers from Jon Bono! co-​author of «The Healing Mind» (endorsed by Sir Arthur C. Clarke).

I have just completed my «Write Your Screenplay» classes here and I found the experience to be incredibly rewarding. And so much fun! Jake is amazing. He knows the nuts and bolts of screenwriting, and equally important, he knows how to communicate it. I have learned more about screenwriting in four sessions of three hours each than I have reading the various books about the form on the market. And he, along with his great staff, are extremely supportive of writers. He likes them and he shows his respect for them. I look forward to taking one of the Studio’s other classes soon.

I took the television comedy workshop class from January 2015 ending recently in March and the instructor was Jerome Perzigian. I’ve always been a writer but have never taken a formal writing class since college and I never took a script writing class. Let me tell you something, even if you think you have great ideas you need to invest in a class like this! All of the instructors have really worked in the writing business so they know what they’re talking about.
My entire writing style changed for the better. I have a more solid foundation to build my ideas on and a clearer roadmap of what I need to produce. I realized that as great as my ideas were I really knew very little about the structure of a tv show, character creation and development and smaller things that you need to know or else you’re just wasting your time.
While keeping my same show idea my pilot script I created is light years ahead of where it was. I actually feel that in maybe another month I’ll be confident enough to shop my work around and have everything I need to do so. Jerry is great, he’s supportive and really gets into your writing. He’s been a writer on tv shows and knows what is being looked for and in addition to practical structural advice his anecdotes are entertaining. The 3 hour class goes by fast and I wish it was twice a week instead of just once.
So with all of that gushing why just 4 stars? For a reason that I admit is completely outside the locus of control of the studio or instructor but effects the experience just the same and that is the other students. This class is run like a writers room (yet another plus because now you’ll have some idea what to expect if you ever get a job wiring for a show!) and participation is key. The other students have to show up, have to have read the work people submitted for that week and have to speak up to make the process work. Duds who don’t have much to say, those who don’t bother to read their classmates work and/​or poor attendance can sink a class. Fortunately while there were a few problems like that I didn’t have much of that in my class and those that were consistent and energetic more than made up for it. I’d rather run my idea by 5 great people than 10 duds or even mediocre people. Low attendance a couple times due to this NYC winter but there’s the Skype option and some people used it and were able to not only view the class but participate which is great, especially if you’re the one presenting that night. Classes are also recorded via Ustream so you can go back and watch them, again great if you presented and want to make sure you heard all the feedback being given to you. I was with a mostly great bunch of people who cared enough to challenge my writing ideas which is what you need to improve. I’d recommend and intend to take another class @Jacob Kruegar in the future!

This was an amazing class. I recommend this class to not just aspiring writers, but to actors, directors, and writers with years of experience.
Jake has a great way of making you relax and take a step back and look at your work in a subjective way. He helped me see that ANYTHING can work, no matter how stuck in the mud you think you are. The «Write Your Screenplay» class taught me certain steps to take only when needed, only when the work starts to lag or get stuck, Jake offers some amazing insights that help you get through the project.
There will be rewrites, revisions, multiple drafts. And through these processes you can use Jakes class to just give you that little boost, even if it’s just his indelible homework assignment (write for 7 minutes, everyday).
Any story can work, Jake will help you find that confidence. At least, that’s what he did for me.

Jake is such an amazing teacher — incredibly knowledgeable and happy to share his experience. I have yet to see another teacher be so supportive and engaging. His classes are very interactive, and geared towards students’ needs. They cover the basis of screenwriting and are easily followed, with lots of helpful exercises. The class atmosphere is very friendly, and community support is fostered. Cannot recommend it enough.

I’m in LA and tried some classes here, nothing too bad, but nothing really struck home and gave me a good vibe, they were really formulaic and cut and paste. Jacob does not teach that way. There IS structure because, hey, it’s an industry and producers WANT structure and formulas to help them get through hundreds of scripts a week. But that’s something to think about at the end of the process, not in the beginning when figuring out story and characters is key.
Jacob is passionate, energetic, and most importantly cares about everyone in his class walking away feeling better about writing. It was a pleasure being a part of it all, even as an online student stuck in LA. I loved it so much, I signed up for his Pro-​Track 6 month workshop to finish off my current script.
If you’re looking for a competitively priced class that will help you become a great writer, then this is the program for you!

I live in California where taking great writing classes is relatively difficult excepting that Jessica Hinds, who teaches at Jacob Krueger Studio is absolutely amazing on Skype. Jessica is so passionate about both the art and craft of writing. I swear that when I am in conversation with her it’s like we are sitting in the same room. Generous with her online time, I am certain she is spending many additional hours going over student pages and finding ways to develop talent in a positive, encouraging, enlightening environment. She is a great writer herself, I have seen three of her many stage plays produced in NYC and clearly her experience with her own work is a great contribution to her teaching skills. I cannot imagine that you could get a better instructor or find your own efforts improving so quickly as by taking a class from Jessica Hinds at the Jacob Krueger Studio.

Love Jake! I have never experienced a teacher so dedicated to his students/​class. He really aims to support you artistically but also emotionally. And to this day I never met a teacher/​film person with Jake’s understanding of story, character, writing and writers. He is so smart! He is a writer himself, which you think should be assumed in a writing class. I am always flabbergasted by writing classes not taught by writers. I dropped out of an NYU SCPS class taught by such a person. And it was obvious. And he (Jake) has had a theatrically released movie on t.v. There are many working screenwriters, few who have had produced films. That is a testament to his incredible talent. I did a lot of my best stuff in Jake’s class. And I to this day use many of the exercises he taught. And not to mention his charisma! Which I believe stems from his passion. I am now in a class that is pretty darn dry. Experiencing Jake made me realize that much of teaching is performance or rather presence, otherwise read the book if there is one. Also, as a great plus, especially for someone who is for the most part a writing class drop out, he lets you try his classes for $ 5. Or at least he use to. I tried his meditation class on a $ 5 try before you buy and it really provided the missing key to my main character. And this was just one class. It was the piece that elevated my story from a stereotype to an actual character with a known driving force.
Jake is a teacher who loves teaching! He is not pretending to b/​c he can’t make enough money doing what he actually wants to do.