Ben Young.

The Backlot Perth and the Perth Actors Centre will present a two day masterclass with internationally-acclaimed writer and director, Ben Young.

Held over two Saturdays, the masterclass is suitable for writers, directors and actors with the principal focus of developing an idea for a feature length film with the goal that by the completion of the workshop attendees will have the tools and understanding of how to begin writing, or rewriting their feature length screenplay.

The aim of the workshop is to help filmmakers and writers better understand structure and character in order for them to write better screenplays, craft better characters, and develop a style of direction that services the story, actors and production crew.

Over the course of the two days, students will be provided the opportunity to share their exercises with the class and receive feedback from Ben and other attendees.

The information shared in the workshop is unavailable in this format anywhere else. It is a hybrid of techniques from dozens of books, workshops and most importantly Ben’s experience working on set and on writing for major international studios.

Ben has cherry picked the best of everything he has been exposed to over the years and will literally be sharing the process he uses to develop stories and approach directing.

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Ben Young is an award winning writer and director who began his career acting for screen at the age of 12. 

He completed a BA at Curtin University in 2003 and an MA at the WA Screen Academy in 2005. 

He has since directed music videos, commercials, fashion film, and written and/or directed series television.

Young’s 2016 feature debut, Hounds of Love, was funded through Screenwest’s West Coast Visions. Hounds of Love won numerous awards around the world, most notably at The Venice Film Festival. 

Ben’s second film Extinction premiered on Netflix in 2018 and featured Michael Pena and Lizzy Caplan. 

Ben directed a block of the Netflix series Clickbait in 2020 and the season final of the second season of Amazon’s The Wilds. 

His movie Devil’s Peak starring Billy Bob Thornton and Robin Wright will be released internationally later this year.

Part one of the masterclass will begin on Saturday, April 15 and continue on Saturday, April 22. Further details here.