Steve Kaplan
Special guest
For years, Steve Kaplan has been the industry's most respected and sought-after expert on comedy. His first book, The Hidden Tools of Comedy is a best-seller in its field, and his next book, The Comic Hero's Journey: Serious Story Structure for Fabulously Funny Films will be published this fall.
In addition to having taught at UCLA, NYU, Yale and other top universities, Steve Kaplan created the HBO Workspace, the HBO New Writers Program and was co-founder and Artistic Director of Manhattan Punch Line Theatre. In addition to development projects for HBO, he has taught workshops at companies such as DreamWorks, Disney Animation, Aardman Animation, others.
In New York, Steve was co-founder and Artistic Director of Manhattan Punch Line Theatre, where he developed writers such as Peter Tolan (Analyze This, Finding Amanda), writer and producer David Crane (Friends, Joey, The Class), writer/producer Tracy Poust (Ugly Betty, Will & Grace), Michael Patrick King (The Comeback, Sex and The City, Will & Grace), David Ives (All In The Timing), Will Scheffer (Big Love), Steve Skrovan (Everybody Loves Raymond) Howard Korder (Lakeview Terrace), and Mark O'Donnell (Hairspray) and introduced such performers as Lewis Black, Nathan Lane, John Leguizamo, Mercedes Ruehl and Oliver Platt.
In Los Angeles, he created the HBO New Writers Project, discovering HBO Pictures screenwriter Will Scheffer and performer/writer Sandra Tsing Loh; and the HBO Workspace, a developmental workshop in Hollywood that introduced and presented performers such as Jack Black and Tenacious D, Kathy Griffin, Bob Odenkirk and David Cross (Mr. Show), Josh Malina and Paul F. Tompkins. At the Workspace, he was Executive Producer for the award-winning HBO Original Programming documentary DROP DEAD GORGEOUS. Steve has directed in regional theaters and Off-Broadway (including Sandra Tsing Loh's ALIENS IN AMERICA at Second Stage)
In addition to private coaching and one-on-one consultations, Steve has taught his Comedy Intensive workshops to thousands of students around the world, including Los Angeles, New York, London, and Brussels. Upcoming seminars and workshops will be presented in Los Angeles, London, and Istanbul. https://www.kaplancomedy.com/
Steve Kaplan has been a guest on 1 episode.
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Steve Kaplan: The Comic Hero's Journey
March 2nd, 2019 | 1 hr 12 secs
carleena angwin, chris vogler, comedy, comic hero's journey, disney, hbo, hero's journey, joseph campbell, mental health, screenwriting, sony, stand up, steve kaplan, the carleena show, writing
Steve Kaplan is a comedy consultant for HBO, Disney, DreamWorks, Sony, and many other media companies. He teaches his signature Comedy Intensive Workshops around the world, and is the author of The Hidden Tools of Comedy and The Comic Hero's Journey. Today on the show, Kaplan explains how the Comic Hero's Journey differs from the classic Hero's Journey. “Characters in comedies don’t want to change. They want to stay the same,” Kaplan says. We also discuss drawing from personal experiences to create comedy.
Connect with Steve Kaplan https://www.kaplancomedy.com/
The Carleena Show features in-depth conversations with guests from around the world. Host Carleena Angwin is a writer, public health professional, and former Peace Corps Volunteer based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. https://carleena.fireside.fm/