On The Page

Pilar is fantastic! I highly recc all her classes, especially Coffee Break Screenwriter. She is insightful & an expert on story structure.

My screenwriting partner and I did an over-​the-​phone consultation with Pilar two years ago. I was amazed at her insight, enthusiasm, encouragement and constructive feedback about our script. Truly gifted at providing big notes as well as improving the tiniest details that get missed by others. And she makes it fun!
Last month, we had consultation with a first draft of a new story. I was hoping that our previous session wasn’t a fluke. After 90 minutes, I realized that this session was even stronger than the first. We left with our heads buzzing. Pilar not only tells you where to improve, you jointly brainstorm ideas. She’s like a coach that can draw up the game winning play on the fly. As writers, we still have to make the shot, through rewrite after rewrite, but it helps being in the right place to begin with. Pilar is an amazing talent and I highly recommend her.

I first encountered Pilar at a Creative Screenwriting Workshop (Beyond the Chick Flick) a few years ago and was so impressed by her knowledge and enthusiasm that I vowed to send my first script to her for a consultation. That consultation was so positive that I’ve sent her two other scripts; each consultation has resulted in major script improvements.
I also attended Pilar’s Weekly Workbook weekend class in San Francisco
and learned how to streamline my outlining process. I purchased the DVD and when I start a new script I just plug in the DVD for a quick review, so easy.
Pilar is one of the most positive and encouraging teachers I’ve had the pleasure to work with. I consider Pilar my personal writing mentor!

I just spent an hour on the phone, with Pilar, reviewing a script. Summary: A++. Pilar was upbeat, thoughtful, and incredibly insightful. She was cogniscent to keep the story and voice intact, while offering sage advice. She had notes on nearly every page. Her input was absolutely invaluable. I would and will use her again in a heartbeat.

I’ve worked with several story editors in the past, and Pilar is hands down the best. Beyond being a pleasure to work with, she understands how to integrate personal creativity with industry demands, providing feedback and suggestions that are original, and will sell. I would recommend her to anyone looking to move their script to the next level.

You would be so lucky… if you discovered Pilar and her workshops. I did. She is incredibly smart, supportive and focused on giving you the tools you need to succeed without making you jump through endless hoops. I was lucky enough to discover her early in my career and my first major script is going into production in just a few weeks and I am now in the WGA… in large part due to Pilar and her workshops. I don’t write reviews of services as a general rule, but like Pilar herself, there are exceptions. She rocks.
Do yourself a favor and take your shit to the next level

Pilar’s feedback was invaluable. She is great at focusing on the big picture and helped me hone in on areas where I was having problems with my script. She didn’t nitpick on typos (my mom can do that!) but instead provided suggestions to help me focus my characters, their intentions and motivations. She also provided excellent suggestions for trimming unnecessary scenes which will greatly improve the pacing. I know my next draft will be much tighter and have stronger character development because of her very insightful feedback.

I had a wonderful experience with On The Page and would highly recommend the class and Pilar as an instructor to anyone. I found On The Page through Groupon and in 6 weeks I went from knowing absolutely nothing about writing a screenplay to having a rough draft of my entire screenplay and completing the first pages of my story.
The techniques you will learn make the screenwriting process less daunting and equip you with the tools you need to create your log line, outline key beats, develop your characters and actually write the scenes. Many of the examples provided were very easy for me to understand and apply to my work. I particularly enjoyed the examples provided to the class showing how beats in The Wizard of Oz can be broken down in terms of goal, activity and complication. Pilar is very approachable, patient and clearly explains all concepts discussed in the class using pages from famous and up-​and-​coming writers as well as some «on the screen» examples from film and television to illustrate a particular lesson.
This class definitely helped me organize my thoughts and actually start writing out pages. Groupon definitely hooked me up with this find and I look forward to taking another class from Pilar as time/​life allows. I advise anyone toying around with the idea of writing a screenplay (or looking to revamp a completed screenplay) to give On The Page a shot.