Don’t just be someone with a story, be someone with a screenplay.

Start your writing journey today.

Who am I?

I’m a professional writer, story liner and screenwriting coach with more than 30 years’ experience writing for television, film, theatre and radio. I’ve written for soap operas in Welsh and English, for BBC and HTV. Was the lead writer on the S4C drama Caerdydd and I’ve written hundreds of hours of radio drama. I have numerous other screenplay credits and stage productions to my name so I know how to write stories.

I don’t just teach screenwriting theory I’ll teach you practical steps that will get your story down on paper. I know how difficult it is to turn an idea into a great script—and how to solve the problems that inevitably arise along the way. My coaching gives you the practical tools, honest feedback and professional insight you need to develop your story, strengthen your script and, most importantly, finish it.

Alongside my professional writing career, I led the MA Screenwriting program at the University of South Wales and have taught screenwriting at The Lir in Dublin. I’m also a graduate of the EAVE and Arista, European filmmaking courses.

From Fuzz to Focus

The complete course offers you a strategy that will get you from your initial idea to a finished draft.

It comes in three parts and all three parts can be followed separately or consecutively.

Part 1 - Finding your story

Your story forms the back bone of this ten week course. That spark in your head can become an industry formatted short script. We’ll cover Ideas, Character, Dialogue, Theme, Beginnings, Middles, Endings, Show Don’t Tell and Readability.

More details here

Start date -Sept 28th 2026

Cost £250

Part 1 - Finding your story

£250.00

Part 2 - Strengthening your story

Now you’ve got a story let’s focus on making it stronger with a deeper dive into why stories work. By looking at act structures, beats, sequences and scenes you’ll discover how to shape your story into a compelling feature-length screenplay.

More details here

Start date -Jan 2027

Cost £250

Part 2 - Strengthen your story

£250.00

Part 3 - Pitching your story

Take your story from a great idea to an industry-ready proposition. Learn how to create compelling loglines, pitches and treatments. Gaining the skills, materials and confidence to present your story professionally giving it the best possible chance of getting noticed.

More details here

Start date -Apr 2027

Cost £250

Part 3 - Pitching your story

£250.00

Testimonials

"This course is the perfect start to getting your film down on the page. The writing tasks focus your attention on doing not talking about doing. The class was really supportive of each other and that comes from the tutor. Signing up for the next one!"

Oonagh, Ireland
"I really enjoyed the screenwriting course. Stapes’ guidance really helped me to structure ideas and create characters and get it down on paper. Before this course I didn't know where to start. Now I feel like I can continue writing with direction. Thanks Stapes"

Clare, Ireland
"I enjoyed taking Ian Staples class on ScreenWriting. It was well structured and each week we focused on a different writing skill important for storytelling. He gave great examples and we worked through award winning scripts and then we did practical writing workshops to help develop these skills. It was really impressive to see the group grow throughout the weeks and see how our storytelling improved from week to week. I would thoroughly recommend Ian as a teacher."

Jonathan, Canada
"Stapes is a brilliant teacher, he's really knowledgeable and explains things really well. He makes the classes fun and brings out the best in people and their writing. I'd highly recommend anyone to take one of his courses."

Rachel, Ireland
"Ian Staples was knowledgeable, articulate, and provided insightful feedback."

Kevin, Ireland
"Stapes is an incredibly supportive and compasionative tutor that i would highly recommend to gain more knowledge and understanding in the art of screenwriting. He has helped me come up with new ways and ideas to implement into creating a film or series, while supporting me with a detailed system on how to make great, effective and long lasting impacts with his teachings. I hope that he is succsessful with his upcoming projects and to make the time to help others shows that he is sincerely dedicated to his work, and an incredibley experienced, reliable and talented teacher."

Eoin, Ireland
"Approachable detailed oriented and authentically cares about teaching."

David, Wales
"I really enjoyed the Screenwriting Course, and I loved Stapes teaching style! I feel he really cares a lot about writing and also about teaching. It was a very safe and supportive learning environment where I felt very comfortable and welcomed to ask questions. I learned a lot of valuable knowledge and the things that I was looking for when it comes to my writing process. I believe all this information will really help me on my journey in making my future projects come to life."

Mallory, Ireland
"Hi Stapes. I just wanted to say thank you for this amazing course. I knew nothing about screenwriting before I started and learned so much. I thoroughly enjoyed every session and was really challenged - in a very good way. I can't believe I finished the first draft of something!"

Carol, Ireland

Course details

Part 1 - Finding your story - (Mondays - 1900-2100 GMT) Starting Sept 28th 2026

Part 2 - Strengthening your story - (Tuesdays - 1900-2100 GMT)

Part 3 - Pitching your story - (Wednesdays - 1900-2100 GMT)

Don’t just be someone with a story, be someone with a screenplay.

Start your writing journey today.

Who am I?

From Fuzz to Focus

"This course is the perfect start to getting your film down on the page. The writing tasks focus your attention on doing not talking about doing. The class was really supportive of each other and that comes from the tutor. Signing up for the next one!"

"I really enjoyed the screenwriting course. Stapes’ guidance really helped me to structure ideas and create characters and get it down on paper. Before this course I didn't know where to start. Now I feel like I can continue writing with direction. Thanks Stapes"

"Stapes is a brilliant teacher, he's really knowledgeable and explains things really well. He makes the classes fun and brings out the best in people and their writing. I'd highly recommend anyone to take one of his courses."

"Ian Staples was knowledgeable, articulate, and provided insightful feedback."

"Approachable detailed oriented and authentically cares about teaching."

"Hi Stapes. I just wanted to say thank you for this amazing course. I knew nothing about screenwriting before I started and learned so much. I thoroughly enjoyed every session and was really challenged - in a very good way. I can't believe I finished the first draft of something!"

Course details