Crime is a massively popular and commercially successful genre – and our fascination with it has deep cultural and psychological roots. Crime stories play on our fears, allow us into the dark places of the criminal mind – and permit us to test ourselves against those that hunt and investigate. But within ‘Crime' there are several subgenres each with their own set of principles and conventions. This one day ‘Crime Thrillers' course will look particularly at those stories that combine Detective or criminal protagonists with the action and suspense of the thriller, assess how these films are structured – and look at some of the ways that writers are moving the crime thriller genre on. By the end of the course you should have acquired a deeper knowledge of crime and detective stories, along with specific tips and techniques to further your own thriller scripts and ideas. The following films will be referred to in discussions; it is recommended that participants view them prior to the workshop: Seven, Silence of the Lambs, The Departed

The workshop is funded by Screen WM and led by Claire Ingham, Red Room Films