Teaching

"Christopher is genuinely caring and interested in each of his students. The atmosphere he creates in his workshops extends trust, challenge, and sincerity. He blends humor with honesty, and each student feels he or she is essential to the success of the workshop."

See current and upcoming workshops >

Faculty

TC3/SUNY Creative Writing Faculty (New York: 2023 - present)

Teaching undergraduate classes in screenwriting with the Tompkins Cortland Community College Creative Writing department.

Writing Workshops Los Angeles Faculty (Los Angeles, CA: 2016 - present)

Leading workshops in beginning and intermediate fiction, story structure, flash fiction, and "The Art of the Short Story."

Idyllwild Arts Academy Arts Faculty (Idyllwild, CA: 2017-2018)

Instructor in Creative Writing, teaching flash fiction and writing for television.

University of California, Riverside Faculty (Riverside, CA: 2017)

Lecturer in the University Writing Program at UCR.

California State Summer School for the Arts (CSSSA) Faculty / Chair of Creative Writing (Valencia, CA: 2012 / 2016)

Department chair and instructor in fiction and screenwriting.

The Eckleburg Workshops Creative Writing Faculty (2015)

Various month-long online workshops in creative writing. Affiliated with The Doctor T. J. Eckleburg Review, the literary arts journal based at The Johns Hopkins University.

Workshops and Guest Lectures

Arts Enterprise Laboratory Masterclass in Flash Fiction Idyllwild, CA: February 2018

A one-week intensive in the art and magic of writing flash fiction, hosted at the Idyllwild Arts Academy and funded by an AEL grant.

Story Expo Los Angeles, CA: September 2016

Leading workshops in outlining for fiction writers and screenwriters.

Generating Authentic Ideas (The International Screenwriters' Association - ISA: August 1, 2015)

A one-day workshop in how to tap into your unconscious and your personal history to create stories that only you can tell. Hosted by the International Screenwriters' Association.

Script Frenzy is Dead. Long Live Script Frenzy! (Pasadena: April 2015)

A month of guided exercises, free-writing, and workshopping to help develop a feature, TV pilot, or play.

Artizen Lab: Idea Jam! (Music Center of Los Angeles: January 2015)

Two days of creativity coaching for "Artizen Lab," helping citizen-artists to create projects that improve their communities. Hosted by The Music Center of Los Angeles.

Monsters in the Woods (Los Angeles: Fall 2014)

A one-day intensive, including a series of unnerving exercises to generate material for new and in-progress horror stories.

The San Pedro Postcard Project(Music Center of Los Angeles: Fall 2014)

Two days of interviews, freewriting exercises, and photography to chronicle the nonfiction narratives of the people of San Pedro. Part of the "Pop-Up Museum" series at the Music Center of Los Angeles. Funded by the James Irvine Foundation.

Storytelling Yourself: Personal Branding in the Digital AgeUCLA (Los Angeles: Summer 2014)

A one-day workshop in using storytelling techniques to improve social influence in digital media. Hosted by The Key Worldwide 2014 UCLA Summer Workshop.

Heroes' Journeys: Using Mythic Structures to Improve Your Fiction and Screenwriting (Los Angeles: Fall 2013)

A six-week writing workshop that uses the "Hero's Journey" to clarify new creative writing.

"Script in a Month" Intensive Screenwriting Workshop. (Los Angeles: Spring 2012)

A six-week workshop at The Brewery Art Complex, with Dorie Barton of Development Girl.

Blogging Art Sotheby's Insitute of Art (New York: Spring 2011)

Guest lectures at the Sotheby's Insitute of Art on blogging about art.

Dynamic AdvertisingSchool of Visual Arts (New York: Spring 2010)

Visiting instructor on new media and its use in contemporary advertising. With Bob Giraldi.

Writing for the InternetEmerson College (Boston: Spring 2010)

Guest lectures at Emerson College, hosted by Emerson's Social Media Committee and the Vice President of Marketing and Communications, and focusing on the art of writing for blogs, Twitter, and other social media platforms.

Teaching Assistanceships

The Frankfurt School (New York: The New School)
Intro to Media Studies (New York: The New School, professor Martin Roberts)
Aesthetics and Politics (Valencia, CA: CalArts, professor Sande Cohen)

Education

  • Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. Certificate in AI Strategy
  • Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA. Post-grad coursework in Cognitive Science
  • The New School, New York, NY. Post-grad coursework in Media Studies and Philosophy
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA. Post-grad coursework in Communications and Media Studies
  • California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA. MFA: Creative Writing and Theatre
  • Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. BA: Philosophy and Theatre Arts