9 weeks of Zoom check-ins for screenwriters seeking community, accountability, and real-world expert guidance to make meaningful progress on their screenwriting sample or career
For screenwriters of any experience level, a special edition of Momentum Group designed to keep you creative, thriving, and sane through the holidays and beyond :)
In the grand New Years tradition, here's an IN and OUT list...
OUT: scrambling to meet an arbitrary end-of-year deadline
IN: making manageable, intentional progress towards your vision!
OUT: giving up on your work because the holidays are too overwhelming
IN: continuing to attend to your creative projects with ease and joy!
OUT: spiraling about what didn't get accomplished in 2025
IN: compassionate reflection on your process and career and how to make them both easier and more fun!
OUT: feeling lonely or misunderstood around family who don't understand your work or career
IN: supportive friends who see you as a creative and witness your process!
OUT: spending all of January trying to restart your creative practice
IN: you have stayed in flow the whole time :)
December-January Momentum Group is a collective of screenwriters led by me, Julia Meltzer (more on me below). We will meet on Zoom every Monday night from 6:30-7:15pm PT and every Thursday morning from 10:30am-11:15am from December 1 - January 29th. Come to one or both meetings every week! Or come to no meetings, submit a question/progress report ahead of time, and watch the recordings! (No meetings on Christmas Day and New Years Day)
Everyone will create a target that they want to aim to complete by January 29th. You will also set individual weekly micro targets that propel you toward your big target. Every week everyone will report on their progress and bring any questions they have to Julia for troubleshooting.
If you can’t join live you can submit a question/conundrum/progress report ahead of time.
Your screenwriting journey from December 1st to January 29th will be witnessed by the group and you will feel powerful (!!!!)
There is also a community message board where you will connect with Julia and your fellow students in between sessions. Engagement on the message board is gamified with weekly challenges and leaderboard, and the WINNER each week will get A $10 GIFT CARD TO THE COFFEE SHOP OF THEIR CHOICE (!!!!!!!! 😱🤯)
You also get 50% off all my digital courses and expanded availability for 1:1 coaching with me for the duration of the Momentum Group.
There's also a BIG CONTEST: everyone who has perfect attendance (or submits a question if they can't attend) and MEETS THE GOAL they set at the beginning of the Momentum Group will be entered into a lottery to win a Breakthrough Session with Julia (3+ hours, normally $750).
"Working with Julia feels like having a script doula. She creates such a safe, nurturing space that you feel held while tackling the hardest parts of writing. Her gentle but steady guidance carried me from the messy beginning through to the finish line, without ever losing my voice. She doesn’t just teach you how to write a script; she parents your process with patience, care, and insight until your story is fully born"
-Actor/Screenwriter
Why I Made This
I have been teaching screenwriters for two years now (eek!) and I’m always looking for the most efficient, fun way to get people the help they need at an affordable price point. This past summer, I taught a live cohort of my digital pilot course (Your Amazing Half-Hour Sample) - we met online every week for an hour for 9 weeks and guess what? IT WORKED GREAT.
- The students connected with and supported each other
- Weekly deadlines kept everyone making progress
- Students were able to bring their questions, concerns, and troubleshooting needs to me on the call and get my expert guidance
- It cost a lot less than a normal screenwriting class
- Students learned from hearing about each other’s processes without needing to sit on Zoom for 3 hours a week (there you go, you just got 2 hours back to spend on your writing project)
So I wanted to keep the party going and invite in writers at any stage of their process (including wanting help getting their finished script read and moving their career forward).
So then I created Autumn Momentum Group and THE SAME THING HAPPENED. Writers made huge progress on their projects and had fundamental, permanent breakthroughs about their process - just from meeting every week, reflecting and talking about it!
Writers formed supportive relationships that lived outside of class and independent of me :)
Writers took ownership over their own creative processes and career progress, getting help from me and support from the group when needed!
AND also, it was very fun. So we're doing it again!!
Autumn Momentum Group Member:
Autumn Momentum Group Member:
"Despite being a professional writer for over a decade, I have never finished a screenplay. Julia’s class and the other classmates have given me the warm support, cheerleading, mindful mentoring, and structure I needed to finally help me get to this next stage of my career. By the end of this class, I’ll be ready to cross that finish line, without a doubt! Sign up now and get some of that good stuff for yourself, too."
THE END OF THE YEAR
Over the past few years of examining and hacking my own writing process, and observing and supporting other writers, I have come to believe a few things deeply:
- inspiration is more powerful than pressure
- desire is more productive than compulsion
- enjoyable progress is preferable to a hard-to-come-by result
There's this energy around New Years that really threatens all of these beliefs, for myself included. Does anyone else notice this looming threat of "not getting enough done" by December 31st? Are you tempted to try to figure out how you can still finish that script or meet that goal by January? Are you in danger of feeling guilty about what didn't get done in 2025, and putting a lot of energy into TOTALLY CHANGING your ENTIRE LIFE for 2026?
Are you about to ruin your vacation????
I considered NOT doing any course for the end of the year -- telling everyone to shut their laptop, watch some Christmas movies and talk to me in January -- but that also wasn't the answer. I want to help you continue making progress towards your creative and professional vision in this time that REALLY lends itself to scrambling, guilt, and being spread too thin.
Hence, December January Momentum Group! I'm so excited to spend this time with you :) see you in there.
"Julia is a godsend. I always leave our sessions feeling motivated and reinvigorated. When she helps guide you to a solution that you can 100% achieve (and wonder how you didn't think of it sooner) it's kind of the same feeling you get after taking a hot shower and tucking yourself into fresh-from-the-dryer sheets."
-WGA Television Writer
Writer/Director
"Julia's class was a lifeline to me. I can say wholeheartedly I have truly never felt so safe or supported as a writer. By the end of her class, I had a full draft of a new TV Pilot. It's no surprise because I felt held and supported throughout the process from outlining to draft. Julia's gentle but extremely knowledgeable and advanced notes led to me finding the best version of my story."
Actress/Writer
"Julia is an incredible writing coach. Not only is she an excellent resource for structure and logic, but her approach is balanced with a gift for deep character work. She really meets you where you are and helps you to expand your personal voice, instilling confidence and meaning into the process. Whatever stage you are in with your project, Julia will illuminate the path and enrich the journey!"
Standup/Writer
"Taking Julia's class was the best thing I did for my writing. She is an incredibly thoughtful, inspiring and supportive teacher. Any roadblocks I ran into, she had a brilliant, insightful solution. I learned so much from her and the group dynamic she fosters. Can't recommend taking her class enough!"
Here's what's included...
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16 live check-in/Q&A calls on Zoom from December 1 to January 29 (join live or submit progress/questions ahead of time and watch recording)
- Mondays 6:30pm-7:15pm PT 12/1, 12/8, 12/15, 12/22, 12/29, 1/5, 1/12, 1/19, 1/26
- Thursdays 10:30am-11:15am PT 12/4, 12/11, 12/18, [skips Christmas Day and New Years Day], 1/8, 1/15, 1/22, 1/29
- Mondays 6:30pm-7:15pm PT 12/1, 12/8, 12/15, 12/22, 12/29, 1/5, 1/12, 1/19, 1/26
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access to community message board (with gamified engagement and prizes :-)
-
50% discount on Julia online classes and expanded availability for 1:1 coaching
- chance to enter contest to win a FREE Breakthrough Session with Julia (must attend or submit a question for at least one session/week and complete your 9-week goal)
You'll walk away with...
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two months of productive, enlightening, fun screenwriting behind you
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Lifelong friends?????
This is for you if...
- You're seeking deadlines, group momentum, and accountability
- You're ready to hone your own taste and take control of your process and material
This is not for you if...
- You are looking for a structured curriculum with the whole group working on similar things
- You will be unable to move forward without Julia "signing off on" your work (if so, check out 1:1 coaching!)
Writer
"Not everyone who can “do” can teach, but dear God, can this woman teach. I wish I’d found her 15 years ago; it would’ve saved me a lot of heartache. Julia is an intuitive and prepared teacher. She isn't stingy or self-indulgent with her thoughts. There’s literally no ego—she just wants you to succeed!
On top of her preparedness, she is straight-up talented. I’m in awe of the warp speeds at which her brain moves, always thinking of fresh perspectives and multiple angles. She’s direct while being kind and open-minded. Her willingness to engage in constructive dialogue is truly inspiring. She ensures that every participant feels heard, and I can confidently say that I have become a better writer and thinker because of her class. I saw tremendous growth in my classmates as well. From newbie writers to cynical professionals, anyone could benefit from Julia’s expertise."
Who am I?
I’m Julia - I’m a Los Angeles-based screenwriter, writing coach, and postpartum doula/lactation educator. I started my career in entertainment as a development assistant for Modern Family star Ty Burrell’s production company before selling my original multicam pilot YOURS, MINE & PAUL’S to 20th Century Fox Television in a competitive situation; it later sold to ABC with Burrell producing and Sarah Hyland attached to star. My next pilot, MARRIED WITH FRIENDS (also a multicam), sold to CBS in the room; I then went on to adapt the Israeli TV series THE STYLIST into a feature film for Amazon Local Originals. I also developed an original single cam pilot, MORE KIDS THAN PARENTS, with Fanfare Productions, and wrote on the scripted audio series THE GOOD LIFE (Broadway Video and Audible), and my original female-driven R-rated comedy feature THE TWIST is in development with Feigco. I also currently have TV projects in development with Shoot To Midnight (Leslye Headland), Loudmouth (Idina Menzel), and Miramax with Desert Whale (Ty Burrell).
During the 2023 writers’ strike, I staved off credit card debt (kind of) by teaching pilot writing classes through the Upright Citizens Brigade Training Center, and discovered that not only could I do, I could also teach :) I am now a sought-after screenwriting coach with an in-depth curriculum for three-act structure in half-hour pilots, and after observing my students’ challenges that could not be addressed by understanding how an effective pilot is structured, I developed tools to help screenwriters to overcome procrastination, writer’s block, and career stagnation. My coaching has been described “a magical drug,” “a godsend,” “perceptive as hell” and “legit brilliant.”
After struggling with my own writing practice after the birth of my son, I became passionate about parental wellness and empowering primary parents to share their creative voices with wide audiences, and created the groundbreaking New Parent Pilot Class, an incubator for parents of young children to create outstanding TV writing samples where their parenthood was seen as an asset, not a liability. This led to my training as a postpartum doula, lactation educator, matrescence educator, and parent coach. I care a lot about improving the wellbeing and general happiness levels of newborns and their parents :)
I have performed improv comedy at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade since 2015 and am now in the rotating cast of the theater’s flagship show ASSSSCAT. I have taught improv workshops for screenwriters through the Humanitas Foundation and USC School of Cinematic Arts’ Middle Eastern Media Initiative.
