Can extremophiles save the cat?

Our next dinner salon and creative science-writing workshop is coming up on Thursday, 9 January—with biotechnology filmmaker and novelist Nina Pulkkis.

Telling science stories can take the basic form of a “why / how / what” presentation, or the more ambitious form of a “story grid”, like the kind that bestselling writers use in nonfiction books, thrillers, and Hollywood films—one popular version is the “Save the Cat” technique of gridding out a story from 15 key events, or “beats”. As a science storyteller, Nina Pulkkis is deeply engaged in both the “why / how / what” form with her documentary short films, and now in the “Save the Cat” story-grid form as she develops a new project featuring the biotechnology of extremophiles.

At our January meeting, Nina will talk with us about her different approaches to science communication, and explain how she is currently using the “Save the Cat” approach to structure her story about biotechnology. We’ll then workshop a draft section from her work-in-progress.

Nina Pulkkis directed the documentary film series The Future of Finland, winner at the 2016 Life Sciences Film Festival in Prague (the series featured as its on-screen host NeuWrite Nordic advisory board member Howy Jacobs). Nina is the documentary and production lead of the science-communication media company Photino.

Image: Rendition of extremophile bacteria overlaid on the cover image from the book Save the Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting that You’ll Ever Need by Blake Snyder.