Our Story
Save the Cat!® began with an effort to capture the shared language of storytelling: the shorthand working writers and industry professionals use to shape, evaluate, and strengthen narrative.
Over time, that language became more than a book. It became a framework that storytellers around the world use to clarify ideas, structure transformation, and communicate narrative with precision.
Today, in collaboration with Blake Snyder’s estate, we continue to steward and evolve the Save the Cat! method with a clear mission: to help people become better storytellers.
The language of Save the Cat! is now heard in writers’ rooms, classrooms, production offices, corporate teams, and personal narratives. From novels and films to business storytelling and essays, the method continues to shape how stories are built and understood.
We exist to strengthen the craft, expand access to the language of storytelling, and improve the odds that meaningful stories are clearly told and widely heard.
The work continues.
Our Team
Supporting storytellers at every stage of the craft
BRETT JAY (BJ) MARKEL
CEO/Partner
BJ Markel started his career as an apprentice in summer stock. He began his film acquisitions career in the earliest days of pay television, working for Dore Schary’s TheatreVision, Optical System’s Channel 100, and Cinemerica. He headed up acquisitions at the launch of the Disney Channel, responsible for over one third of the Channel’s programming.
BJ moved from pay tv into home video acquisitions at such companies as USA Home Entertainment, Fries Entertainment, and Avon. He switched from acquiring product to marketing product, eventually landing again at Disney, where he headed the copywriting team at Disney Parks & Resorts Digital—responsible for all text on more than 20 sites and apps, including disneyland.com, disneyworld.com, and disneycruiseline.com. BJ retired from Disney in 2020 after 18 years.
BJ first worked with screenwriter Blake Snyder in 1986. In 2004, BJ edited Blake’s first book, Save the Cat!®, which was published in 2005. That year, BJ and Blake cofounded Blake Snyder Enterprises. BJ has edited Blake’s other 2 books and the 6 Save the Cat! film and TV books that have followed.
BJ attended Bowdoin College and graduated with a BA in the History of Theatre and Film from Washington Square College of New York University. He also holds a JD from Southwestern University of Law in Los Angeles.
JASON KOLINSKY
CMO/Partner
Jason Kolinsky leads brand strategy, product development, and global growth for one of the most influential storytelling frameworks in the world: Save the Cat!
Story has been a constant in Jason’s life. He grew up working at his father’s video store, absorbing movies across every genre and era—instinctively learning structure, character, and emotional payoff long before he knew those terms existed. That early immersion in story eventually evolved into a career built on shaping narratives that move people.
Jason went on to become an award-winning marketing leader, earning Cannes Lions and other international honors while holding senior roles at world-class global communication agencies including McCann Worldgroup and BBDO. Over the course of his agency career, he helped build brands by combining strategic precision with emotional insight, crafting campaigns that didn’t just communicate, but connected.
At Save the Cat!, Jason brings that same philosophy to the storytelling world. As CMO and co-owner, he focuses on expanding the brand’s global reach while modernizing its tools and services for today’s writers.
Jason believes great storytelling isn’t formulaic; it’s intentional. And when structure and emotion work together, stories resonate, endure, and inspire.
JAMIE NASH
Author/Instructor
Jamie Nash is the author of Save the Cat! Writes for TV, Save the Cat! Writes Horror, and the Save the Cat! Beat Sheet Workbook. A working screenwriter, novelist, and director, Jamie has written and sold nearly every type of story under the sun, including the horror films Exists, V/H/S/2, The Night Watchmen, Altered, and Lovely Molly; the family films Santa Hunters, Tiny Christmas, and the animated feature Mission Santa: YoYo to the Rescue; the middle grade novels Monster Stompers and The 44 Rules of Amateur Sleuthing; the sci-fi horror novel Nomad; and the horror novel Haunted Girl. He has also directed the horror features Comedy of Horrors (the “Fun With Furklee” segment), Last Night at Terrace Lanes, and Two Front Teeth.
Jamie teaches screenwriting at the Maryland Institute College of the Arts (MICA) and co-hosts the podcast Writers/Blockbusters. He lives in Maryland with his wife, son, and a talking dog.
JENNIFER ZHANG
Author/Instructor
Jennifer Zhang trained directly with Blake Snyder in both his beat sheet workshops and master classes. In 2025, she wrote, produced, and directed her feature Truebadour, executive produced by Jamie Lee Curtis. Since her ambitious solo-effort film, Charon, in 2021, Jennifer’s career has shifted into high gear. Her 2022 short film Fetish won the $30,000 Panavision-sponsored grand prize at the celebrated Micheaux Film Festival and continued on to become Oscar-qualified. Jennifer’s 2023 science fiction short Autopilot has taken top honors across the festival circuit, including the “Audience Award” with AMC/Shudder’s Etheria Film Night and “Best Science Fiction Short” at the Blue Planet Science Fiction Film Festival — China’s biggest and most prestigious science fiction festival.
JESSICA BRODY
Author/Instructor
Jessica Brody is the author of the #1 bestselling Save the Cat! Writes a Novel plotting guides the forthcoming Page One to Done (Hay House, May 2026), as well as the founder of Writing Mastery, which is dedicated to helping fiction writers unlock their full potential. She has also written over 20 novels for teens, tweens, and adults including The Chaos of Standing Still, A Week of Mondays, Amelia Gray is Almost Okay, the Unremembered trilogy, and the System Divine trilogy. Her debut mystery novel, How to Write a Murder, releases in September 2026 from Bantam Dell/Random House. Her books have been translated and published in over 20 languages and several have been optioned for film and television. She lives with her husband and dogs near Portland, OR.
MATT ALLEN
Instructor/Contributor
Matt R. Allen is a highly accomplished screenwriter, producer, and emerging prompt engineer. With a career spanning over two decades, Matt has earned widespread recognition for co-writing such films as Four Christmases, Soul Surfer, Mighty Oak, and Block Party. In 2025, Matt served as Executive Producer and Screenwriting Consultant on two feature films released by BET+: Holy Hustle and Son of the Preacher.
As Matt continues to break new ground in storytelling, pioneering new approaches, his unwavering passion for his craft, combined with a keen eye for industry trends, keeps him at the forefront of modern screenwriting and production.
Matt has been a member of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) for over 20 years.
JOHN YEARLEY
Instructor/Contributor
John Yearley is a TV writer, playwright, and screenwriter who teaches Screenwriting at Drexel University and Playwriting and TV Writing at Temple University. He has worked as a script doctor for New Line Cinema and has written for Arthur and Treasure Trekkers. As a playwright, John has won the Mickey Kaplan New American Play Prize (Ephemera), the John Gassner Award (Leap), and the Macy’s New Play Prize for Young Audiences (The Last Wish). His latest play, Triptych, ran at The Barrow Group in NYC in 2024. John is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Writers Guild, and is a two-time MacDowell Fellow.
CORY MILLES
Instructor/Contributor
Cory Milles is the author of the Young Adult novels Redemption, Paradox, Legacy, New Miller’s Grove, and The Reboot. He has a passion for helping writers develop their story ideas, beat sheets, and scripts in consultations. As he manages the Save the Cat! Screenplay Challenge, he gets to experience the excitement of watching writers receive powerful feedback from the contest readers. In his spare time, when he’s not writing or reading, he can be found listening to movie scores or 3D printing life-sized Star Wars droids.
SHARI SIMPSON
Contributor
Shari Simpson is an author and screenwriter who penned the middle-grade novel Sam Saves the Night and the chapter book series The Sugar Rush Racers (Disney Hyperion Books). She co-wrote the Disney Channel Original Movie The Swap, the Hallmark Channel films Color My World with Love and the upcoming Return to Sender, and the upcoming feature film An Ironman: The Chris and Nik Nikic Story with long-time partner, Charlie Shahnaian. Shari is a pug fanatic who runs the popular Instagram account @pugpeopletales and tries to sneak a pug character into all her work, whether the work calls for it or not. She lives with her husband, children, and of course, two pugs, in Hoboken, NJ.
MARILYN BRANT
Contributor
Marilyn Brant is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of contemporary women’s fiction, romantic comedy, and mystery. Her debut novel, According to Jane, won the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart® Award, and she was honored to be named Author of the Year by the Illinois Association of Teachers of English. She’s a lifelong Jane Austen fan with a passion for spies and secret codes. She also loves travel, music, chocolate, and analyzing novels for Save the Cat! Her latest releases include the romantic spy comedy, The Secret Life of Maggie Blake, and the Italian-set romance, Not Another Roman Holiday. Marilyn lives in the northern Chicago suburbs with her family, reading her way through an enormous tower of books and dreaming up ideas for future stories.
TRICIA NELSON
Contributor
Tricia Nelson is a creative director, XR/emerging media storyteller, Webby Award-winning podcast producer, and 2025 graduate of the TV + Screenwriting MFA program at Stephens College/Conservatory of the Performing Arts. She is enthusiastic about all things Disney, eclipse chasing, earning her next martial arts belt, and pugs. A native New Yorker, Tricia is a bonafide a Valley Girl who proudly calls Burbank, Calif. home.
PAUL SANCHEZ IV
Contributor
Paul Sanchez IV is a filmmaker, screenwriter, musician, and educator. As a teen he found his tribe in the punk and straight-edge scenes, co-founding an all-ages club with Moby and later touring with him as his keyboardist. Paul’s autobiographical pilot AV’82 was selected for the 2024 Sundance Episodic Lab, he is a Rideback Circle member, and he penned the LIFETIME movie Fatherly Obsession. His films—including Modulations, Onion Underwater, and Babyteeth (currently in the festival circuit)—have screened internationally. Paul attended NYU’s Tisch and holds degrees from SUNY Purchase and AFI. He is a father, spouse, and teacher and has recently co-founded the Climate Change Doc Fund to support much needed awareness about climate change.
BEN FRAHM
Author/Contributor
Ben Frahm worked as a story editor and director of development for Blake Snyder and led the original Save the Cat! New York City writing workshops. Ben began his professional career selling the script “Dr. Sensitive” to Universal Studios and served as a story consultant on How to Train Your Dragon. Most recently he optioned a script, “48 Hours in Vegas,” to Imagine Entertainment. Ben has also written for the television show DesEncontros for Sony Entertainment Television. Ben is a tenure-track assistant professor in the television, radio, and film program at the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Ben has developed a class at Newhouse called The Writers’ Room, where students write spec screenplays for Hulu, under the development deal of Jeremy Garelick at American High. Ben earned a B.S. in human development from Cornell University and an M.F.A. in screenwriting from UCLA. He is a member of the Writers Guild of America, East, and lives in Ithaca, New York with his wife and two sons.
SCOTT HIGGINS
Creative Director
Scott Higgins is an Advertising Creative and Designer with over 20 years experience. He has worked for a broad spectrum of clients ranging from cloud services to candy bars and won awards for every major medium in the industry. Scott studied at Colby College and the Miami Ad School and is very aware how different those 2 institutions are. He is a strong advocate for original storytelling and a proud supporter of the STC mission.
Accolades
They’re calling it the Save the Cat!® Beat Sheet Workbook, but I see it more as a PLAYbook—both in the sense that it provides a schematic for generating compelling, intimate stories, while also making a sometimes brutal, unwieldy process PLAYFUL and FUN. A book that can do all that has certainly earned its place on any screenwriter’s shelf.
There’s joy in TV Land! As a longtime user and fan of Save the Cat!, I’ve found Jamie Nash has shifted the focus (without losing the principles) of Blake Snyder’s groundbreaking work, creating a whole new way to look at developing television series that’s filled with insight, ingenuity, and a generous sprinkling of humor. A new must-read for newcomers to the field and veterans looking to shake up their process.
I had these amazing behaviors and anecdotes, but I didn’t have characters or story. So, I literally read Save the Cat!
All screenwriters should read Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat!
Writing How to Train Your Dragon, our first step was to lay out our concept according to Blake’s Beat Sheet, and from there, we laid out the detailed structure. The Board became our foundation, and we never veered from it as we felt our way through the moments of the story. I’m a big believer in Blake’s approach because everything he teaches was proven true in the years of story work I did prior to reading Save the Cat! The theories he touches upon are undeniable, universal truths of human storytelling, and Blake did us all a huge favor by putting them in a digestible form that people can immediately use and rely upon.
Blake’s genius isn’t in telling how to write movies—i.e., laying down cliched dictates of what has to happen on each page—but rather, it’s the way he teaches you how to think about writing movies.
Save the Cat Writes for TV will be by my side the next time I’m staring at a blank screen and wondering, “How do I do this again?” Eye-opening and inspirational, Jamie Nash’s book is an invaluable tool for anyone—from first-time writers to pros like me.
Blake Snyder would be so proud of Save the Cat! Writes for TV because like all his books, it cuts straight to the truth: No matter where you are in your TV writing career, a newbie or a 25+ year veteran (me), you need to write a fresh, new pilot. Author Jamie Nash uses Blake’s life-changing beat sheet and adjusts it for TV’s “wonkiness.” Whether you’re writing a comedy or drama for network, cable, or streaming, this book with its thought-provoking exercises, sage advice, and beat sheets from successful TV shows will definitely get you closer to FADEOUT… and quite possibly your own TV show!
Save the Cat!® Writes Horror takes the dread out of writing horror and replaces it with tools that are not only practical but wildly inspiring. It’s like having a co-writer who knows exactly how to unlock the fear in your story and the fun in your process. A must-have for horror fans and creators alike.
Ready to Become a Better Storyteller?
The Save the Cat!® method and Software gives you a clear path from idea to finished story — one step at a time.
