In Humanities Room 207, they were talking about movies.

Dressed in a white flowing blouse spotted with red flowers that perfectly matched her well-pleated slacks, nails and lipstick, the professor looked statuesque against the drab concrete walls of the classroom.

She explained to the class the difference between plot and arc. A character’s change drives decisions, which drives the plot.

They’re the elements that make up a story.

Kim Krizan likes stories.

She should. The 62-year-old Academy Award-nominated screenwriter is also an actor and a published author of books and comics. On Wednesdays, she lends her talents to El Camino College, teaching screenwriting from 6 to 9 p.m.

Returning student Helen Binstock admires Krizan’s teaching style.

“She’s receptive, makes everyone feel important and she lets everyone talk,” Binstock said. “I like the diversity of the class.”

Born in L.A. in 1962, Krizan grew up in the rolling hills of Tustin, Orange County, where her family lived on the edge of orange groves and strawberry fields. Her childhood “smelled like eucalyptus trees.”

As an only child with lots of alone time, she would lose herself in books, writing, drawing and her imagination, which she believes sparked her creativity.

“I also knew quite early on that I liked the idea of teaching,” she said. “It came naturally to me.”

She graduated from Tustin High School in 1979 but was never supposed to go to college.

Her mother, a strict Jehovah’s Witness, didn’t believe in it, as her church saw higher education as a waste.

She described her struggle with her mom’s religion as a battle, saying it was cult-like.

Krizan’s haven was community college.

She remembered sneaking into Saddleback College to take advantage of the professors, many of whom taught at USC.

Krizan recalled two major professors who impacted her.

Ms. Welsh, her humanities professor, introduced Krizan to a broad understanding of art. She was empathetic and very understanding of her specific situation.

There was also her professor in ancient literature.

After an exercise where they read the story of Genesis and came up with their conclusions, it was like a bomb went off in her head. For the first time, she could make sense of her upbringing, from a story point of view. The professor’s method of presenting information and allowing students to free themselves from their ideas stuck with her.

After two years at Saddleback, Krizan transferred to Cal State Fullerton and left L.A. after graduation for Austin, Texas to attend graduate school, enrolling at Southwest Texas State as an English and psychology major in the late ‘80s.

While working on her master’s and as a proofreader for the Texas Capital Legislature, Krizan was talked into auditioning for a student film despite having no acting experience.

“But it turned out it wasn’t a student movie, it was like a little art film and I got a part in it,” Krizan said. “It was ‘Slacker.’”

The audition process for the soon-to-be cult film consisted of the director, Richard Linklater, asking Krizan about herself and her thesis.

The two would talk about writing and stay friendly.

In 1992, Linklater made another movie, casting Krizan in “Dazed and Confused” as a teacher.

After finishing and receiving her master’s, Linklater reached out to Krizan and asked to read her thesis. He finished it in a day and asked her to write a movie with him.

It took them 16 days to write “Before Sunrise.” It was Krizan’s first script, but she and Linklater saw that as a strength.

The movie was released in 1995 and received positive reviews, seen today as a romantic classic.

In 2000, Krizan moved back to L.A. and continued to work with Linklater through phone calls and faxes. They worked on a rotoscoped film called “Waking Life” and then on the sequel to her first script, “Before Sunset,” which earned her and other writers an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2005.

“Sideways” was the movie that eventually took home the Best Adapted Screenplay award, presented by Adam Sandler.

All the while, Krizan was teaching at universities and colleges and pursuing more writing jobs. Wanting to give back, she began applying to community colleges.

In 2006, former El Camino Humanities Dean Thomas Lew hired Krizan as an English teacher and asked her to develop a screenwriting class. By 2007, the class was up and running.

Current Humanities Dean Scott Kushigemachi says Krizan is courteous, kind and easy to work with.

“I think people want authentic learning experiences, regardless of the class, students don’t want to feel like something is theoretical,” Kushigemachi said. “She’s had that first-hand experience, which means she can speak on concrete questions.”

In 2014, Krizan decided to only teach at El Camino, forgoing her UCLA classes.

The UCLA classes were fun, she said, with nice students.

But there were two things with El Camino: students and employees were always kind and here she felt she contributed more to her community.

Krizan enjoys teaching students who are on an upward trajectory like she was.

Film major and fan of the “Before” movies Finn Disharoon is taking Krizan’s course. It’s his eighth film class at El Camino but his first writing one.

“You don’t always expect an Oscar-nominated professor, it’s a very happy surprise because maybe [it’s common at] a top film school like UCLA or USC, but to get it at community college, that’s nice,” Disharoon said. “She’s very welcoming, always down to talk about ideas.”

He enjoys Krizan’s free-form style and “stream of consciousness” exercise, where she allows students to free their minds and just write.

Krizan said she doesn’t see herself leaving El Camino anytime soon.

“I had a great experience in community college, I just needed a couple of decent teachers to show me another way and help give me confidence,” Krizan said. “I do what was done for me.”

Kim Krizan’s works
1990 – Slacker (film) – Actress
1993 – Dazed and Confused (film) – Actress
1995 – Before Sunrise (film) – Writer (with Richard Linklater)
1996 – The Devil (short film) – Actress
2001 – Waking Life (film) – Actress (as herself), Krizan wrote her own monologue
2004 – Before Sunset (film) – Writer (story, with Richard Linklater)
2008 – Zombie Tales: 2061 (comic book) – Writer
2010 – CBGB’s OMFUB #3 (comic book) – Writer
2013 – Original Sin: Trade Secrets of the Femme Fatale (book) – Writer
2017 – Language is Dead (short film) – Actress
2019 – Spy in the House of Anaïs Nin (book) – Writer
2023 – A Cinematic Story (Chanel Ad) – Dialogue (adapted from A Man and a Woman by French director Claude Lelouch)