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Saturday
and Sunday afternoons
Over two
afternoons the Conference offers twenty-four 90-minute workshops to choose
from. There will be four blocks with six workshops in each block.
Ian
Abrams
(see
bio on Classes
page)
Workshop:
The V Words: Visual, Visceral, Vivid.
Film is a visual medium -- but what does that mean to a storyteller? If
film often elicits a direct, emotional response rather than an intellectual
one, how should that impact what and how we write? Ian will talk about
some techniques that can make your writing more vivid, more exciting,
more emotionally appealing. He wants attendees to bring in specific, small
script problems so that the workshop can try to solve them on the spot.
If you think you’ll attend Ian’s workshop, please email him
(abrams@drexel.edu) with short scenes -- three pages and under -- for
discussion during the session.
Michael
T. Amundsen
has an MFA in Screenwriting from UCLA and is a member of I.A. 776, the
Los Angeles union for Motion Picture and Videotape Editors. Michael has
edited feature films and made documentaries around the world. He teaches
screenwriting at the University of New Mexico and film production at the
College of Santa Fe.
Workshop: Don't Even Say It--A Workshop
on Dialogue.
Michael will offer a unique perspective on screenwriting from the standpoint
of both a screenwriter and a film editor. He'll take you on an exploration
of 1950s educational films, MAD Magazine, and dialogue as white
noise.
Brad
Carvey is
an Emmy Award winning digital graphic artist and special effects designer.
He created the dragonfly sequence for the film Men In Black. Brad
also handled visual effects and computer graphics for Joe Conti on such
films as The Siege and Stuart Little.
Workshop: What Screenwriters Must Know About Special Effects. Too often writers think, "I'll let them worry about how the Tokyo and Los Angeles land masses collide sending a massive, earth-shattering tsunami around the globe." Brad's workshop will focus on the nature of special effects and how writers can write scenes that a special effects person can create. Brad will also discuss what screenwriters need to know about the new digital special effects, and he will show examples of his work that both entertain and educate.
Sharon
Y. Cobb has
sold well over a dozen scripts to Hollywood and is an award-winning writer
with several projects in development including, "Return of the Sweet
Birds," a feature for Fox 2000, and "Sinkhole," a TV movie
for TBS to be aired Spring 2000. Sharon was included as one of Scr(i)pt
Magazine's Top Ten New Hollywood Screenwriters to Watch in 1999. She
also wrote a novelization of two episodes of "Touched By An Angel"
for CBS, which has sold over 170,000 copies in bookstores nationwide.
Sharon, who is listed in Who's Who in Entertainment, lectures on
screenwriting at UCLA, DGA, and screenwriting conferences.
Workshop: Writing the Movie-Of-The-Week
(MOW): The expansion of cable and
network television has created new opportunities for screenwriters. Hundreds
of cable movies or network MOWs are produced annually and it's a rich
area to target for your break into Hollywood. In this workshop Sharon
will teach you everything you need to know to pitch, write, and sell MOWs.
Included will be: the MOW seven-act structure; writing scripts and treatments;
essential character arcs; as well as themes and concepts. Also you will
learn how to sell your MOW ideas; where to find producers; how to submit
material; and what networks and cable channels want.
Workshop: Writing The Commercial Thriller: The thriller is one of the hottest selling genres in Hollywood and a commercial thriller script will open doors to producers and agents. In this workshop Sharon will give you all the elements you need to write a successful thriller. Included will be: conceiving and writing the innocent protagonist and manipulative antagonist; how to build suspenseful scenes; creating jeopardy, danger and terror for the protagonist; developing twists and surprises that are plausible; and other secrets to writing an exciting thriller that will capture the imaginations of Hollywood's producers, stars and agents.
Chris
DeVore
(see bio
on Academy
Mentor page)
Workshop: ADAPTATION--THE SCREENPLAY AS A SECOND INTERPRETATION: Chris will answer questions and foster discussion about using a book, a play, or some other source and turning that into your own unique and exciting script.
Lou
Grantt is
the publisher/editor of Hollywood Scriptwriter, the leading screenwriting
trade paper in the industry. Lou had her own production company in San
Diego, worked as an agency reader, then became a script consultant and
has worked with writers from all over the world. She has been published
in various national publications and took over as publisher and editor
of Hollywood Scriptwriter early in 1997. Lou still occasionally
consults with screenwriters but spends most of her time on HS.
Workshop: Seven Unconventional Ways To Sell To Hollywood. From anecdotal examples of what a few creative, daring screenwriters did to get attention and a sale, to practical but little-less-than-traditional approaches, you will find out what you can do--from anywhere in the world--to get noticed and get sold.
Workshop: Writing a Kickass Logline and Query Letter. A good scriptwriter doesn't necessarily write a good query letter. You will learn some of the tips of the trade for boiling down the essence of your great story into a few words or sentences that will grab their attention and make them want to read your script.
Wendy
Jane Henson
(see bio on
Classes page)
Workshop: Translating Narrative Prose Into Dramatic Action. All plays, screenplays included, are drama. Drama is not storytelling. It is story-DOing. This workshop will give you a "tool kit" that can help you break your narrative prose chains and get into story DOing mode.
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