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About Us
"I thought at first that there might be a touch of hyperbole in your tagline, "You just might meet someone who will change your life." But as it turned out, "life-changing" exactly describes my experience at the Hollywood Connection segment of the Santa Fe Screenwriting Conference this past weekend."
Deborah Boehm
Santa Fe, NM
 


Classes occur simultaneously from 9:00am until 12:00pm Thursday, Friday & Saturday. Select one of our world-class Mentors to spend nine hours of in-depth instruction and workshopping of material. Each Mentor Class is limited to 30 students so your classroom experience will be intimate and educational. Your enrollment in a Mentor Class is included with your registration for the Screenwriting Symposium.


Class Mentors
Terry Borst
Terry studied with screenwriting gurus Lew Hunter, Richard Walter and William Froug. His credits include many episodes of the BBC action-adventure series Bugs (syndicated in 30+ countries), the TV movie sequel Midnight Run Around and the independent feature Private War. He has written other screenplays for Paramount Pictures, USA Network, the BBC, Electronic Arts, Microsoft, and various independent producers -- and until the WGA strike began, he had both a series and a feature pending green lights for production. He teaches scriptwriting at Moorpark College, and for more than a decade co-wrote a trade publication and website column, *alt.screenwriters* focusing on many of the issues the WGA went on strike for. He has also taught screenwriting at the College of Santa Fe, UCLA, USC, and Canada's Banff Centre. Find out more at terryborst.com.

Beginning/Emerging Screenwriting - The Right Way vs. The Wrong Way
Do you need help finishing your first screenplay? Perhaps you've started a couple, but hit a brick wall - or perhaps you've wanted to start one, but didn't know how to proceed. This mentor class is for the beginning and/or emerging screenwriter. Terry will hold your hand while you get much closer to a completed script. Terry will help you look at how the power of the three-act structure can help drive your story to a conclusion, and from FADE IN to FADE OUT, Terry will give you a nuts-and-bolts approach to conceptualizing and writing a project, getting you from the wanna-be stage to a serious screenwriter who can back up the talk with a real feature screenplay. Bring in your ideas, outlines, and partially completed scripts. Be prepared to work hard and engage with each other, and be prepared to have a lot of fun.
Chuck Pfarrer
Chuck Pfarrer is a screenwriter, novelist and former US Navy SEAL. His Hollywood credits include screenwriting and production work in Navy SEALs, Darkman, The Jackal, Virus, Red Planet, and Hard Target. Chuck has lectured on writing and screenwriting at the College of Charleston, the Walloon Writers Conference, the Jacksonville Film Festival, The Traverse City Film festival, Cal State Northridge, Much ado about Books, Purdue University, Northern Michigan College, Notre Dame and UCLA. He has written critically acclaimed fiction and nonfiction for Random House: Warrior Soul, The Memoir of a Navy SEAL, (2003) and Killing Che (2006). Rapid City, his second novel, will be published in 2008. Pfarrer will make his directorial debut with a screen adaptation of Rapid City later this year.

Craft, Architecture and Lessons from the Trenches
This Mentor Class will take you through the process and tasks of screenwriting, from conceiving an original idea, research, through first draft and the inevitable chore of rewriting and polishing. Exercises will allow you to view scenes from noteworthy films, compare original screenplays, and write in real time. In a collaborative, relaxed setting, you will be challenged to extend your imagination to create memorable characters, realistic, crisp dialogue, and engaging story structures. The goal of screenwriting is to bring imagination to life; before it gets to the silver screen, it has to be SOLD. How do you sell a screenplay? You write a good one. The goal of the class will be to jumpstart the creative process to help you to stay on task and create screenplays that are unique, passionate, and commercial. Youll also get some war stories: seven movies worth.
Christopher Vogler
Christopher Vogler is a Hollywood development executive best known for his guide for screenwriters, "The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure For Writers". Vogler has worked for Disney Studios, Fox 2000 Pictures, and Warner Bros. in the development department. He has also taught in the USC School of Cinema-Television, Division of Animation and Digital Arts as well as at UCLA Extension. He is also the President of Storytech Literary Consulting which was founded in 1999 and its Vice President, Brad Schreiber, consults on scripts and books, utilizing Vogler's approach.

Write or Die: Advanced Structure, Character and Dialogue Techniques for the Truly Obsessed
Somewhere between boot camp and a tribal initiation, this intensive class will guide you into the mysterious country of the Writer's Journey, Chris Vogler's distillation of mythic story principles, informed by his years of applying those techniques and philosophies to some of Hollywood's biggest hits. Practical tips for making your writing crisper and more powerful will be combined with an inspiring vision of the writer's life and purpose. Day 1: Mythic Structure, Day 2: Creating Characters, Day 3: Dynamite Dialogue.
Cynthia Whitcomb
Cynthia has sold more than 70 feature screenplays, 25 of which have been produced. She has made millions of dollars for her work, and her scripts have won and been nominated for many awards, including the Emmy, Cable Ace, Humanitas, Writers Guild, and the Edgar Allan Poe Award. She taught screenwriting for many years, including seven years at UCLA, and her students have gone on to write successful box-office hits.

Her books Writing Your Screenplay and Selling Your Screenplay will be available at the Conference book table.

Screenwriting: The Spine, The Heart, The Mind and The Spirit
Thursday: "The Spine" List of questions to determine if your idea will make a good movie. Structure. Scene cards. Storyboards. Three act structure. Research. All your left brain needs to know to write a screenplay. Making them believe.

Friday: "The Heart" Switching to the creative, fun, passionate mind. Character evolution. Scene work. Dialogue. How to hide exposition. How to button a scene. Surprises. Emotion. Making them care.

Saturday: "The Mind" Polishing, tightening. Making it commercial. Getting ready for the marketplace. Query letters. Pitching. Loglines. Seeing the ads. Creating screenplays actors will want to star in and studios will want to buy.
This roster of Mentors and their respective classes is based on the availability of the instructors and is subject to change without notification.

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