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12:30 PM -
3:00 PM
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Friday
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Fade In Presentation: Brainstorming Through the Block
Have an idea, but don't know where to go with it? Wrote a scene, but need to make it more engaging? Stopped in your tracks by where to go next with a character or a piece of dialogue? Script Consultant Pilar Alessandra will get your story out of your head and onto the page as she guides writers through the tools and exercises she offers in her "On the Page" screenwriting classes and in her newly-released book "The Coffee Break Screenwriter."
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Pilar Alessandra
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Adaptation: Turning Source Material into a Screenplay
Have you found a good novel youd like to adapt? Where do you start? And what is an adaptation, really?
In this seminar you will learn about the differences between screenplays and other forms of source material. After all, not every good book makes a good movie. Sometimes books have to be bent, and sometimes outright changed beyond recognition, in order to translate to the silver screen. Mike will walk you through the process of turning that bestseller into a marketable screenplay.
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Mike Farris
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Screenplay Formatting: What's In? What's Out?
Nothing makes a producer discard a script faster than poor formatting. Whether you're a beginner, intermediate or advanced screenwriter, formatting rules change almost daily and all of us need to keep abreast of what's in, and what's out. In this workshop, we'll cover the latest changes in spec screenplay formatting including slug lines, secondary headers, narrative blocks, camera direction, parentheticals, margins, montages, and so much more.
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Darren Foster
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Cardboard Characters: How to Avoid Creating One-Dimensional People
Character development is often the weakest part of most scripts. As writers, we spend so much time developing the concept and story structure that we often forget the characters; who truly are the story. In this workshop, we'll work with character archetypes, arcs, backstory, and flaws. We'll investigate useful tools like character biographies to help develop character interplay and make your characters jump off the page.
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Darren Foster
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Transmedia Storytelling
Hollywood loves buzzwords, and it's fallen in love with the term transmedia big time. But OK, what is this transmedia thing? Basically, it means the telling of a single narrative over a number of different media platforms, creating a vast and rich storyworld. These works often give the audience an opportunity to participate - and interact -- in some way with the story.
A transmedia work may use a big screen feature film as its central medium, but can incorporate everything from roadside billboards to tiny Tweets, and full-length novels to Facebook posts and faux websites. Bits of story have even been planted in jars of honey and slipped into books in public libraries! For screenwriters, the transmedia approach offers a unique and enticing opportunity to expand their story canvases.
Carolyn Handler Miller, author of "Digital Storytelling," will demystify transmedia storytelling for us and we'll discuss how we can employ this concept in our own writing. This mini-lab will include a lively exercise that will give everyone a first hand experience in conceptualizing a work of transmedia storytelling.
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Carolyn Handler Miller
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7:00 AM -
8:30 AM
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Saturday
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Writing Warm-Up
Join Anne's early morning writing warm-ups to center yourself for the day. Bring pen and paper and keep the hand moving on the page. Write who you are and what you feel in a safe, encouraging environment. Anne's workshop creates a buzz at each year's conference. She is back by popular demand.
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Anne Randolph
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1:00 PM -
2:15 PM
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Saturday
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Rewriting: The Essential Skill That Separates Professionals From Amateurs
Professional writers know how to rewrite while most amateurs do not. Too many writers rewrite their scripts over and over without really improving it. The problem is most people don't know how to rewrite. Over the past ten years, I've been fortunate enough to work closely with some of the smartest and most successful directors, producers, and writers in the business. I've seen firsthand how they evaluate and revise stories. Strikingly, almost none of them use the approaches taught in popular screenwriting books and seminars. In fact, their methods often fly directly in the face of conventional wisdom.
In this mini-lab, we'll explore the tools and techniques used by many of the most successful people in the industry to evaluate and rewrite screenplays. These are the exact same tools I teach in my UCLA Professional Writer program classes.
Topics include diagnosing testing the story that plays in other people's heads, identifying and fixing foundational problems as opposed to chasing symptoms, using strategic rewrite memos, creating narrative cohesion, and correcting structural weaknesses without destroying the originality of the story and characters.
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Corey Mandell
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2:30 PM -
3:45 PM
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Saturday
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Getting Past the First Draft: It Doesn't Have to be Perfect -- It Just Has to be Finished!
Kirk will cover how writers should -- and should not -- approach their initial execution of a story.
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Kirk Ellis
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4:00 PM -
5:15 PM
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Saturday
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Fairy Tales Can Come True
And not only that, fairy tales can serve as true "story engines" for your own screenplays.
This mini-lab explores contemporary films to show that they often rely on classic fairy tales for the underpinnings of their structures and plot twists. By analyzing the basic templates of fairy tales, and applying several techniques to reinvent them, we can quickly generate new storylines and discover new directions for screenplays that have driven themselves into the ditch.
Start boning up on the fairy tales you grew up with, and be prepared to do a little brainstorming -- you just might leave with the best storyline you've ever come up with!
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Terry Borst
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Writing Warm-Up
Join Anne's early morning writing warm-ups to center yourself for the day. Bring pen and paper and keep the hand moving on the page. Write who you are and what you feel in a safe, encouraging environment. Anne's workshop creates a buzz at each year's conference. She is back by popular demand.
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Anne Randolph
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WHAT THE HELL ARE EXECUTIVES THINKING? - Looking at Your Script from the Exec's Perspective
Writers always ask, "What is an executive looking for? How come they don't see what I see?" This Mini-Lab will teach you how to think, read and write from the executive perspective. Topics Covered include:
* How a Development Exec reads a script and what they're looking for
* The 3 questions executives think of while reading
* The Top 13 Notes an executive gives and how to avoid them
* What it takes to get a 'recommend' from a script consultant/reader
* An in-depth look at the development process - what to expect and how to survive it with flying colors
* Q&A
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Danny Manus
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Harnessing the Power of Myth in the Movies
Archetypes are universal patterns of human behavior that we all consciously or unconsciously recognize. There is enormous power when a story taps into archetypal characters or situations because they enable the audience to identify with the story on the deepest possible levels. In particular, mythic stories have survived only because they are constantly revealing to every new generation the patterning of human life. This seminar focuses on helping writers access and utilize their own internal, creative vision to make stronger and more powerful story choices.
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Dara Marks
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Secrets of Action Screenwriting
The class of the book. Technique-based seminar. How to write an effective plot twist, create unbearable suspense, design an exciting *character based* action sequence, create a high concept villain's plan, use diversion & anticipation to make your script unpredictable, and create great heroes and villains. Dozens of techniques that can be used in any genre.
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William Martell
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DIALOGUE AND GENRE CASE STUDY: Romantic Comedy
The importance of genre can't be over-emphasized in screenwriting - knowing genre conventions is key to making your project work. And dialogue conventions -- the "kiss off" line in an action film, the "villain rationalization speech" in a thriller -- are as important as any other element in meeting or subverting audience expectations and in setting the tone.
In this 90-minute seminar, we'll look at the dialogue conventions of the Romantic Comedy, discussing specific ways to create the perfect misunderstanding of the "cute meet," hilarious fights and the kind of memorable, unique "I love you," that stops an audience's heart.
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Wendall Thomas
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Writing Cinematically: How to Tell Your Story on the Screen
To make it as a screenwriter, it's not enough just to have a great story. You have to be able to tell that story in a way that is cinematic that not only jumps off the page, but also jumps out at you from the big screen. That means learning the techniques for writing visually, grabbing the reader in the first few pages, revealing character through actions instead of dialogue, proper scene structure, engaging all of the readers senses, and finishing up with a bang. Mike is here to help you with all of that.
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Mike Farris
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Screenwriting as a Profession - It's Show BUSINESS, Baby
You probably won't be able to sell it yourself, so when is the right time to bring on representation to help you? Jeff will explain. How do you contact people you don't know? He'll clue you in on how to talk with assistants at agencies and give you 5 different ways to get agents and managers running after you.
Chances are you're probably somewhat of an introvert, so how do you walk into a room and walk out after getting what you came for? Jeff will explain how to present yourself, how to write an effective query letter, and much, much more. Have your questions ready because Jeff is loaded with answers!
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Jeff Graup
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Screenwriting Software: Beyond Script Formatting
Most screenwriters feel good when they finally figure out how to get Final Draft or Movie Magic to spit out something that resembles the classic scripts sitting well worn and dog-eared on the corner of their desk. But, script-formatting programs are just the tip of the digital iceberg when it comes to software-based tools available today to help writers throughout the scriptwriting process.
This seminar will cover the variety of software available to screenwriters, from the familiar to the obscure; across the many platforms they are available for - PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, etc. By comparing and contrasting their capabilities and limitations, you will leave with a better understanding of what tools are out there that can help you write more efficiently and effectively as well as which ones will or won't work for your particular needs and writing style.
Some of the types of software we will cover include:
* Script editors/formatters
* Plot and Structure aids
* Character development tools
* Brainstorming tools
* Genre guides and templates
* Collaboration tools
* Pre-production / production tools
* Submission trackers
* Visualization / storyboarding tools
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Steve Carter
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Finding Representation
When is the right time for you, a quality screenwriter, to look for an agent or manager? Jeff will give you some clues. If you find someone to represent you, what happens next? What should your expectations be? What is the proper attitude to present? How can you make that relationship work? On that, Jeff will tell you 5 things you should and 5 things you shouldn't do. He'll also explain your agent's responsibilities as well as your responsibilities to make your client-agent relationship blossom. Be ready with questions.
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Jeff Graup
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Writing Warm-Up
Join Anne's early morning writing warm-ups to center yourself for the day. Bring pen and paper and keep the hand moving on the page. Write who you are and what you feel in a safe, encouraging environment. Anne's workshop creates a buzz at each year's conference. She is back by popular demand.
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Anne Randolph
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10:00 AM -
12:00 PM
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Monday
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This list of seminars
is based on the availability of the instructors
and is subject to change without notification.
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