Erin Hallagan | 07.17.13
We’re ramping up for an exciting 20th Anniversary Festival and Conference, here are just some of the recently confirmed panels. Check out the website for new panel additions every week!
Getting Past the Reader
It’s easy to forget that a screenwriter’s first audience is not the viewer but the reader. The act of watching a film can be a passive encounter, whereas reading a screenplay requires a much different level of engagement. To this end, writers should be cognizant of how to craft a “reader-friendly” script. Whether it is submitted to a competition or a studio, there are key elements writers should embrace in order to maintain the reader’s attention. In this panel, hear from the industry “gatekeepers” on what to avoid and how to best engage, entertain, and encourage readers to keep turning the page!
Out of the Grave and Onto the Screen
In a world saturated with zombies, vampires, werewolves, and demons, writers are challenged to redefine and evolve the monster genre. Pre-established rules for these stories have become more complex, tapping into a surreal level of realism. Learn how to unearth these chilling stories from screenwriters who have breathed new life into the dead, undead, and beyond.
Click here for a list of Conference Panels announced so far.
And while we continue to prepare a Conference sure-to-inspire aspiring screenwriters, check out what some of our 2013 panelists did for a living before becoming full-time screenplay pros:
John August: I was answering phones for some profoundly annoying producers. I’m not sure if I quit or got fired, but I was happy to be gone.
Peter Craig: I was a “midlist” crime novelist – and an adjunct teacher at tons of different community colleges. And I drove a cab at a ski resort..
Kyle Killen: Installing network cabling in industrial laundromats.
Kelly Marcel: Worked in a video store.
Scott Neustadter: I was a director of development at Robert de Niro’s Tribeca Productions for four years before leaving to go to graduate school in economics. Then I met a girl and had to write about it and that brought me right back around to the movie business.
Jose Rivera: Writing ad copy for a small NY publishing company.
Jim Uhls: Writing articles for “The Brain/Mind Bulletin” and “The Jamais Vu Papers.”
Ric Roman Waugh: Professional stuntman.
To see the full list of confirmed panelists, click here.