Screenwriting Symposium Faculty
The Hollywood Connection Faculty
Faculty Bios & Sessions
Click on a faculty member's name or event to view more information.
|
LEGEND:
|
|
SS
|
= Screenwriting Symposium
|
|
HC
|
= The Hollywood Connection
|
Jeff Arch
Jeff earned an Oscar nomination for Sleepless in Seattle which also took nominations for best original screenplay at the Writers Guild and British Academy in 1994. His rewrite of Iron Will was an adventure film in the old-time Disney tradition. His original romantic comedy Sealed With a Kiss was an unqualified success for CBS in '99. Jeff moved into directing with his '04 screenplay adaptation of Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys. He is now adapting the book "Saving Milly" for CBS and his novel, The Bell Tower, is set for publication this year.
|
|---|
Kat Blasband
TAPESTRY FILMS
, Director of Development
While still attending Northwestern University, Kat Blasband started her career as an intern at the William Morris Agency. After graduation, she worked at the management firms MBST Entertainment and Thruline Entertainment and joined Tapestry Films in 2005 just prior to the release of their juggernaut Wedding Crashers.
Tapestry Films is a 20-year-old production company run by Peter Abrams, Robert L. Levy and Andrew Panay, known for being on the forefront of comedy. Films include Wedding Crashers, Wedding Planner, Van Wilder, Serendipity, Shes All That, The Comebacks, Employee of the Month, Pay It Forward and Point Break.
Along with major motion pictures, Tapestry Films has produced fifteen award-winning childrens videos starring Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen.
Tapestry just finished filming the Disney film Old Dogs starring John Travolta and Robin Williams with Matt Dillon, Kelly Preston, Justin Long, Seth Green, Bernie Mac and Rita Wilson, which is set to release in April 2009. They have a first-look deal with 20th Century Fox.
For more information, go to Tapestry Films on IMDb.
|
|---|
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.
|
|---|
Stefany Burrowes
Creative Coaching & Collaboration
Stefany heads up Sensational Wisdom Creative Coaching & Collaboration, and
The Theater Salon, a Creative Performance Community Website & e-
Newsletter. Through these efforts,
Stefany combines her extensive knowledge of performance,
communication, and
the creative process with her training in body-based psychotherapy,
personal
development, and positive psychology for her work as a Coach,
Collaborator,
Teacher, and Actress. Actively involved in the Santa Fe theater scene, Stefany publishes The
Theater Salon
e-newsletter, and is President of the Board of the New Mexico
Chapter of the
International Coach Federation. She partners with entrepreneurs,
artists,
writers, actors, and other creatives all over the country who long for
greater personal and business success. Her clients find that as they
gain
clarity, confidence and a deeper more consistent connection to their
truth
and inspiration, they are able to achieve their goals with greater
ease,
success & satisfaction.
|
|---|
Patrick A. Davis
Novelist
A former U-2 spyplane pilot, Gulf War veteran, and Air Force Academy graduate, Patrick A. Davis is the New York Times bestselling author of eight murder-thriller novels centered around military characters. Collaborating with Mike Farris, Pat has adapted three of his novels into feature screenplays and they are now working on a fourth project.
Mike and Pat have also created two television series, "The Academy" and "Simon Says", based on characters from Pat's novels.
Pat is currently working on a fact-based novel about his grandmother, a somewhat infamous Chinese courtesan, tentatively titled "The Black Rose of China."
|
|---|
Steve Davis
Screenwriter/Screenwriting Consultant
Steve Davis serves as the Dallas Screenwriters Association President 2005-2008. His popular monthly column, "Like I Always Say, Sometimes," appears in the DSA Features newsletter. In addition to writing, Steve is a screenwriting teacher, and script consultant. He has written several screenplays, including "Skydiving Isn't for Cowyards," "Daze Away," "Criminal Defense," "The Color of Clouds," "Last Chance for Romance," and "Fill er Up" (scheduled for production in 2008). He also co-wrote "Double or Nothing" and "Bloodstone."
|
|---|
Matt Dixson
SCSFE
, Director, The Hollywood Connection
Matt is a native New Mexican. A graduate of the University of New Mexico, he double majored in History and Physical Education. Currently, he spends his days teaching Economics, World History, and Film Criticism. His involvement in the conference began three years ago as an attendee, and eventually moved into the faculty as a volunteer coordinator. Now as Director of The Hollywood Connection component of the conference, Matt is responsible for connecting with Hollywood producers who are real players and are aggressively seeking screenplays to produce.
Matt is an optioned screenwriter and is currently working on a project with a producer he met through the conference. The script which is based on a greek myth is titled: "Eros and the Goddess" and slated for production in late 2008/early 2009.
|
|---|
Tom Drumm
THE SAFRAN COMPANY
, Manager/Creative Executive
Tom started his career in Hollywood in the Brillstein-Grey mailroom after doing two summer internships at MTV Series Development and Conundrum Entertainment (Farrelly Bros. company). He served as President Peter Safrans assistant for three years before being promoted to manager.
In January 2006 Tom broke off with Peter Safran to start the new management/production company The Safran Company which represents and has a first look feature producing deal with Gold Circle Films (My Big Fat Greek Wedding, White Noise, Because I Said So). Tom & Peter's client list includes actors such as Sean Diddy Combs, Djimon Hounsou, Nia Vardalos, Nick Frost, Ivana Baquero, Paul Reiser and David Hyde Pierce.
On the lit side they have James Gunn, Jeff Lowell, Luis Berdejo, Aaron Seltzer & Jason Friedberg.
Their feature credits include Meet the Spartans, Scary Movie, Over Her Dead Body, Connie & Carla, and they just wrapped the Renee Zellweger romantic comedy Chilled in Miami.
|
|---|
Kirk Ellis
Kirk served as writer and supervising producer of the award-winning TNT/Dreamworks miniseries Into the West, as well as writer and co-Executive Producer on his latest HBO project, John Adams, based on the David McCullough biography and produced with Tom Hank's Playtone Co. Kirk recently completed an untitled Jackie Robinson
feature for Robert Redford and is writing "The Marcus Dixon Story" for Paramount.
Kirk received the 2001 Writers Guild Award for the ABC Emmy-winning miniseries, Anne Frank which also garnered him the Humanitas Prize and an Emmy nomination. It followed a series of successful biographical films that included The Beach Boys, Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows, and The Three Stooges.
|
|---|
Mike Esola
WILLIAM MORRIS AGENCY
, Motion Picture Literary Agent
Founded in 1898, the William Morris Agency (WMA) is the largest and most diversified talent and literary agency in the world, with principal offices in New York, Beverly Hills, Nashville, London, Miami Beach and Shanghai.
Mike Esola who literally started in the WMA mailroom and worked his way up, is an agent representing both writers and directors in Beverly Hills. Before coming to the WMA, Mike interned at several production companies including Outlaw Productions, served as a P.A. on the Warner's lot, and interned for Wendi Niad at Niad Management.
On the writer side, Mike represents an eclectic mix of talent that crosses genres including Hank Nelken who wrote Jon Heder and Diane Keaton's movie Mama's Boy; Noah Lukeman who wrote Brothers in Arms for The Film Department and; Duncan Brantley, writer of George Clooney and Rene Zellwegger's movie Leatherheads; Brad Ingelsby who wrote The Low Dweller starring Leo Dicaprio with Ridley Scott directing; Mindy Kaling star and writer for NBC's The Office, and Craig Hoetger who wrote David O'Russell's next movie for New Regency.
Connecting with Mike Esola could be an extraordinary opportunity for those interested in finding an agent. If your material is great you always have a chance.
|
|---|
Mike Farris
As a literary agent and entertainment attorney, Mike has negotiated the sale of his clients movie rights to producers and Hollywood studios. As a screenwriter, he adapted the novels A Long Day for Dying and The Passenger, written by New York Times bestseller Pat Davis, and is collaborating with Davis in adapting The General, and on two television series based on Davis' novels. He also adapted the award-winning novel Balaam Gimbles Gumption, by his client Mike Nichols, and The Woodcutter, an unpublished novel by client Sheldon Russell, who won the 2006 Langum Prize for Excellence in American Historical Fiction.
|
|---|
Matt Fontis
Humanities and Film Studies Teacher
Matt Fontis has taught Humanities and Film Studies at the college level for over 15 years. He has published film reviews and film related articles for both the Santa Fe Reporter and the Santa Fean Magazine and has been associated with both the Santa Fe Film Festival and the Taos Film Festival. Matts current area of interest is the structural nature of myth and narrative and their translation into film..
|
|---|
Darren Foster
SCSFE
, Webmaster
Darren Foster teaches screenwriting at the University of Colorado, Denver and the Colorado Film School. He is the Founder and President of Film Scribe and the Co-Founder of The Vail Filmmaker Project at the Vail Film Festival where he is currently a member of the Festival's Advisory Board. Darren has been on the faculty of The Screenwriting Conference in Santa Fe since 2005 and has taught at various festivals, conferences and educational institutions nationwide.
An active screenwriter, Darren has written over a hundred screenplays with several under option and/or contract. He is the Owner and President of Film Scribe Productions and the Co-Founder of Serotonin Rising Pictures, LLC. His latest films include Nephilim (www.nephilimthemovie.com) slated for production oversees in 2008 and Serotonin Rising (www.serotoninrising.com) currently in production in Boulder, Colorado.
Darren resides in Estes Park, Colorado with his wife, Shana.
|
|---|
Andy Fraser
MORGAN CREEK PRODUCTIONS
, Vice President
As Vice President of Physical and Post Production for Morgan Creek, Andy Fraser is responsible for overseeing their feature films from their earliest stages through delivery. His credits include such films as The Good Shepherd, Man of the Year, Two for the Money and Georgia Rule. Andy has worked with such directors as Robert Altman, Alan Rudolph, Barry Levinson, and Garry Marshall in their film endeavors and also has extensive experience in scripted television series.
For more information go to Morgan Creek Productions on IMDb.
|
|---|
Michael Glassman
OUTLAW PRODUCTIONS
, VP Production and Development
Michael Glassman began his career in the Talent Department of the Endeavor Agency. He joined Outlaw Productions in 2002, eventually running development for producer Bobby Newmyer. Outlaw has produced 25 films, including Sex, Lies and Videotape, which won the Palm dOr at the Cannes Film Festival, Training Day, for which Denzel Washington won the Academy Award, and the Disney franchise The Santa Clause I, II, and III, starring Tim Allen. He co-produced the independent film Phat Girlz, starring MoNique, which was acquired by Fox Searchlight Pictures and was released in April of 2006.
Michael now runs Outlaw Productions for producer Deb Newmyer, who assumed control of the company after the death of her husband in December of 2005. Outlaw recently signed a first-look deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment.
|
|---|
Gary Goldstein
THE GOLDSTEIN COMPANY
, President
Gary Goldstein has been involved with some of Hollywood's highest box-office successes. His films have generated over a billion dollars in world-wide revenue.
With J.F. Lawton's original screenplay in hand, Goldstein developed and co-produced the critically acclaimed Pretty Woman with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere. The picture went on to become the highest grossing live-action film in Disney's history and garnered numerous awards including an Oscar nomination for Ms. Roberts. Gary is currently readying a project about Italy's legendary car racer, Tazio Nuvolari, who humiliates Adolph Hitler when he defeats the Nazis at the 1935 German Grand Prix with an obsolete Alfa Romeo that had been modified by a young Enzo Ferrari.
|
|---|
Rima Greer
ABOVE THE LINE AGENCY
, Agent
Rima Greer began agenting in 1984 and built her client list, selling such projects as Memphis Belle,
Highlander, Backdraft and Milk Money. She was President of Literary at Writers & Artists Agency from
1989 to 1994, when she started her own company, Above the Line Agency, established in September 1994. At
Above the Line, Rima has been involved in studio projects like Charlies Angels (Columbia) and Constantine
(Warner Bros.), and the upcoming Nowhereland (Paramount), as well as shepherded such independent
projects as The Prophecy (Dimension/First Look), Slow Burn (Artisan) and The Poker House (Cannell
Studios). Rima has negotiated thousands of deals, and many of her clients have been with her for over 20 years.
|
|---|
Martin Guigui
SUNSET PICTURES
, CEO/President
Martin Guigui is CEO and president of Sunset Pictures and Sunset Artists Music Publishing, and Old School Records, a music label. Born in Buenos Aires Argentina, son of Symphony Orchestra Conductor Efrain Guigui, Martin grew up in New York, Puerto Rico and Vermont. He worked the New York stand-up comedy circuit, wrote for Saturday Night Live, and was an editor/sound engineer at ABC News. Martin received numerous Billboard Awards, ASCAP Performance Awards and a Caesar Award for his contribution as a Hispanic to the arts in America. Martin is a member of The Directors Guild of America and won a Best Director award for Swing (Jacqueline Bisset, Jonathan Winters, and Tom Skerrit) at the Latin USA Film Festival in New York.
Some of his other credits include writing and directing My X-Girlfriend's Wedding Reception (Dom DeLuise and Debbie Gibson), and directing Changing Hearts (Faye Dunaway, Tom Skerritt, Lauren Holly). He also wrote and directed National Lampoon's Cattle Call, to be released this spring, and most recently completed Benny Bliss and the Disciples of Greatness for which he also composed the soundtrack.
Martin is currently in production on "Sweetwater," a film about the first African American signed to an NBA contract, with producer Michel Shane (Catch Me If You Can, I Robot). Martin Guigui's website is sunsetpictures.net
|
|---|
Marilyn Horowitz
Marilyn Horowitz, president of ArtMar Productions, is an NYU Professor, a film producer and a script coach and consultant. Her students include published novelists, award-winning filmmakers, screenplay and television writers. She was the script consultant for the recent Warner Bros. film, And Then Came Love, starring Vanessa Williams. Marilyn teaches "Writing The Feature" and "Aesthetics II" in the New York University Graduate Film Program. Her book, How to Write a Screenplay in Ten Weeks, is used as a textbook for both courses. Marilyn was awarded the coveted New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies Award For Teaching Excellence in 2004.
|
|---|
Karl Iglesias
Author
Karl Iglesias is a screenwriter and sought-after script doctor and consultant, specializing in the readers emotional response to the written page. He is the best-selling author of Writing For Emotional Impact: Advanced dramatic techniques to attract, engage, and fascinate the reader from beginning to end and The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters. He teaches at the prestigious UCLA Extensions Writers Program, online at Writers University, and has presented highly acclaimed workshops at the Screenwriting Expo, The Great American Pitchfest, Sherwood Oaks College, and various conferences around the world. Karl is also a regular columnist on the craft for Creative Screenwriting Magazine. He can be reached through his website at www.karliglesias.com.
|
|---|
Jocelyn Jansons
NMFI
, Producer/Director
Prior to moving to Santa Fe Jocelyn worked as a producer/director in Los Angeles. As director and co-producer for the series What's Your 20? she went behind-the-scenes on movies such as Monster's Ball starring Halle Berry and Billy Bob Thornton, and The Slaughter Rule with Ryan Gosling. She was associate producer on the Sundance Film Festival hit Chuck & Buck.
Her television credits include E! Entertainment Television's Star Dates and the E! Style pilot Mall or Nothing.
In New York she served as an associate producer for Academy Award-nominated documentary film company Gabriel Films and as the Administrative Director for the Nantucket Film Festival. Her experience in the locations department includes independent features Manny & Lo, Flirting with Disaster, and Committed.
Jocelyn is currently on the faculty of the New Mexico Filmmakers Intensive at the College of Santa Fe teaching Production Management, and serves as the NMFI Supervising Producer on the program's summer productions.
|
|---|
Edward Khmara
Screenwriter
Edward Khmara was born and raised in Los Angeles. He went to Hollywood High School, and later UCLA, where he graduated with a B.A. in English and later followed up with a M.F.A. degree in film writing. His feature credits include the feature films Ladyhawke, (Michelle Pfeiffer, Matthew Broderick and Rutger Hauer) and Enemy Mine, (Lou Gossett and Dennis Quaid). Ed was nominated for an Emmy for his work on the NBC mini-series Merlin, starring Sam Neil and Helen Bonham Carter. In the mid 90s Ed returned to his alma mater as an instructor in the UCLA Writers Program and, like many Hollywood expatriates, now resides in Santa Fe.
|
|---|
Jake Kurily
MOSAIC MEDIA GROUP
, Creative Executive
Prior to working at Mosaic, Jake Kurily was the Story Editor at Echo Lake Productions. He is now the Creative Executive at Mosaic Media Group.
Among others, Mosaic has produced Batman Begins (Christian Bale, Michael Caine and Katie Holmes), Semi-Pro (Will Ferrel and Woody Harrelson), The Bank Job (Jason Statham), and the upcoming films "Get Smart" (Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, and Dwayne Johnson), "The International" (Clive Owen and Naomi Watts), and "The Dark Knight" (Christian Bale, Michael Caine, and Heath Ledger). Other feature projects in Mosaic's enormous development slate include Sonys blockbuster video game "God Of War" and the graphic novel "The Flash."
For more, you can go to Mosaic Media Group on IMDb.
|
|---|
Angel Lopez
PARTICIPANT MEDIA
, Creative Executive
Angel Lopez joined Participant Media in 2007 and was quickly promoted to Creative Executive. Prior to that, Angel spent three years at Focus Features, which included one year as the assistant to the Executive Vice President of Production. He also spent two years as the Marketing Coordinator for Brokeback Mountain, The Constant Gardner, Pride & Prejudice, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Participant Media believes that a good story well told can truly make a difference in how one sees the world. Whether it is a feature film, documentary or other form of media, Participant exists to tell compelling, entertaining stories that also create awareness of the real issues that shape our lives. Past films have included Syriana, Good Night and Good Luck, An Inconvenient Truth, The Kite Runner, and Charlie Wilson's War. Upcoming is The Visitor, Tom McCarthys first film since The Station Agent.
For more information you can go to Participantmedia.com
|
|---|
Tom Musca
Screenwriter-Producer-Director
Tom Musca is the producer and co-writer of Warner Bros. Stand and Deliver, which garnered an Oscar nomination for Edward James Olmos and nabbed six Independent Spirit Awards, including Best Picture and Best Screenplay.
An MFA graduate of UCLA, Tom has written for television and film, selling his first screenplay, Columbia Pictures' Little Nikita(Sidney Portier, River Phoenix, Lorette Devine). He produced and co-wrote Hollywood Pictures Money For Nothing, starring John Cusack, James Gandolfini, Benicio del Toro and Phillip Seymour Hoffman.
His directorial debut, Race, premiered on HBO.
Recent produced writing credits include Flight of Fancy for Showtime, starring Miguel Sandoval and Dean Cain, Disneys Gotta Kick It Up! with America Ferrera, and Goldwyn's Tortilla Soup.
Tom currently teaches screenwriting at the NMFI, based at the College of Santa Fe.
|
|---|
DanTram Nguyen
DONNERS' COMPANY
, Creative Executive
DanTram Nguyen is the Creative Executive at The Donners Company, run by esteemed producer Lauren Shuler Donner and legendary director Richard Donner.
Richard's credits include: 16 Blocks, the Lethal Weapon series, Superman, the Goonies, Conspiracy Theory, Maverick, Radio Flyer, Scrooged.
Laurens credits include: X-Men 1-3, She's The Man, Constantine, Any Given Sunday, You've Got Mail. We are currently in production or post-production on "Hotel For Dogs" (Dreamworks), "Wolverine" (Fox), "The Secret Life of Bees" (Fox 2000) and "Cirque Du Freak" (Universal).
|
|---|
David O'Leary
VALHALLA MOTION PICTURES
, Creative Executive
David O'Leary is the Director of Development for Valhalla Motion Pictures. He began his career as an intern at Village Roadshow Pictures and then a trainee at the management/production company Industry Entertainment, where he worked his way onto a development desk assisting the VP of Development. He then held assistantships for studio executives working at Warner Bros. Pictures and then Rogue Pictures (the genre label of Universal Pictures) before becoming a Creative Executive at Kopelson Entertainment, and subsequently to Valhalla.
Valhalla Motion Pictures is a feature film and television production company run by the esteemed producer Gale Anne Hurd who has a long list of producer credits, including The Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss, Terminator 2, Raising Cain, The Ghost and The Darkness, Dante's Peak, Armageddon, Dead Man on Campus, Dick, Clockstoppers, Terminator 3, The Hulk, Aeon Flux, The Punisher, and Universal's up-coming The Incredible Hulk and Lionsgates up-coming PUNISHER: WAR ZONE.
|
|---|
Diane Schneier Perrin
NMFI
, Producer
Industry veteran Diane Schneier Perrin has extensive experience in the development, production and distribution of independent film. Schneier Perrin has worked as Vice President of Production for FSA Film Enterprises and as Director of Creative Affairs for Edward R. Pressman Film Corporation. Her producing credits include Run for the Dream (Lou Gossett Jr.), Convict Cowboy ( Jon Voight and Kyle Chandler), Barbet Schroeder's Academy Award-winning Reversal of Fortune, Kathryn Bigelow's Blue Steel, and Oliver Stone's Talk Radio. Diane currently serves as the Director of the New Mexico Filmmakers Intensive at the College of Santa Fe where she teaches Creative Producing and business issues related to Screenwriting.
|
|---|
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.
|
|---|
Anne Randolph
Anne's screenplays have won awards at WorldFest Houston and were finalists at Chesterfield, Empire Screenwriting Competitions, The Writer's Network, Writer's Foundation, and the Drama League in New York. She teaches writing workshops across the country. Anne is the past General Director of Opera Colorado, Opera Memphis, and the Colorado Symphony. She has directed opera and theatre in London, Amsterdam, San Francisco, and has worked with New York City Opera, the Netherlands Opera, the English National Opera, and the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
|
|---|
Larry N Stouffer
SCSFE
, Founder / Executive Director
Since founding SCSFe, Larry has become a quarter-finalist, semi-finalist and finalist in a number of screenwriting competitions. His writing hit the big screen as co-writer and Associate Producer for the dramedy Junkyard Ghost (Lee Majors). The Council on International Nontheatrical Events awarded Larry a Cine Golden Eagle for his doc Where Do The Children Play? In other documentaries he directed George Kennedy in Justice and the Art of Gentle Outrage, John Forsythe in Would We Not Long For the Fair? and Henry Fonda in the award-winning The Big Yellow Schooner To Byzantium. Larry's screenplays, "Rising Star" - a family drama - along with "Horror High - The Remake," (Larry directed the original cult-classic Horror High) - a campy horror script - and "A Message for Martinez" - action/adventure - are all projects seeking funding (novel, eh?). A co-writing project, "Dance Magic," is set up at a fledgling production company in Florida to be produced sometime in 2008. Larry has sold three feature screenplays, two of which have been produced.
|
|---|
|
