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About Us
"The best thing about the conference was the in-depth quality teaching."
Arthur Kanegis
San Diego, CA
 


Labs 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 Lab is limited to 20 writers so your Lab experience will be intimate and educational. Your enrollment in a Mentor Lab is included with your registration for the Screenwriting Symposium.


Mentors
Ian Abrams
Since 1998 Professor Ian Abrams has been head of the Screenwriting & Playwriting Program at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Prior to that he worked in Hollywood for twenty years, ten of them writing and producing film and TV. He wrote the 1993 MGM film Undercover Blues starring Kathleen Turner, Dennis Quaid and Stanley Tucci, and was co-creator of the long-running CBS show Early Edition.

Ian has written for or sold screenplays to Warner Bros./CBS, TriStar, Universal, DeLaurentis Entertainment Group, Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount, and Spelling Films.

His titles reflect his wry sense of humor: "The Dust Devil In His Greatest Adventure," "House-O-Matic," "Murder Can Be Fun," "Weirdos," "Too Many Husbands," and "Presumed Impotent."


START WITH A BANG
Ian Abrams believes that the first secret to writing a salable screenplay is writing a great opening sequence, and that the secret to writing a great opening sequence is to meet five goals, ranging from the lofty to the mundane. This nine hour lab is for writers who already know what their story is, and now want to make sure that it starts in a way that makes studio readers eager to read more.

Part One: Discussion of what the first few pages of a script need to do, including analysis of several opening sequences and one story-to-screenplay adaptation (provided in advance via email to all registered participants).

Parts Two and Three: Workshopping (thirty minutes each) of opening sequences provided in advance by participants.

All participants should send Ian Abrams their opening sequences (ten page maximum) as PDF files no later than one week before the start of the conference. In-class use of laptops is encouraged.

NOTE: This Lab is limited to 20 writers.
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.

For more than a decade, he co-wrote a trade publication and website column, *alt.screenwriters*, focusing on the collision of screenwriting and new media technologies. He's taught screenwriting at the College of Santa Fe, UCLA, USC, Moorpark College, Santa Fe Community College, and Canada's Banff Centre for the Arts, and his students have won film festival competitions and been accepted at top film schools around the country.

You can find more about Terry at www.terryborst.com.

FIRST SCREENPLAY
Working on actually completing your first screenplay? Tired of coming up with ideas, scenes, and half-finished scripts, but never coupling that first FADE IN with a final FADE OUT?

Terry's 9-hour lab will walk the beginning screenwriter through a proven process that will result in a solid 3-act structure, and scenes that link together and build from an intriguing inciting incident to an exciting climax and satisfying resolution. We'll troubleshoot plots, character arcs, and individual scenes, so that you'll have greater confidence in your storytelling and new tools for solving script problems and getting over the hump of finishing that first script.

ACT 1 (Day 1)
We'll be taking a close look at your story's turning points to make sure they're generating narrative momentum and escalating the stakes for your characters. Great turning points make for great stories, but let's make sure those turning points emerge naturally from a story, while avoiding the dreaded 'deus ex machina.'

ACT 2 (Day 2)
We'll be taking a close look at your characters and seeing what we can do to make them memorable and unique. Nothing kills a script quicker than cookie-cutter characters and interchangeable parts.

ACT 3 (Day 3)
We'll be taking a close look at your dialog and scene descriptions, to make sure you've got a real page-turner. Grab your reader by the lapels and make sure they keep reading until the final page reads FADE OUT!

Solve your plot and character problems, and find your original voice, in this intensive lab!

Screenwriters in this lab should submit:
  
  • a one-page synopsis of their intended screenplay   
  • the partial or complete screenplay or story treatment they'd like to focus on   
  • a brief write-up spotlighting particular areas they'd like to work on ("I really need help on linking scenes", "My dialog is awful -- help!", etc)

    Full instructions for this electronic submission will be supplied after April 15.

    NOTE: This Lab is limited to 20 writers.
    • Dara Marks
    Dara Marks, Ph.D. is a leading international script consultant, seminar leader, and author of one of the top selling books on screenwriting, Inside Story: The Power of the Transformational Arc. Dara has specialized in the analysis of the modern screenplay for the past two decades, and Creative Screenwriting Magazine has consistently rated her the number one script consultant in the business: "Dara Marks is in a class by herself." She has worked for most major Hollywood studios and her advice has been sought on a variety of films and television programs. Dara has a doctorate degree in Mythological Studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute, focusing her thesis on The Transformative Function of Story. Her groundbreaking work in this field continues to help writers engage more deeply and effectively in the creative process.


    TRANSFORMATIONAL ARC
    In the process of developing plot and character, writers often lose track of what is important and meaningful. Understanding how to utilize the Transformational Arc greatly expands a writer's ability to identify and stay focused on unifying principles that link plot and character to the thematic, emotional and even spiritual dimensions of a story. Inside Story is an innovative approach to screenwriting that illuminates the inner journey of the character, enabling writers to build an internal structure that forms the transformational arc.

    Knowing how to utilize the power of the arc will enhance your ability to move beyond traditional story structure and construct scripts that are more powerful, meaningful and marketable.

    DAY 1: Re-Visioning Story Structure - From the Inside Out
    * Why traditional story structure only tells us half the story
    * Developing powerful and gripping conflict
    * Creating subplots that expose the internal struggle
    * Designing a memorable and forceful protagonist
    * Digging into our own shadowy depths to design compelling antagonists
    * Employing archetypal elements to the development of character

    Day Two - Theme - Understanding What You're Really Writing About
    *How to write what you mean?and mean what you write
    *Learning to write with focused intention
    *Turning theme into plot and character development
    *Identifying the Fatal Flaw of Character - the most potent force in a great story
    *Capturing the humanity of the protagonist

    Day Three - Traversing the Transformational Arc of Character - Employing the transformational arc to deepen and enhance the dramatic tension
    *Developing powerful imagery and strong, honest dialogue
    *Putting a new spin on the inciting incident, the call to action and turning points
    *Learning to love the "dreaded" 2nd act
    *Embracing the death experience, the great descent and the rough road to redemption
    William Martell
    IN HIS OWN WORDS: I just handed in the first draft for the studio 3D remake of a 1980s horror film, and I've written 19 films that were carelessly slapped onto celluloid: 3 for HBO, 2 for Showtime, 2 for USA Net, and a whole bunch of CineMax Originals (which is what happens when an HBO movie goes really, really wrong). I've been on some film festival juries, including twice for Raindance in London (once with Mike Figgis and Saffron Burrows, once with Lennie James and Edgar Wright - back to "jury duty" in October of 2009).

    Roger Ebert discussed my work with Gene Siskel on his 1997 "If We Picked The Winners" Oscar show. I'm quoted a few times in Bordwell's great book "The Way Hollywood Tells It". My USA Net flick HARD EVIDENCE was released on video the same day as the Julia Roberts' film Something To Talk About and out-rented it in the USA. In 2007 I had two films released on DVD on the same day and both made the top 10 rentals.

    You can find more about William at www.scriptsecrets.net.


    WRITING SCREENPLAYS THAT SELL
    A working professional screenwriter will take you step-by-step through your script, showing you technique-based methods to improve your dialogue, actions, characters and concepts in order to create the kind of screenplay that Hollywood actually buys... and makes. Focusing on conflict and drama and popular genres from thriller to romantic comedies, we will look at the elements that differentiate a "pass" from a sale.

    DAY 1: Advanced Basics.
    We will really dig in to concept and structure and theme - three things that may seem basic, but are often the main problems with a script that does not sell. A movie is a shared dream - what dream are you offering the audience? Why your pacing sucks. How to make Act 2 the *easiest* one to write. What is the point of your story, and why will it haunt the studio reader days later? What makes your script memorable and exciting?

    DAY 2: When People Explode.
    Moving pictures are about people with problems... that we can see. Removing a character's "nos". Movie star roles. Techniques to improve characters, make sure each character has a voice, and create an emotional bond between the viewer/reader and the character. Why your antagonist is more important than your protagonist. Dialogue and actions that expose character. Those big dramatic moments.

    DAY 3: Can You Feel That?
    Transferring emotions from the page to the reader/audience. Genre Juice and how to milk it. Audience participation and EMOTION pictures. Why your last 10 pages are just as important as your first 10. How to "bullet proof" your script. Why word choice is critical. How to create a page turner script... then get someone to actually read it.

    Warning: Bill is like Dr. Phil and believes in tough love.

    Screenwriters in the lab should submit:
    1) A logline for their script (25-75 words).
    2) The first ten pages of their script - so that we can tear it apart in class.

    NOTE: This Lab is limited to 20 writers.
    Wendall Thomas
    For the last twenty-two years, Wendall Thomas has worked in Los Angeles as a casting director, director's assistant, script reader, story editor, development executive, entertainment reporter, script consultant and screenwriter, writing and developing projects for companies including Disney, Warner Brothers, Paramount, Universal, Showtime, PBS, RKO, A&E, NBC, T&C Film, ACC Entertainment, Gabriel Films and Scottish Screen.

    In addition to writing and consulting, she has lectured throughout Europe for the Arista Screenwriting Workshops and in the U.K. for the Welsh and Northern Irish Film Commissions, Northern Film and Media, the Folkstone Literary Festival and Screen South. She recently returned from a lecture tour for the New Zealand Film Commission.

    She has consulted for the Atelier du Cinema European Producing Program in Paris, served as Writer's Mentor for Screen South's Good Foundations Plus program 2005-2007 and is directing the LA FEATURES program for the UK Film Council's Northern Film and Media for 2007-2009.

    She is also a Star Speaker for the annual Los Angeles Screenwriting Expo and runs the Living Room Lecture series in Los Angeles. She is in her thirteenth year as Adjunct Professor of Screenwriting in the Graduate School of Film and Television at UCLA.

    WRITING GREAT DIALOGUE
    There are few things in life more satisfying and magical than great movie dialogue. A great line quickens your pulse, breaks your heart, makes you cheer, resonates in your very bones. Movie dialogue is not just a vital part of screenwriting, it's a vital part of our whole culture.

    And, creating unique and memorable character voices is one of the best ways to get noticed in Hollywood. With this lab, you'll get the chance to focus solely on your dialogue for three days and raise it to another level.

    With a combination of examples and hands-on work, we will start with the idea of DIALOGUE AND GENRE. We all know how important it is to understand genre plot and structural conventions, but each genre has its own dialogue conventions as well, many linked to these plot points, which are a large part of the fun of watching genre films. We'll look at a series of dialogue "set pieces" in several genres and practice writing them in class.

    We'll move on then to the idea of creating UNIQUE VOICES - drawing examples both from existing films and from your own scripts and work specifically on honing the voices you're writing now. Finally, keeping in mind genre and the voices you've created, we'll work on writing several dialogue set pieces of your own, from SPEECHES to SUBTEXT to VOICE OVER.

    NOTE: This Lab is limited to 20 writers.
    This roster of Mentors and their respective labs is based on the availability of the instructors and is subject to change without notification.

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