MENTOR LECTURE/DISCUSSION
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM
Brilliant screenwriter, Alexandra Weir (WGAE Women’s Salon), will present her new short, COOL ME DOWN (13m), followed by discussion of her career trajectory. Alex’s short comes after the production of her incredibly accomplished first feature, the moving, hilarious, and devastating adaptation of Cea Sunrise Person’s novel of the same name, NORTH OF NORMAL (on Prime), following the pitfalls of growing up in an unconventional family. We’re truly lucky to have an artist of Alex’s level share her new original work with the lab.
Brief Q&A moderated by a Screenwriting Sprint team member
Screening oscar qualifying short/lecture
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Screening; (announced Sept 1)
AC breaks down screener beats, identifying structure.
Lecture: (announced Sept 1).
TABLE READ SERIES (with notes from mentors)
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
BILLY MERNIT, UCLA Professor/ex=SONY Exec will give notes on table reads alongside TEVIN KNIGHT, video game staff writer for Star Wars Games, will give us some of their experience, a brief Q&A followed by giving notes on table reads for two of our cohort.
MENTOR, BILLY MERNIT
A story analyst at Universal Pictures for nearly 30 years, BILLY MERNIT has worked on such movies as Bridesmaids and Wicked. In screenwriting circles, he’s known as "the guru of rom-com" for his best-selling textbook, Writing the Romantic Comedy, and taught writing at UCLA Extension for decades. During some 50 years in the entertainment industry he’s written for television (NBC’s Santa Barbara), had his first novel published by Random House, and written songs recorded by Carly Simon and Judy Collins, among others.
MENTOR, TEVIN KNIGHT
Tevin wrapped staffing an Untitled STAR WARS video game series that recently sold SQUAD to Amazon in a bidding war, with Temple Hill producing. A former Track star, Tevin spent his early life in Springfield NJ, which he often compares to the town of Bomont from Footloose. The difference being that imagination was outlawed (not dance). Famished for the arts, Tevin packed away his life and moved to Los Angeles. Now, inspired by the iconic work of Hanna-Barbera, Tevin’s writing eloquently captures the sweetness and urgency of youth.
Industry BLAST
4:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Joey Tuccio, founder of Roadmap Writers will pop on with Roadmap Program Moderator, Alexandra Davies, to tell you about all the incredible opportunities Roadmap offers emerging writers, and also probably regale you with wild stories of harrowing dog rescues. https://www.roadmapwriters.com/
JOEY TUCCIO, Founder of Roadmap Writers
Joey Tuccio started in the industry at Bold Films (DRIVE, NIGHTCRAWLER, WHIPLASH) and has read for Hugh Jackman's company, George Clooney's company, and Night and Day Pictures, to name a few. Experiencing how hard it was for writers to receive real tangible advice on how to break into the industry, Joey and Dorian created Roadmap Writers over 9 years ago. At Roadmap, Joey focuses on connecting vetted writers with execs in the industry. He has helped hundreds of writers connect to their representation, get staffed and get produced. He also mentors for Cinestory and The Writers Lab. When he's not helping writers, he spends his time rescuing animals in need.
ALEXANDRA DAVIES is the lead Coordinator at Roadmap Writers
Alex Davies holds a degree in English Literature from UCLA, which she earned while pursuing acting. As an actress for many years, she learned the ins and outs of character, story and entertainment first hand, both on stage and in front of the camera. As the Director of Education at Roadmap, Alex strives to identify the most common hurdles writers face in developing their work and design classes, clinics, and webinars to address these issues. In addition, Alex is a writer with several scripts, a novel, a short film (produced during the AT&T Shape Create-A-Thon), and a webseries (coming soon!) under her belt. Prior to Roadmap, Alex worked in live events, law, and education..