by Sheila Seclearr
One person’s misfortune can be another’s fortune. Not a logline. Not a title. Just a fact.
A technical snafu at the website for The Screenwriting Conference in Santa Fe means an extended deadline (end of March) for early-bird discounts. But no more dawdling! The 11th annual conference is only two months away (May 26 thru 31st). Director Larry Stouffer says, “Keep watching the website for more producers and programs as we keep adding to the lineup.”
I’m excited to take part in this year’s Mentor Academy with Kirk Ellis, Santa Fe screenwriter with a recent Emmy award and Humanitas Prize (2008 as writer for HBO’s John Adams). He’s working on another HBO series, 1776 and on the feature film, Blood and Thunder, the Kit Carson epic. There were few spots left in this exclusive group when I checked, so call soon.
The Screenwriting Conference also has opportunities for volunteers. One of my fellow ProSeries Alumni (PSA), Mahree Munding is Volunteer Coordinator and she’ll be delighted to hear from you : mahrmunding (at) yahoo (dot) com. Ask if you can work your volunteer schedule around activities / classes that will give you a taste of the conference. You might even get to pitch an idea to a producer. (PSA Matt Dixson is Director of the Hollywood Connection portion of the conference and PSA Kirsten Sigurdson is the SCSFE Advertising and Promotions Coordinator. What is this ProSeries?)
Besides Kirk Ellis, here are a few more mentions among the faculty:
Marvin Acuna of Rainmaker Films, is producer of the recently released The Great Buck Howard with John Malkovich, Emily Blunt and Colin Hanks. Check out Marvin’s great blog where he answers our questions every week. He’ll do a seminar on standing out in the screenwriter marketplace.
Karl Iglesias will do a mentor class. The Screenwriting Expo star speaker and columnist for Creative Screenwriting Magazine is also the bestselling 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.
Another Mentor Class is with Cynthia Whitcomb, whose modest bio on the SCSFE site could fill pages with just award nominations, let alone the many scripts she’s written. One of my favorites is Buffalo Girls. She’s also written particularly helpful books on the craft: Writing Your Screenplay and Selling Your Screenplay.
Look for the rest of the faculty at the SCSFE website.
Did you love Easy Rider? Taos is hosting "The Summer of Love" in honor of the film's 40th anniversary! Come to the conference and stay a little. You'll love Taos.
Watch here in late May for my SCSFE notes. Or click on the left to subscribe! If you have particular thoughts or questions, scroll down to send a comment. You don’t have to have a Typepad account or sign in to anything. Your e-mail address won’t be public. Just comment.
Today’s bonus: Check out this great reference desk page for screen resources.
Have you found a better one? LET ME KNOW!
by Sheila Seclearr
