The Screenwriter's Summit

Description

Over two intense days, these four masters of the craft will provide you an unmatched depth and understanding of screenwriting and story that is ideal for screenwriters, filmmakers, TV writers, producers, directors and creative executives. Michael, Linda, John and Syd will each teach half-day classes followed by a half-hour Q&A session in which you'll be able to follow-up with any questions you may have. The speakers having taken the time and care to share their outlines with each other to make sure they provide you the best, most engaging material possible without overlap.

And, for the first time ever at the Summit, we are pleased to announce "The Summit Mixer" event on Saturday evening. The Mixer will give attendees the opportunity to relax and socialize with one another over food and drink, plus there will be an additional session and Q&A that evening with a panel of industry professionals who will teach you about the business of television, filmmaking and screenwriting. The Summit Mixer is included with your 2-day registration.

CNN called Syd Field, "The guru of all screenwriters," while The Hollywood Reporter said he's "the most sought-after screenwriting teacher in the world." Oscar-winning director of "A Beautiful Mind" Ron Howard said, "I've used [Linda Seger's] concepts...on all my films starting with Apollo 13." Ralph Winter, acclaimed producer of such films as X-Men I, II & III, Fantastic Four and other blockbusters claimed, "John Truby's course is so good I took it twice." And billion-dollar box office screenwriter Terry Rossio (Pirates of the Caribbean 1, 2 & 3, Shrek, National Treasure: Book of Treasures), said, "Michael Hauge is the only screenwriting instructor out there who might be truly wasting his time - because he should be writing screenplays instead. Higher praise I cannot give."

Don't miss this rare opportunity to hear 4 world-class speakers in a single weekend where the goal is simple: to learn, network and have some fun at the same time. The Vancouver Sun called last years Vancouver Summit "a most amazing event" that "drew an incredibly diverse crowd in terms of ages and backgrounds. Great event." With the class size being strictly limited to 150 participants, the Screenwriters' Summit in LA will be a great and unique opportunity to hear some of screenwriting's best and most-respected teachers.

LINDA SEGER

Dr. Linda Seger is an internationally known speaker in the area of screenwriting, having taught and lectured in over 30 countries on 6 continents. She has given seminars for studios, networks, production companies, television series, and film commissions, and, as the author of nine bestselling books on the art and craft of screewriting, Seger has appeared in more than 60 radio and television shows, including CNN, Good Morning LA, NPR (National Public Radio), Good Morning New York and more.

Some of Linda's bestselling books include, Making a Good Script Great, Making a Good Writer Great, Creating Unforgettable Characters, The Art of Adaptation: Turning Fact and Fiction into Film, From Script to Screen: The Collaborative Art of Filmmaking, When Women Call the Shots, and many others.

Linda has consulted on over 2000 scripts, including over 40 produced feature films and about 35 produced television projects. Some of her clients include ABC, CBS, NBC, Disney Animation, Turner Network Television, Matinee Productions, Embassy Television, Denmark Radio (Channel 1 Television), Trebitsch Company (Hamburg Studio), ZDF Network (Frankfurt, Germany), Rai Television (Rome, Italy), Swedish Television and more.

"Every film is about meaning, and conveys meaning through its story and through its characters. In Part One, we'll look at how to connect the ideas in your script with your audience to make your film more commercial." - Linda Seger

Part One: Deepening your Story through Theme and Ideas

- Making your story more commercial through a universal theme.

- Discussing universal themes found in many great films.

- Fitting the theme to the demographics of your audience.

- 4 ways to express the theme: through the dialogue, story, characters, and images.

"Film is meant to be cinematic, not talky. In Part Two, we'll look at ways to use images to better express the theme and to bring the story to life cinematically." - Linda Seger

Part Two: Making your Story more Cinematic through Images and Image Systems

- What is an image?

- How to think in images to become a better screenwriter.

- Creating metaphoric images that help express the theme.

- Creating image systems that travel throughout the entire film.

JOHN TRUBY

Over the course of 3 decades, John Truby has taught more than 30,000 students the art of screenwriting. Providing the knowledge and expertise he has applied as a consultant on over 1,000 movie scripts, Truby offers an approach to storytelling that has earned acclaim for his instructional classes and screenwriting software from students and critics alike.

From the writers, directors and producers of Shrek to Sleepless in Seattle to The Negotiator to Star Wars, Truby's screenwriting classes have trained some of the top players in Hollywood today. He teaches tried and true screenwriting techniques that will allow you to compete with the best. Key point: top professionals use fundamentally different tools than amateur writers. These techniques include everything from grand story strategy to scene sequencing to setting up and paying off scene patterns to blending dialogue.

In October 2008, Truby released his highly anticipated, critically acclaimed book The Anatomy of Story, which raced to the top of the bestseller list. In it, he brings his complicated but time-tested story development system to print for the first time - "an extremely precise map of your entire plot" that "shows you the most dramatic way to tell your story."

"Hollywood respects and pays for somebody who stands out from the crowd. In other words, anyone who is an original storyteller. If you have something unique, and if you tell your story in an original way, you are the only place that they can go to get what you have. And that's why [studios] will pay you a lot of money to do that. That's why I always say it is absolutely essential that you maintain control over your originality. That is what is unique to you, that is what you have to sell. If you can do that, and then learn the structure techniques for expressing what is original, you will be very successful." - John Truby

Topics covered will include:

- The variations of deep structure

- 7 steps to a great premise

- Plot techniques

- How to beak scenes down

- The secret to creating a strong middle

- Determining the key theme and central moral choice of your hero

- Creating Your Opponent

- Genres: Action, Comedy, Crime, Detective, Fantasy, Horror, Love, Masterpiece, Myth, Science Fiction, Thriller

MICHAEL HAUGE

Michael Hauge is a story consultant, author and lecturer who works with writers and filmmakers on their screenplays, novels, movies and television projects. He has coached writers or consulted on projects for Will Smith, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Lopez, Kirsten Dunst, Robert Downey, Jr. and Morgan Freeman, plus every major Hollywood studio.

Hauge's book and his teaching both began as a desire to share what he had learned from years as a development executive in Hollywood. "Development is really the generic term for the process of getting a story or screenplay greenlit," says Hauge. "In my case, that meant working closely with writers, having ideas pitched to me, and reading thousands of screenplays."

Michael's book Writing Screenplays That Sell, now in its 32nd printing for HarperCollins, is the definitive reference book for the film and television industries, as is his The Hero's 2 Journeys, available on CD and DVD. His newest book, Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds: The Guaranteed Way to Get Your Screenplay Read, was released in 2007.

Hauge says one of the most powerful tools he's developed while coaching writers is to ask them a series of questions about their scripts. He continues the exercise with more thought-provoking questions to get the writer really thinking about the work. "My job is to help them target what they're trying to say with what they've done," he says. "I ask questions about how they see the story; how they see the characters. If all I do is provide criticism, I'm just expressing my vision of the story -- not theirs."

Michael continues to tour the world teaching screenwriting, and has presented seminars and lectures to more than 40,000 participants throughout the US, Canada, Australia and Europe.

For our opening session, Hollywood script consultant and screenwriting coach Michael Hauge, best-selling author of Writing Screenplays That Sell and Selling Your Story in 60 Seconds: The Guaranteed Way to Get Your Screenplay or Novel Read, will present his unique approach to creating compelling, commercial screenplays. Michael will show you how to entertain, enlighten and move your audience through story concept, plot structure, character development and theme. He will then reveal his proven method for getting the people in power to read your screenplay. Selected participants will also get direct feedback on their story concepts and pitches.

Topics covered will include:

- The primary goal of all story

- The power of desire, need, longing and destiny

- The essential conflict all characters must face

- Turning plot structure from a complicated concept into a simple, powerful tool you can easily apply to every story

- The six stages of a properly structured screenplay

- The single key to creating character arc and theme

- Creating believable and fulfilling love stories

- The eight steps to a powerful pitch

SYD FIELD

Acclaimed as "the guru of all screenwriters" (CNN), Syd Field is regarded by many Hollywood professionals to be the leading authority in the art and craft of screenwriting in the world today. The Hollywood Reporter calls him "the most sought-after screenwriting teacher in the world."

Syd Field has sold over 1,000,000 copies of his books. His internationally acclaimed best-selling books Screenplay, The Screenwriter's Workbook, and The Screenwriter's Problem Solver have established themselves as the "bibles" of the film industry. They are used in more than 395 colleges and universities and have been translated into 19 languages.

Field chaired the Academic Liaison Committee at The Writer's Guild of America West, is currently on faculty at the USC Master's of Professional Writing Program, has taught at Harvard, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA, the AFI and many other noted institutions.

Field's former students include Anna Hamilton Phelan (Girl, Interrupted, Gorillas in the Mist), John Singleton (Four Brothers, Boyz N the Hood), Randi Mayem Singer (Mrs. Doubtfire), Laura Esquival (Like Water For Chocalate), Michael Kane (The Color of Money), and Kevin Williamson (Scream, Scream 2 & 3), and he has been a special script consultant to 20th Century Fox, the Disney Studios, Universal and Tristar Pictures.

"It is an inspiring and innovative time to be a screenwriter. All of us embody that future. We have the imagination, the tools, the skills, and we know the craft -- but do we have the courage and the strength to bring our own personal vision into the world? I feel the screenwriter should take responsibility for stimulating the audience into action; to think -- to feel -- to passionately inspire others." - Syd Field

Topics covered will include:

- Setting up character and story

- Film is behavior - introducing character AS story

- When and why to use Voice Over (VO) narration

- The Inciting Incident and its impact on character

- Setting up the Non-linear story

- Writing effective dialogue

- The Nature of Conflict

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