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Another singular, exciting feature of the Eugene International Film Festival, is this intensive 3-day course taught, one-on-one, by successful Hollywood professionals from whom you'll learn:
In this unique course, Hollywood Literary Agent Ken Sherman and Screenwriter/TV Showrunner/Novelist Tom Sawyer will share with you their experiences and answer your questions about how to successfully launch your career.
Read what former attendees say about this remarkable course, now in its 4th successful year:
Novelist, screenwriter, playwright Thomas B. Sawyer was Head Writer/Showrunner of the classic CBS series, Murder, She Wrote, for which he wrote 24 episodes. Tom has written 9 network TV pilots, 100 episodes, both comedy and drama, and was Head Writer/Showrunner or Story Editor on 15 network TV series. He wrote/directed/produced the feature-film cult comedy, Alice Goodbody. His documentary film, Reunion, was honored by the New York Film Festival, and received national theatrical release. Tom is co-librettist/lyricist of Jack, an opera about John F. Kennedy, backed by the Shuberts, that has been performed to acclaim in the US and Europe. Edgar and Emmy-nominated he is publisher of Storybase 2.0 writer's software. Tom's book, Fiction Writing Demystified, and Storybase, are Writer's Digest Book Club Selections. He's taught writing at UCLA, at other colleges, at writers conferences from Maui to Cape Cod, Florida, Las Vegas, Dallas, Biloxi & elsewhere. Tom currently teaches Storytelling online at Writers University. A member of the DGA, WGA, MWA, ITW and ATAS, his latest novel is the best-selling thriller, No Place to Run. www.ThomasBSawyer.com
President of Ken Sherman and Associates, a Beverly Hills-based literary agency representing screen, TV and book writers. Ken's clients include, to name a few, David Guterson, author of Snow Falling on Cedars, Tawni O'Dell, whose first novel, Back Roads, an international best seller and Oprah Book Club selection is son to be a major movie, Adrian Lynne (Fatal Attraction) directing Tawni"s screenplay, Starhawk, considered the best-known witch in the world, Anne Perry, the world's best Victorian murder mystery writer and author of 50 books, plus the estates of John Updike, Luis Buñuel and John Hersey.
Ken teaches at major colleges and universities, and at numerous writers conferences, from Maui to Santa Fe and elsewhere. His course, "The Business of Writing for Screen, Television and Publishing," has been featured at both USC and UCLA for eight years. He serves as an Arts and Cultural Affairs Commissioner in the City of West Hollywood, is a founding member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts/Los Angeles (BAFTA/LA) and is a member of both the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the International Advisory Board of the Christopher Isherwood Foundation.
If you have a script worthy of a Hollywood agent, this is the Screenwriters' Retreat you must attend. Ken will be looking for exciting new talent at the festival.
Zak from Cincinnati works on a class assignment. He has been a returning Screenwriters' Retreat student and now resides in Los Angeles.
1. Learn basics – the need to pitch well.
2.The changing realities of the marketplace.
3. Get a LOCK on your screenplay, on what it is you’re writing.
A. In class, students write one 1-3 sentence story idea/logline.
B. Students expand each into one paragraph.
C. Both the single sentence and paragraph will be discussed in this and/or next class meeting.
James Cloutier
