Thur, June 13: Rights, Copyrights, Contracts

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Screenwriters Association
of Santa Barbara

Presents

“Rights, Copyrights & Contracts”

With

Matthew Berger

Thursday, June 13, 7 pm

Brooks Institute
27 East Cota Street
Downtown Santa Barbara
(805) 617-4503
FREE and open to everyone! 

matthew_berger_photoMatthew Berger will talk about rights, copyrights, contracts, and registration with the SWG. Matthew graduated from UCSB with Honors in Political Science and Sociology. He went on to obtain his Juris Doctor degree from the University Of Oregon School Of Law. Matthew enjoys acting as outside general counsel for entrepreneurs, start-ups, maturing companies, and individuals across several disciplines.

The Matthew I. Berger Law Group’s favorite area to work in is the entertainment and multi-media world, and it represents clients in the film, publishing, interactive, music, television, eCommerce, and digital worlds, as well as relative to their merchandise endeavors. Their largest client is Radical Studios, Inc. which produced the new Joseph Kosinski-directed, Tom Cruise film, Oblivion, based on an illustrated novel.

The firm also handles a variety of matters, such as copyright and trademark applications; various corporate and shareholder disputes and litigation; venture funding; sales of LLC economic interests and dissociations of partners; dissolution of corporations with dissident shareholders; and litigation related to copyright and trademark infringement, breaches of contract, breaches of fiduciary duties, trade secret protection, and employment-related matters.

Matthew is a founding member of the Brewery Boyz, a classic rock, country, and blues band in Carpinteria.

Thurs, May 9: Matthew J. Pallamary

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Screenwriters Association of Santa Barbara
Presents

“A Shamanic Approach to Story Structure”

With

Matt Pallamary

Thursday, May 9, 7 pm

Brooks Institute
27 East Cota Street
Downtown Santa Barbara

FREE and open to everyone! 

Matthew J. PallamaryMatthew J. Pallamary‘s historical novel Land Without Evil, about the first contact between shamans and Jesuits in 18th century South America, received a San Diego Book Award for mainstream fiction and was chosen as a Reading Group Choices selection. Austin’s Sky Candy and Agent Red adapted the story into a full-length stage and sky show directed by Chelsea Laumen. The production became the subject of a PBS series, Arts in Context, which premiered nationally in January 2013.

Matt’s first book The Small Dark Room Of The Soul was mentioned in The Year’s Best Horror and Fantasy. His second short story collection, A Short Walk To The Other Side, was published by Mystic-Ink. Dreamland, a novel about computer generated dreaming written with Ken Reeth, won the 2002 Independent e-Book Award in the Horror/Thriller category. His memoir Spirit Matters detailing his journeys to Peru, working with shamanic plant medicines took first place in the San Diego Book Awards Spiritual Book Category, and was an Award-Winning Finalist in the autobiography/memoir category of the National Best Book Awards, sponsored by USA Book News. He frequently visits the jungles, mountains, and deserts of North, Central, and South America pursuing his studies of shamanism and ancient cultures.

For over twenty years Matt has taught a fiction workshop at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference. He also teaches at the Southern California Writers’ Conference in San Diego, Palm Springs, and Los Angeles and he has lectured at many other conferences. He is presently Editor in Chief of Muse Harbor Publishing.

Thur, April 11: Respecting the Antagonist

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Screenwriters Association of Santa Barbara
Presents

“Respecting the Antagonist”
Bill Boyle
Author of The Visual Mindscape of the Screenplay

Thursday, April 11, 7 pm

Brooks Institute
27 East Cota Street
Downtown Santa Barbara
(805) 617-4503

FREE and open to everyone! 

bill boyleBill Boyle is an award winning screenwriter who has been involved in the film industry in both Canada and the United States for over 25 years as a writer, director, agent, producer, story editor and mentor. He has become one of the most popular script consultants in the industry and has consulted on nearly 1,000 screenplays. Creative Screenwriting Magazine rated him among the top 10 percent of screenwriting consultants. He presently teaches screenwriting at UCLA Extension as well as lecturing at various universities and film schools. He also writes a bi-monthly column called “The Visual Mindscape” for www.scriptmag.com.

Films based on Mr. Boyle screenplays have received multiple awards and recognition including:

  • Palm Springs Film Festival “Critics Choice”
  • Atlantic City Film Festival “Audience Choice”
  • Toronto Reel World Festival “Best Canadian Feature”
  • ACTRA nomination for Best Dramatic Writer
  • Canadian Film Awards Finalist
  • Recipient of the Harold Greenberg Fund
  • Chicago Film Festival Special Jury Nomination

Mr. Boyle is also the lead proponent of a visual style of screenwriting called “The Visual Mindscape of the Screenplay”. His textbook of the same name was released in early 2013. The book is based on the fact film is first and foremost a visual medium so does it not make sense that the screenplay which is the spine, heart and soul of a film also be a visual experience. A fully realized screenplay exhibits its story primarily through images: a “visual mindscape” told within the dramatic structure. “This is why I believe that screenwriting is matchless as a form of storytelling,” Boyle said. “If done properly, the reader not only imagines the ‘other world’ you created, but becomes viscerally connected to it. By being able to actively participate in the unfolding of the story, the overall experience for the reader becomes a more visceral and luminous experience.”

Thurs, Nov 8: “Fleshing Out the Story”

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Screenwriters Association
of Santa Barbara

Presents

Emmy Award-Winner

Mark Stouffer

“Fleshing Out the Story”

Thursday, November 8, 7 pm

Brooks Institute
27 East Cota Street
Downtown Santa Barbara
(805) 617-4503
FREE and open to everyone!

Mark Stouffer‘s productions include five feature motion pictures, 18 network specials, 120 episodes of series television, and 12 direct-to-video hits that generated over $57 million in sales. His diverse and adventurous films have been shot on location in 17 countries, including China, Japan, Africa’s Skeleton Coast, and Siberia. Henry Fonda, Danny Glover, Will Geer, Paul Newman and Robert Redford are among the notables who have appeared in his films.

After producing and directing numerous Network Specials in partnership with John Denver and others, Mark made his feature debut producing and directing the Samuel Goldwyn Company/Virgin Group drama Man Outside (1989) starring Kathleen Quinlan and Levon Helm. He then created and produced the Warner Bros./Morgan Creek Productions major motion picture, Wild America (1997), based on his own true-life adventure story, touting teen stars Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Devon Sawa and Scott Bairstow as the three wild Stouffer brothers. Mark’s feature productions include Creature of Darkness (2009) starring Devon Sawa and Matthew Lawrence, and Dog Gone (2008) starring French Stewart, Kevin Farley and Luke Benward, distributed by Universal Studios, and Midnight Rider (2013) starring Kris Kristofferson and Chelah Horsdal. Features in development include Expert Witness and Starlight slated for production in 2013/2014.

Also known for his highly acclaimed National Geographic Specials, Mark’s cameras have boldly tracked Siberian Tigers, Namibia Elephants, Giant Pandas, and taken a record-breaking plunge over 3 miles beneath the Atlantic in search of a sunken legend.

Based in Santa Barbara, California, Mark holds a Master’s Degree in Cinematography, and is a member of the Director’s Guild of America.

Thurs, Oct 11: Making a Thriller Film

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Screenwriters Association
of Santa Barbara
Presents

“Making a Thriller Film”

with

Marty Thomas & Jon Zuber

Thursday, October 11, 7 pm

Brooks Institute
27 East Cota Street
Downtown Santa Barbara
(805) 617-4503

FREE and open to everyone!

Before movies Marty Thomas directed documentaries, national TV commercials and more than 250 MTV music videos. Marty’s projects have garnered four American Grammy-Award nominations and he has received nominations and wins from VMA Award shows worldwide. From age 16, Marty worked his way up through the crew ranks on professional film sets in Hollywood, New York, and many international locations. Marty launched Ridiculous Pictures in 1991.

As a principal partner of Ridiculous Pictures LLC, Jon Zuber has written, directed & produced many award-winning documentaries and music videos. Raised partly in Western Australia, Jon is known for bringing his travel experience and sense of historical perspective to his work as seen in the Emmy award-winning, Impressions in Time. Jon’s first documentary, Recycle That Trash won the CINE Golden Eagle award and is distributed internationally by Pyramid Entertainment. Producing credits with Ridiculous Pictures include numerous MTV music videos. Jon’s upcoming psychological thriller, Blood Lake is expected to begin filming soon in Michigan.

The latest release from Ridiculous Pictures is the Thriller/Horror feature film Killer Holiday starring Michael Copon, Rachel Lara, Julia Beth Stern and Alex Mandel. Marty and Jon are in negotiations for the next installment of the Killer Holiday series.

Thurs, Sept 13: E Van Lowe, Award-Winning TV Writer & Novelist

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Screenwriters Association
of Santa Barbara
Presents

Award-Winning TV Writer & Novelist

E Van Lowe

Thursday, September 13, 7 pm

Brooks Institute
27 East Cota Street
Downtown Santa Barbara
(805) 617-4503

FREE and open to everyone!

E Van Lowe graduated from Lehman College in the Bronx then moved to Los Angeles. There he enrolled in the Masters In Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California. While a student at USC, E sold his first short story to a romance magazine. His brother thought that was the weirdest thing ever. E didn’t care. He had become a professional writer. E told his brother quite eloquently, “nah, nah, nah!” and continued writing.

E has gone on to write for many award winning TV shows including: The Cosby Show, and Even Stevens. He also co-wrote the Academy Award nominated short film, Cadillac Dreams. Never Slow Dance With A Zombie was his first teen novel. The first in his Hollyweird book series, The Zombie Always Knocks Twice, was released August 30, 2012.

Boyfriend From Hell and Earth Angel are part of the Falling Angels Saga. These books have been optioned by Jamie Kennedy Entertainment to develop as a TV show.

Meeting Minutes for Thursday, August 9

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by Adrienne D. Wilson

August brought a new concept to the Screenwriters Association of Santa Barbara. Getting your script actually read—online—at Readthrough.com.

Basically this is a chance for screenwriters to plug their scripts “in” and hear them read by not only computer voices but real live actors.

Guy Goldstein Founder of ReadThrough.comGuy Goldstein, who founded the site told us that it was very difficult to get actors together to get a “table reading.” For his own scripts he’d asked friends. He actually designed this whole program himself, which is impressive.

It’s best if you just look around behind the scenes to get a feel for the place.

From his “About Us”:  Here is his vision in a nutshell, and the first month is free!

“Here at ReadThrough.com, we’re writers too. In fact, our demo is a few pages from a script our founder is currently shopping around Hollywood. Just like most of the writers using ReadThrough.com, we want to get great scripts to the right people, and make listening to those scripts a joy instead of a burden. Do you dream big? At ReadThrough.com, we give your dreams a voice.”

You can search for actors and see pictures!

It was amazing to see the ranges of voices that the actors do, as Goldstein scrolled and showed us behind the scenes. Take a listen at what you might get if you upload.

The audience asked if novels could be uploaded as well. Goldstein said yes, but that the traditional screenplay format would be best. Listen at the link above and watch to get an idea of how it reads. Besides the computer voices, there are 79 real actors behind the scenes. Part of all this is a chance not only to hear the words come back at you, but to possibly collaborate with the actors and network your things. Sharing is huge too! There are built in ways to share with your friends on Facebook behind the scenes as Goldstein was doing the demos.

The audience was pretty incredulous when Goldstein told us he had invented this whole thing. He’s kind and personable—in person, and that’s the fun flavor you get from the place. After your free trial, it’s something like $5 a month for a membership, and as the site builds more actors in and more scripts it’s all good.

You’ll just have to log in and try it, because without that I can’t take you behind the scenes to show you what we saw!

Thurs, August 9: LIVE Demo of ReadThrough.com

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Screenwriters Association
of Santa Barbara

Presents a

“LIVE Demo of ReadThrough.com”

With its Founder

Guy Goldstein

Actor, screenwriter and voice artist

Thursday, August 9, 7 pm

Brooks Institute
27 East Cota Street
Downtown Santa Barbara
(805) 617-4503
FREE and open to everyone!

Guy Goldstein is a software developer and a screenwriter. He needed a way to listen to scripts he and friends were writing. So he invented ReadThrough.com, a revolutionary website that uses real actors voices, background music and sound effects to perform your script. You can choose from their database of actors. Actors can actually practice scenes being cued by the program. The program supports Final Draft, Celtx, PDF files, Microsoft Word, Text and more. Whether you’re a writer, a producer or an agent looking for a new project, or an actor wanting to rehearse the dialogue on a script, ReadThrough.com makes the process much easier. And if you’re ever stuck in traffic driving through LA, you can listen to a full screenplay while you pass the time away.

Check out the ReadThrough.com demo which features a few pages from a script Guy is currently shopping around Hollywood. Just like the writers who use the site, Guy wants to get great scripts to the right people, and make listening to those scripts a joy instead of a burden.

ReadThrough.com is where scripts come to life.

Meeting Minutes for Thursday, July 12, 2012

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by Adrienne D. Wilson

The house was packed to listen to Fred Freeman speak. Eastern charm in khakis. With credits like these! From his bio:

“Freeman has taught screenwriting for over ten years. His motion picture credits include Start the Revolution Without Me starring Gene Wilder …and Donald Sutherland, Delirious starring John Candy, The Big Bus with Stockard Channing and Joe Bologna, and SPIES with Elliot Gould and Donald Sutherland. He recently completed a screenplay with director Garry Marshall, who Freeman has consulted with on several projects.

In his television work Freeman was Executive Producer of Empty Nest. He wrote and produced several TV pilots, six of which he sold as series to the major networks. In addition, he wrote for such TV shows as The Andy Griffith Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Bewitched, Gilligan’s Island, The Jackie Gleason Show…”

How many of us grew up with those shows?

Character driven. You can say that about Freeman’s work, even though he laughed as he told the audience how he used to write Gilligan’s Island. Here’s a sample — who can forget that crew?

“The hardest part is sitting down to write.”

That’s what he opened with.

Isn’t that the truth for any writer?

“Discipline,” he said. “Sometimes I have it and sometimes I don’t.”

“Don’t be afraid to write BAD, get anything you can down on paper.”

Freeman quoted Twain, “If I had more time I’d have written less,” which made the audience chuckle. “Resistance equals procrastination.” But, he added: Resistance is always lying and procrastination.

The most important thing is character, he said. And that is true. If you look at those TV shows, each one of those characters is indelibly stamped into the American collective consciousness. Is this why remakes are made, of say “Bewitched?”

Writers should just jump in and start, before they are ready. Just get something down on the page. He gave the audience four openers for two page scenes:

1. You’re sorry?____________________ write a two page scene!

2. I wouldn’t go in there if I were you__________________________ditto!

3. What do you mean you’re my sister_________________ 2 pages, but how many directions?

4. No, I said I think I love you._______________________ (this got the biggest laugh!)

Quoting Albee, “characters take off in ways you didn’t intend.” Freeman means it. And he also knows about the dread of the inner critic all writer wrestle with. “Don’t let that stop you!”

“You’ve got to feel a comfort level with your characters so you know how they will behave.”

“The only reliable emotional character is yourself,” Freeman ended. “Don’t be afraid to go inside yourselves and expose emotional truths.”

Exposure of the self is everything. He quoted Chekhov. Damn impressive coming from a writer of Gilligan’s Island, no? More links here on all that.

How else could Freeman have written humor unless he had that deep in his bones?

Not only that he put Nathanael West and Little Miss Sunshine in one line. What more could any group of writers ask for? Range! Take a peek at his credits here.

If you want to see characters in action you can log in at Movie Clips here and see some of Freeman’s work.

Thurs, July 12: Is Writing ‘The End’ Just the Beginning?

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Screenwriters Association
of Santa Barbara
Presents

Fred Freeman

“Is Writing ‘The End’ Just the Beginning?”

Thursday, July 12, 7 pm

Brooks Institute
27 East Cota Street
Downtown Santa Barbara
(805) 617-4503

FREE and open to everyone!

Fred Freeman will discuss the process of writing a screenplay and if you’re lucky enough to sell it, what happens next. Freeman has taught screenwriting for over ten years. His motion picture credits include Start the Revolution Without Me starring Gene Wilder and Donald Sutherland, Delirious starring John Candy, The Big Bus with Stockard Channing and Joe Bologna, and SPIES with Elliot Gould and Donald Sutherland. He recently completed a screenplay with director Garry Marshall, who Freeman has consulted with on several projects.

In his television work Freeman was Executive Producer of Empty Nest. He wrote and produced several TV pilots, six of which he sold as series to the major networks. In addition, he wrote for such TV shows as The Andy Griffith Show, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Bewitched, Gilligan’s Island, The Jackie Gleason Show and several others.

Mr. Freeman is a member of the Motion Picture Academy and received his B.A. from Northwestern University.