Join us for the next panel in our Writing Series for Adults: Screenwriting! ***PLEASE NOTE THIS EVENT IS AT 826LA WEST, 685 VENICE BLVD. VENICE, CA 90291***

Our panelists will discuss writing: how they got started, what inspires them, and how to go about turning a story into a completed screenplay. We will also be discussing the business side of screenwriting: how to get representation and how to guide a screenplay in order to sell or produce and feature film.

Tickets are $35 and non refundable. All proceeds go to 826LA.

Featuring:

Dan Futterman

Dan Futterman lives in LA with his wife, Anya Epstein, and their two daughters. He wrote the screenplay for the 2005 film Capote, for which he recieved an Independent Spirit Award, Boston Society of Film Critics award, and Los Angeles Film Critics Association award, as well as an Academy Award nomination. He is currently co-writing a pilot for HBO with his wife, based on a radio piece from This American Life. He started tutoring at 826LA just a few months ago, and looks forward to continuing in the fall.

Melissa Mathison

Melissa Mathison's screenwriting credits include the films Kundun, The Black Stallion, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, for which she earned an Academy Award nomination.

Glasgow Phillips

Glasgow Phillips is a writer, producer, and director who works in film, television, print, and new media. In animated television, he has written for South Park (CC), Father of the Pride (DreamWorks/NBC), The Adventures of Chico and Guapo (MTVN), Code Monkeys (G4), and Kung Fu Panda (Nickelodeon, upcoming). He wrote and directed the important zombie Western feature film Undead or Alive, starring Chris Kattan and James Denton. Recently he finished production on on Magic Reader Classics, an educational DVD series for children that is free to schools and other organizations focused on kids and learning; for more information, go to magicreaderclassics.com. He recently joined Acme-Smith, a boutique production company specializing in branded entertainment (acme-smith.com), and you can read about his adventures in underground Hollywood in his memoir The Royal Nonesuch.

James Ponsoldt

Soon after graduating from Columbia University’s MFA Filmmaking Program, James Ponsoldt wrote and directed the 2006 feature film, “Off the Black” (starring Nick Nolte, Trevor Morgan, and Timothy Hutton), which premiered at Sundance ’06. His second feature was workshopped at the Sundance Screenwriters Lab and will film in 2010. James currently is adapting novels for Vox3 Films (“Secretary”), Sharp Independent (“Boys Don’t Cry,” “You Can Count On Me”), and writes for “FILMMAKER” magazine. He co-authored the graphic novel “Refresh, Refresh,” which Macmillan will publish in September (http://us.macmillan.com/refreshrefresh). James is proud to have volunteered and run workshops with 826LA for over three years. 

Howard A. Rodman

Howard A. Rodman wrote Savage Grace, one of five works nominated for 'best
screenplay' at the 2009 Spirit Awards.  Rodman wrote the original screenplay
for August, starring Josh Hartnett, Rip Torn, and David Bowie, and the
screenplay for Joe Gould's Secret, which was the opening night film of the
2000 Sundance Film Festival. His original screenplay F. was selected by Premiere as one 
of Hollywood's Ten Best Unproduced Screenplays.He is a professor (and former chair) of 
screenwriting at USC's School of Cinematic Arts; serves on the Board of Directors of the 
Writers Guild of America, West; and has been Artistic Director of the Sundance 
Screenwriting Labs in Utah and in Wadi Feynan, Jordan.  This year he was one of four 
screenwriters invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Moderated by James Urbaniak.

James Urbaniak's acting credits include the role of Robert Crumb in
"American Splendor," the voice of Dr. Venture on Cartoon Network's Adult
Swim series "The Venture Brothers" and the acclaimed original production of
Will Eno's one-man play "Thom Pain (based on nothing)." His awards include
Best Actor at the Edinburgh Fringe, an Obie Award and a Drama Desk
nomination. Other film credits include "Across the Universe," "Confessions
of a Dangerous Mind," "Sweet and Lowdown," "Legally Blonde 2," and several
films with the writer-director Hal Hartley including "Henry Fool," "Fay
Grim," "No Such Thing" and "Book of Life." TV work includes appearances on
"The Office," "Weeds," "CSI: Miami," "Sex and the City," "NCIS," "Without a
Trace," "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles," "Kidnapped" and many
more. He plays the journalist Jack Lessenberry in HBO's upcoming movie about
Jack Kevorkian, "You Don't Know Jack" (starring Al Pacino). James co-founded
the critically lauded New York theatre company Arden Party and has performed
extensively in New York City at Lincoln Center, Soho Rep, Playwrights
Horizons and the legendary experimental theatre Onotological-Hysteric.
As a cultural commentator, James writes regularly about show business,
politics, advertising and the internet on his blog Voucher Ankles and his
posts have been linked by Gothamist, the Hollywood Reporter and Vanity Fair,
among others. An active Twitterer, he is included in the upcoming
HarperCollins compendium "Twitter Wit."