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ScreenCraft's Virtual Screenwriting Summit feat. JJ Abrams and Tony Gilroy!

by Emily Dell on March 25, 2020

As you may have heard, ScreenCraft is hosting a virtual screenwriting event this Saturday, March 28th. We're thrilled to announce that celebrated screenwriter Tony Gilroy will be joining too!  The writer of the Bourne franchise, Michael Clayton and many other iconic films is joining a lineup of all-star industry creatives. You can register to join here. And see the lineup below. 

The Virtual Screenwriting Summit is an online creative event with award-winning Screenwriters, Producers and Literary Managers, to build connection and inspiration, and raise funds for the Writers Guild Foundation, the Writers Guild Initiative and The American Red Cross.

We at ScreenCraft feel moved, now more than ever, to give writers worldwide a chance to learn from the best, while we celebrate the craft of writing, together.  You can log in to the Virtual Summit from the comfort of your home, post your questions to the experts, upvote your favorite questions and chat with the community. 

This event is open to anyone, anywhere and is donation-based, with a suggested donation of $35. Below you’ll find more details on the format of the event, and bios for the speakers.  We hope you can join us! 

Format:

The Virtual Summit is an “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) format, and we encourage you to submit your questions in advance.  After you register on Crowdcast, you’ll see button on the bottom of the screen that says “Ask a Question”. Click there to ]add your questions, and upvote your favorite questions from other attendees! 

Please Note:  Registered attendees can ask questions in every individual session. When you register you’ll be automatically brought to the first session (Meg LeFauve). Please click “SCHEDULE” at the top left of the screen, to click to the “virtual room” where the other speaker sessions will take place.  Be sure to add/upvote questions in each session!

The speaker will start with a few words of introduction, and then will jump into the questions. As the session proceeds, attendees will be able to add additional questions. Will try to get as many answered as possible.

About the Speakers:

10am PST - MEG LEFAUVE

Nominated for a Best Screenplay Oscar for the blockbuster INSIDE OUT, LeFauve won an Annie Award for that screenplay. She also wrote Pixar’s Golden Globe nominated THE GOOD DINOSAUR and is currently writing a series for Hulu as well as the animated film MY FATHER’S DRAGON for Netflix and Cartoon Saloon. She wrote on Marvel’s box office hit, CAPTAIN MARVEL. She began her career as a producer and President of Egg Pictures, Jodie Foster's film company. Her produced films were nominated for an Emmy, a Golden Globe, and she was awarded a Peabody for the Showtime film, THE BABY DANCE. LeFauve has taught at AFI and served as co-chair of the Graduate Producers Program at UCLA's School of Film and TV, where she taught master level story and development classes for over seven years. Find her podcast "The Screenwriting Life" on Popcorn TV and available through Apple podcasts.

11am PST - ALAN YANG

Alan Yang is the co-creator, executive producer, and director of the Netflix series MASTER OF NONE, for which he received the 2016 Emmy® Award for Best Writing in a Comedy Series. The show has been nominated for twelve Emmys® and three Golden Globes, and was the recipient of a Peabody Award, two AFI Awards, and the Critics' Choice Award for Best Comedy. Most recently, Yang wrapped production on TIGERTAIL, a feature film he directed, wrote and produced for Netflix. Currently, he serves as an executive producer alongside Kumail Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon and Lee Eisenberg for the half-hour anthology series LITTLE AMERICA for Apple debuting this fall. His Amazon Prime show, FOREVER, starring Maya Rudolph, Fred Armisen, and Catherine Keener, premiered last fall and received a nomination for a WGA Award. Yang also directed the music video for Jay-Z's "Moonlight," starring Tiffany Haddish, Jerrod Carmichael, and Issa Rae. Previously, Yang was a writer, co-executive producer, and director for PARKS AND RECREATION, for which he was nominated for an Emmy® in 2015. He can also be seen on-screen in a few episodes of PARKS AND RECREATION playing bass in Mouse Rat, the rock band fronted by Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt). 

12pm PST - MAX BORENSTEIN

Max Borenstein wrote the script for 2014’s blockbuster GODZILLA, as well as KONG: SKULL ISLAND, GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS (story), and the forthcoming GODZILLA V. KONG. His next film as writer and producer, the drama WORTH, starring Michael Keaton, Stanley Tucci, and Amy Ryan premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020. In television, Borenstein is the creator and showrunner of the upcoming UNTITLED SHOWTIME LAKERS PROJECT for HBO, Previously, he developed a GAME OF THRONES prequel for HBO, and created and served as co-show-runner on Steven Spielberg’s television adaptation of his hit film MINORITY REPORT for the Fox network.

1pm PST - ADAM KOLBRENNER

Adam Kolbrenner is the founder of Lit Entertainment Group, where he reps top creators including Dave Andron (SNOWFALL); Josh Campbell & Matt Stuecken (10 CLOVERFIELD LANE); Mikki Daughtry & Tobias Iaconis (THE CHILDREN, FIVE FEET APART); Craig Doyle (GROWN-ISH), and more. He produced Oscar-nominated film, PRISONERS, and executive produced Netflix’s recent holiday film, CHRISTMAS CHRONICLES starring Kurt Russell. He’s producing FREE GUY, starring Ryan Reynolds, and GHOST DRAFT, starring Chris Pratt and directed by Chris McKay. Previously, Kolbrenner co-founded Madhouse Entertainment. 

2pm PST - WENDY CALHOUN

Peabody-award winning writer/producer Wendy Calhoun’s unique career spans one-hour dramas and unscripted series. Currently in an exclusive overall deal at Warner Bros. Television Studios, she serves as Consulting Producer on FBC’s PRODIGAL SON. Her scripted drama credits include Co-Executive Producing and writing the historic first season of Fox’s EMPIRE, as well as debut seasons of ABC’s STATION 19, NASHVILLE, REVENGE, and FX’s JUSTIFIED. Calhoun’s developed seven drama pilots with NBC, The CW, Netflix, FX, Twentieth TV Studios, and ABC Signature Studios. Her forty hours of unscripted credits include producing and directing for FBC’s HELL’S KITCHEN, TLC’s BALLROOM BOOTCAMP, Discovery’s MONSTER HOUSE, and VH1’s 100 GREATEST DANCE SONGS. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Calhoun is an honored film and television alumni of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She enjoys speaking about diversity and inclusion in popular entertainment at creative conferences and film festivals around the world.

3pm PST - STEPHANY FOLSOM

Stephany Folsom was raised in the mountains of Colorado and attended film school in Los Angeles. After graduation, she had many day jobs until she landed a gig working for news outlets and non-profits, producing short documentaries around the world. Eventually growing tired of life on the road, she landed back in Los Angeles and delved back into fiction writing. Her script 1969 A SPACE ODYSSEY: OR HOW KUBRICK LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LAND ON THE MOON made the Black List in 2013. Since then she’s written on Marvel’s THOR: RAGNAROK, Lucasfilm’s STAR WARS RESISTANCE series, and most recently co-wrote the Academy Award-winning TOY STORY 4. Currently Stephany lives in Los Angeles with her husband and precocious mutt, where she is a consulting producer and writer on Amazon Prime’s LORD OF THE RINGS. In her spare time, she is showrunning and writing the series adaptation of Brian K. Vaughan’s PAPER GIRLS with Plan B, Legendary, and Amazon Studios.

4pm PST - DAVID RABINOWITZ

David Rabinowitz is an Academy Award-winning co-writer of the Spike Lee film BLACKKKLANSMAN. He got his start working as a multimedia producer for the Wall Street Journal. Since then, he's worked as a freelance video editor, motion graphics artist, and screenwriter. David is from East Brunswick, New Jersey, and a graduate of Quinnipiac University. David and his writing partner Charlie Wachtel are currently penning an action-thriller called THACHER ISLAND for Berlanti Productions, which is an adaptation of the book Animal by NY Times bestselling author Casey Sherman.

5pm PST - TONY GILROY

Tony Gilroy is an Academy Award-nominated Screenwriter, Director and Producer.  Raised in New York, His father, Frank D. Gilroy, was a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, director, and screenwriter.  Tony wrote the first four films in the BOURNE franchise (THE BOURNE IDENTITY, THE BOURNE SUPREMACY, THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM and THE BOURNE LEGACY) and directed the fourth in the franchise.  He wrote/directed MICHAEL CLAYTON and DUPLICITY and was nominated for Academy Awards in both writing and directing for MICHAEL CLAYTON. He was an Executive Producer on HOUSE OF CARDS and Produced NIGHTCRAWLER, written/directed by his brother Dan Gilroy. Tony co-wrote STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE and is writing the upcoming STAR WARS Cassian Andor series.

6pm PST - MYSTERY BOX GUEST... JJ ABRAMS! 

Who will it be? You'll have to join us to find out? This screenwriter is one of the most well-known and beloved writers in modern film and television. We're excited to announce our surprise guest, JJ Abrams

 

About the Beneficiaries:


Since 1966, the Writers Guild Foundation has been the premier Hollywood resource for emerging writers and entertainment lovers. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the Writers Guild Foundation’s mission is to preserve and promote the history and craft of writing for the screen. WGF proudly serves the writing community, with Mentorship Programs, the Veterans Writing Project, panels and events open to the public and the Shavelson-Webb Library – the world’s only library devoted entirely to writing for the screen.

The Writers Guild Initiative (WGI) a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization makes the art of storytelling accessible to people of all ethnic, cultural and economic backgrounds – with special attention to the underserved. Since 2009, the Writers Guild Initiative has offered a series of writing workshops for groups with compelling and important stories to tell, including veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and their family caregivers, exonerated death row inmates, LGBTQ+ community, and documented and undocumented immigrant youth among others. Our mission is to help vulnerable populations to find their voice and tell their story.

American Red Cross is a humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. Red Cross volunteers and staff work to deliver vital services – from providing relief and support to those in crisis, to helping you be prepared to respond in emergencies.

Hope you can join us! Click here to Register for the event and get your questions ready!

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