Screenwriting Blog

First Tango in Paris - Adieu to this Blog.....

2011-09-03T17:58:00.003-04:00

9/1/2011 -- My Blog now lives on my website at

http://www.marilynhorowitz.com/blog

- and this Blog is retired - please join us at MarilynHorowitz.com - or on Facebook!

Here's my last post......

Although I am about to live my dream of revising a novel in Paris, like Owen Wilson in Woody Allen's new film, Midnight In Paris, I am just as excited as having the chance to dance the tango in the city of lights. This article talks about how Tango is the first improvisational partner dance, and the excitement of having a dictionary of tango moves, but never quite knowing how it will all fit, sounds a lot like writing to me. Au revoir (For now)

http://www.history-of-tango.com/couple-dance.html

Focus, Focus! Focusing will help refine your writing...

2011-08-25T11:42:00.001-04:00

Focusing will help your writing

I love focusing and worked with it's creator, Gene Gendlin, a true genius. Focusing is a technique that I recommend highly. Another therapist, Cheri Huber, writes about this very thing, and how we abandon ourselves, and as a result, we feel like a little kid left in a shopping cart in a supermarket. I am rewriting my novel, and it's really hard to stay connected to myself. I found this Focusing Tip so helpful because it gave me permission to really connect with this aspect of myself instead of running away. Being compassionate towards all aspects of yourself is a worthy goal and will make you infinitely more creative.

Weekly Tips and Support for Focusers and People Interested in Focusing

August 23 2011 - #294

Did you ever have a feeling of happiness that got crushed by a voice that says, "That isn't going to last"? Read on...

Do you have a burning question about Focusing? Send it to us with "Focusing Tips" in the subject line, and let us know whether we can use your first name, or if you'd rather be called "A Reader."

"A little voice says, 'You can't be happy. It isn't going to last.'" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chris writes: "So, something good, exciting etc., happens, and I am happy about it. A little voice, however, says 'Oh no you can't be, how long do you think it's going to last, huh?' This dulls my original excitement and I now have two competing sentiments. So I say 'A part of me says I can't happy', AND... and this is where the question comes in. Does 'another part' want to be happy, or, if one senses that it's Self-in-Presence, does one simply say 'I' want to be happy?

 Dear Chris

Good for you for noticing that the "How long do you think that's going to last?" voice is something to acknowledge, rather than something to fight with, argue with, or otherwise get entangled with.

That is a type of part that Barbara McGavin and I call a "controlling" type. Other people call it the "inner critic" but we prefer a way of talking about it that allows it to change more easily. (Once you call it "a critic," how can it be anything else?)

This type of part is driven by worry, sometimes intense worry to the point of anxiety and even panic. If you take a moment, you can almost always sense what it is worried about. In your case, I'd guess it's worried about you being disappointed, if those enjoyable feelings fall flat on you.

(It's ironic and tragic how parts like this often create the very conditions they are worried about!)

This type of part often worries that certain feelings or action will lead to unwanted emotions. So it seems to be trying to "control" ("You can't be happy" "Don't be sad" "Don't do that") our feelings and actions

The secret here is not to engage at the level of what it is saying, but rather to acknowledge that underlying worry

Controlling Part: "You can't be happy, how long do you think that's going to last?"

You: "Ah, hello. It sounds like you might be worried about something.

Are there two parts, one that says "Don't be happy" and one that wants to be happy?

Actually, I don't think so. The feeling of happy just came to you, like a sunset comes, or a blush. It wasn't a wanting to be happy. You were happy.  (And yes, your whole being can be happy, it doesn't have to be a part of you!)  When the feeling of happiness came, something in you got scared, and reacted. Maybe there was no other part, at that point. Maybe YOU (being Self-in-Presence) kindly and calmly acknowledged that "controlling" part that got scared. I hope so!

Controlling parts, and actually all our parts, absolutely love for us to be Self-in-Presence. It makes them feel safer! At first, though, they might not trust that you have really shown up. So they need some time and company to get used to you being there. Just listen.

You: "So you're worried I might suffer a big disappointment if I let myself feel too happy. Yes, I really hear, that's what you're not wanting me to go through!"

Hearing what is underneath works its magic, and soon the parts relax and let you go back to being happy!

How to Learn Focusing from Anywhere in the World

http://www.focusingresources.com/

510-225-0690

email: ann@focusingresources.com

The Matrix: Are we awake or dreaming?

2011-08-21T08:05:00.003-04:00

I have been out on Fire Island relaxing and working on the two books I am completing. I haven't been out here in a few years, but before that, came out here every summer for many years. The last time I was here I was working my way out of a unhappy marriage and script doctoring a screenplay, as well as being a member of a share house. This trip, I am happily single, working on my own books, and the leader of my house, and have friends and colleagues visiting to work and relax. In other words, this should be a triumphant return, and yet I am haunted by the unhappiness of the past as if I had had a bad dream the night before. I know I have clung to this sad feeling in the past because it is safe and familiar, an ironic kind of emotional haven after year of huge change and upheavals. But now, I would now like to be free of the past and have been looking for a way of letting it go. I felt the layers of memories competing with the present experience, and was overwhelmed by them. Like Neo in the film, The Matrix, who has a moment where he drives past a noodle shop he visited before he got free and is momentarily confused. " Great noodles," he says wistfully, then realizes he has a memory that never happened. But since he "remembers" the experience, doesn't that make it real? This morning, this quote from The Abraham-Hicks folks was in my mailbox, and I thought you might find it as helpful in organizing what is "real" as I did:

When you begin to understand Law of Attraction, and you understand that which is like unto itself is drawn, then it is easier and easier to understand that you are offering a signal, and the entire Universe responds. And when you finally get that, and you begin to exercise some deliberate control about the signal that you offer, then it really begins to be fun, because then you recognize that nothing happens outside of your creative control. There are no things that happen by chance or by circumstance. There is nothing that is happening because of something you vibrated a long time ago or in a past life. It is not about what you were born into. It is only about what you are, right now, in this red hot fresh moment emitting.

--- Abraham

The Classics

2011-08-15T13:35:00.001-04:00

When searching through my email, I found this old blog that was never posted. Now that my father is gone, this comment has a special meaning for me. I really recommend the films on this list. We never got to watch them all.

Blog:

My father loves movies, loves them. That runs in the family. My grandfather and my father both held the position of General Counsel at a studio consecutively and my aunt was Assistant General Counsel at the same company several years later. When I was little, on the weekend, we would watch movies at home on a 16mm projector.

I'm visiting him in Santa Fe, and now of course, there is no projector, he has a 50" flat screen and Blue Ray.

As we were deciding which movie to watch last night, we looked through his collection, and made a list of classic films that we will watch, though it will be over the next couple of visits:

It's A Wonderful Life

Witness For The Prosecution

Le Regle De Jeu

La Grand Illusion

Les Enfants Du Paradis

To Catch A Thief

North By Northwest

The Philidelphia Story

Roman Holiday

An Affair To Remember

Holiday

What they all have in common is classic stories that have a specific opinion of how you should conduct yourself, a moral certainty completely hidden in a great screenplay. Watch them!

Connecting to Opportunities: InkTip: Scripts Wanted

2011-08-12T12:56:00.001-04:00

For all of us writers, getting connected with opportunities to get our scripts made, it's important to get on mailing lists of companies such as InkTip and take advantage of the amazing amount of access the internet provides. Here's a current mailing for your review. Happy writing!

Hundreds of writers have sold/optioned their screenplays by having their scripts on InkTip.com.

CONTENTS:

Foremost Films - 2011 Nicholl's Quarterfinals
Milkman Films - Hour Long Drama Pilots
Sell Your Screenplays
More Companies Seeking Scripts/Writers
InkTip Magazine
Producer and Writer Testimonials
InkTip on Facebook
Advertise with InkTip
Network with Entertainment Pros this Weekend
Feel Good Film Festival – this weekend!
MyLLC.com
Special offer for InkTip subscribers! MOVIE MAGIC SCREENWRITER v.6 $149
MONTHLY CONTEST - PRIZE-ALL KINDS OF INDUSTRY EXPOSURE!
Infolist.com
Opt Out

PLEASE NOTE:
DO NOT submit something if you don't have the script completed.
DO NOT show up at their doorstep, email or call them with your submission, outside of the submission instructions provided.
DO NOT submit your work if it doesn't fit the requirements.
If your script fits a lead, be sure to tweak your logline and synopsis to reflect the requirements in the lead.

If a writer violates this protocol, it is a sure way to guarantee that company won't consider the writer or script, and we will remove the writer from the InkTip email list.

Important note for our subscribers: If you have any spam filters in place, you'll need to add the following email addresses to your 'safe list' or 'mailing list' preferences so InkTip emails don't end up in your junk mail folder: Jerrol@InkTipPro.comandInvite@InkTipPro.com. You should also keep an eye on your junk folder for incoming email from producers who might email you from their email address.

Calling all writers who have found success through InkTip!
If you have optioned/sold a script (feature or short), obtained writing work or representation, landed a development deal, etc., through our assistance, please tell us (if you haven't already notified us). We can help you get more exposure.

Thanks! - Your Friendly Neighborhood InkTippers

---------------
1) Foremost Films - 2011 Nicholl's Quarterfinals
---------------

We are interested in hearing from all writers who are currently entered in this year's Nicholl's Fellowship Contest 2011 (and only 2011). Genres don't matter. We're looking for those writers who made it into this year's quarterfinals or higher and are looking for a literary manager (those already with agents or attorneys are also welcome).

Please only submit the title, logline, and a brief synopsis of the screenplay.

Jeffrey Belkin has worked in the industry for well over a decade as a senior script analyst, consultant, contest judge, director of development, and lit manager for studios, agencies as well as A-list talent. Having worked as a lit manager for Mad Hatter Films and helped develop 'Gran Torino' as a producer for Double Nickel Entertainment, he runs his own prod/mgmt co. Jeff has signed writers from InkTip and all of the top competitions. In 2005, he discovered Nicholl's entrant Jeff Dean -- whose spec was optioned by New Regency. Presently, Jeff has over a dozen client projects with top production co's attached/packaging them.

To submit to this lead, please go to:

http://www.inktippro.com/leads/

Enter your email address.

Copy/Paste this code: u31evpxywn

NOTE: Please only submit your work if it fits what the lead is looking for exactly. If you aren't sure if your script fits, please ask InkTip first.

---------------
2) Milkman Films - Hour Long Drama Pilots
---------------

We are looking for completed hour-long drama pilots. Prefer material where a treatment and series pitch is also available.

Budget has yet to be determined. WGA and non-WGA writers may submit.

Milkman Films is a new company helmed by award-winning, up-and-coming director Lee Citron, and this will be for an associate and mentor of his at a major television network.

To submit to this lead, please go to:

http://www.inktippro.com/leads/

Enter your email address.

Copy/Paste this code: teamdgu7pd

NOTE: Please only submit your work if it fits what the lead is looking for exactly. If you aren't sure if your script fits, please ask InkTip first.

---------------
3) Sell Your Screenplays
---------------

InkTip has gotten hundreds of screenplays sold or optioned which has resulted in more than 130 feature films being made.

InkTip can help you sell yours. List your screenplays on InkTip so that producers in Hollywood and abroad can find you.

"InkTip is unquestionably the gold standard when it comes to script services companies, providing a first-class website listing utility, exceptionally informative newsletters and thorough, comprehensive reports to keep us writers on track. Keep up the outstanding work!"

Mark Golik, Writer

Go here to list your screenplays on InkTip.com

---------------
4) More Companies Seeking Scripts/Writers
---------------

The Next Preferred Deadline is September 30th.

Subscribe now by clicking here.

Below are more companies seeking scripts, which are available in this week’s Preferred Newsletter (without contact information/credits). To receive the information, the cost is $50 for a four-month subscription (half price if you have a script on the site!).

For more information about the Preferred Newsletter go here:www.InkTip.com/pnews.php.

**
Company A
**

We are looking for completed feature-length high-concept supernatural thriller scripts, i.e. something in the vein of “Paranormal Activity” or “The Blair Witch Project.” Please note that a high concept script is one where the story can be pitched in a sentence or less.

Budget will not exceed $3 million. WGA and non-WGA writers may submit.

For more information on gaining access to this lead, please see

www.InkTip.com/pnews.php.

**

Company B
**

We are looking for completed feature-length contemporary action scripts with stories taking place in ten or fewer locations. Material should be quirky or convey a dark, off-beat sense of humor, i.e. something in the vein of “Fight Club.”

Budget will be between $2 and $3 million. WGA and non-WGA writers may submit.

For more information on gaining access to this lead, please seewww.InkTip.com/pnews.php.

**
Company C
**

We are looking for completed feature-length edgy, stylized action/thriller scripts. In other words, scripts in the vein of “Oldboy” or “City of God,” where modern storytelling techniques and an edgy, raw tone can transport us along the characters’ journeys with soul and depth. In other words, the film should have a compelling group of characters, not schlocky, yet a bit off the traditional path from standard Hollywood crime thrillers; we should be able to connect with the characters as they should have vulnerability and feel real. We prefer characters who aren’t spies with superhero qualities but rather small-time crooks, vigilantes, people with regular abilities, wronged regular Joe’s, etc. (no Bourne Identity-type heroes).

Budget will not exceed $3 million. WG and Non-WG writers may submit.

For more information on gaining access to this lead, please seewww.InkTip.com/pnews.php.

**
Company D
**

We are looking for completed feature-length limited-location thriller or neo-noir scripts from represented writers. The thriller should be reality-based, i.e. no supernatural scripts. The neo-noir, set in the present day, should still have elements of classic noir such as in “Memento.” By limited locations, we mean less than eight locations, i.e. scripts in the vein of “Buried,” “Cube” or “Identity.” Please list your representation in the personal message space provided.

Budget will not exceed $1 million. WGA and Non-WGA writers may submit.

For more information on gaining access to this lead, please seewww.InkTip.com/pnews.php.

**
Company E
**

We are looking for completed feature-length contained or minimal location scripts from unrepped writers. By minimal locations, we mean less than five locations. We are open to various genres.

Budget will be low. Non-WGA writers only may submit.

For more information on gaining access to this lead, please see
www.InkTip.com/pnews.php.

**
Company F
**

We are looking for completed feature-length grounded sci-fi scripts. By that, we mean the sci-fi elements should feel realistic within the story and not over the top. We are not open to creature features. We prefer more character-driven sci-fi such as “Moon.”

Budget is open. WG and Non-WG writers may submit.

For more information on gaining access to this lead, please seewww.InkTip.com/pnews.php.

**
Company G
**

We are looking for completed feature length low-budget sci-fi, horror or action/adventure scripts.

Budget will not exceed $5 million. WGA and non-WGA writers may submit.

For more information on gaining access to this lead, please seewww.InkTip.com/pnews.php.

---------------
5) InkTip Magazine
---------------

The next InkTip Magazine deadline is August 26th.

"I love the site and the magazine. Good work."

Bob Altman, Altman Films

4500 industry professionals receive complimentary printed copies, and we email PDF copies to thousands of others - if you're looking for more exposure, this is a great way to find it! (You'll receive a PDF too!)

To take advantage of placing your logline/pitch, go to:
www.InkTip.com/scriptlog_nolink.php

---------------
6) Producer and Writer Testimonials
---------------

"I greatly appreciate the wealth of material and the great resources that your site provides and will keep checking in."

Beth Frey, Producer, Blackout Productions

"You are soooooo good. You are providing a really good service to a lot of us who would never find each other. Thank you again."

Scott Moir, Producer

"Thank you so much for providing this wonderful service! If not for InkTip, my script wouldn't have been optioned."

Todd Niemi, Writer

"I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate all of your expertise and help. You are with out a doubt a light at the end of the tunnel. Many, many thanks!"

Lew Hooser, Writer

---------------
7) InkTip on Facebook
---------------

Meet other InkTip writers AND executives by joining the InkTip fan page on Facebook! Click here to join our fan page.

---------------

8) Advertise with InkTip

---------------

Advertise to the world's largest network of screenwriters and entertainment professionals through InkTip! Customized ad opportunities available for all budgets as well as through in-kind partnerships include web, e-mail newsletter, and print marketing as well as endorsement by InkTip, a brand that continues to cultivate considerable trust and loyalty in both its screenwriter and entertainment industry professional clients.

Contact alex@inktip.com for further information or to set up your advertising.

---------------

9) Network with Entertainment Pros this Weekend
---------------

The 7th Annual HollyShorts Film Festival will kick off with short film premieres from such stars and professionals as: Jennifer Aniston, Woody Harrelson, Kate Hudson, Ron Livingston, Anna Faris, Kristen Kiwi Smith, Joel Edgerton and IFC.

Network with Entertainment professionals and stars August 11 - 18: www.hollyshorts.com

---------------

10) Feel Good Film Festival – this weekend!
---------------

The Feel Good Film Festival is a non-profit event showcasing films with happy endings, that make audiences laugh, and that capture the beauty of our world. Held August 12-14, 2011 at Raleigh Studios (5300 Melrose Avenue, LA 90038) the 4th annual FGFF features 10 World premieres and 70 Los Angeles premieres of independently made feel-good films, celebrity carpet entrances, nightly galas with free beverages, and educational panels with industry professionals. Film schedule and tickets available atwww.fgff.org . [Donations & entry prices are all tax deductible.] Feel good...

---------------

11) MyLLC.com
---------------

As the authors of Limited Liability Companies for Dummies,MyLLC.com has a long history of helping writers and filmmakers protect their endeavors through the proper structuring of their LLCs and Corporations. As an industry leader, we know all to well that they can often find themselves short-changed if they don't properly protect their work.

As a filmmaker, whether seasoned or novice, you are absolutely setting yourself up for trouble if you don’t have the foresight to prevent it. Forming an LLC for each film you create is not only practical in matters of protection, but also savvy in protecting your future earnings and livelihood in the industry. We have put together this article on how you can use an LLC to help get your project funded and keep it protected. You can read it athttp://www.myllc.com/film-production-llc.aspx

Need to get a corporation or LLC filed? Visit us athttp://www.myllc.com/LLC-Formation-Process.aspx Have questions? Call us at 888-886-9552.

---------------

12) Special offer for InkTip subscribers! MOVIE MAGIC SCREENWRITER v.6 $149

---------------

The industry's best script formatting software is now available at this exclusive price to InkTip subscribers from Screenplay.com

http://www.screenplay.com

********** PROMO CODE INKTIP29 **********

Movie Magic Screenwriter is the best screenplay formatting software, an industry standard, and the choice of Hollywood professionals. Screenwriter formats while you write so you can focus on what you're writing, not where it goes on the page. It also formats for television, stage, novels and comic book scripts so you've got an all in one package for any story you want to write. With a massive set of features designed to make the rewriting process fast and simple you can get from FADE IN: to FADE OUT effortlessly. Developed by writers for writers, Write Brothers is the first and only creative team ever to receive a Technical Achievement Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science for screenwriting software.

---------------

13) MONTHLY CONTEST - PRIZE-ALL KINDS OF INDUSTRY EXPOSURE!
---------------

HOLLYWOODSCRIPT.COM, boutique script consultation service run by former Universal and Fox development exec, and studio analyst associate Judy Kellem (M.A. Creative Writing) operate two person company helping people improve their scripts and seriously prepare them for marketplace.

Company motto - The #1 Secret for Selling a Script is...MATERIAL THAT'S READY!

FREE QUERY READS; FREE NEWSLETTERS; FREE MINI CONSULTATIONS and the only MONTHLY SCREENWRITING CONTEST (free to consultation clients)

http://www.hollywoodscript.com/contest.html

http://www.hollywoodscript.com/naomi.html

Bigtime Industry credentials. Priced right.

DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES and PROOFREADING also available.

http://www.hollywoodscript.com

HOLLYWOODSCRIPT.COM

craig.kellem@valley.net

201-918-6993
judykellem@earthlink.net

---------------
14) Infolist.com
---------------

http://www.infolist.com/

THE INFO LIST was created by Jeffrey R. Gund for the purpose of sharing useful and helpful entertainment industry related information, including jobs and other opportunities, industry events, seminars, screenings, and parties, casting information for actors and models, and anything else that people in the industry (or trying to get in the industry) would want to know. Its whole reason for being is to help people, and to give back.

Getting the news hot off the press and directly into your inbox will put you ahead of the game and give you the jump on everyone else!

Registration is FREE!

Screenwriters - compete with your Big Vision, despite an Empty Wallet!

2011-08-11T12:52:00.002-04:00

Big Vision Empty Wallet - new opportunities for screenwriters & filmmakers

- thanks Brian Geldin for passing this along!

Global Arts Networking Organization Big Vision Empty Wallet Announces

Screenwriting Competition Judged by Top Film & Literary Leaders

Big Vision Empty Wallet (BVEW), the networking organization dedicated to bringing both emerging and established artists together from all over the world to help them create art with no rules or limitations, announces today its prestigious 2011 Screenwriting Competition. Judges include New York Times Bestselling author Luanne Rice (The Silver Boat, Summer’s Child, Sandcastles), screenwriter and director J.C. Chandor (Margin Call, 2011 Sundance Film Festival Official Selection starring Academy Award winners Kevin Spacey and Jeremy Irons), and Emmy, Peabody and Academy Award-winning filmmaker and director/writer Robert Levi (Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life).

BVEW’s Screenplay Competition is now accepting submissions through October 15. Whether a new story or a new take on an old classic, BVEW is looking for original, creative and compelling feature-length screenplays so it may introduce emerging screenwriters to top agents and BVEW’s large audience. The finalists, chosen by BVEW staff, will be announced on November 1, and the winners as selected by the judging panel will be announced on November 15.

To submit, the screenwriter must be a member of Big Vision Empty Wallet. There is no additional submission fee. Submissions are open online at:

http://www.bigvisionemptywallet.com/competitions/bvew-screenwriting-competition

The Grand Prize Winner receives:

• A private reading in either New York City or Los Angeles (winner’s choice) for invited industry guests and friends.

• Meetings with top agents and production companies, including:

o Carrie Alexander of Paradigm

o Jody Hotchkiss, owner of Hotchkiss and Associates, Inc., which has represented the distinguished screenwriters of such films as Secretariat, American Gangster, Live Free or Die Hard and The Kite Runner

o Two other prizes to be announced and consideration by other companies in our large database.

• A press blast in industry publications and an announcement on BVEW.

2^nd and 3^rd Place Winners receive:

• Meetings with top agents and production companies (see above).

• A press blast in industry publications and an announcement on BVEW.

Dani Faith Leonard and Alex Cirillo, founders and creative directors of Big Vision Empty Wallet, are excited to receive submissions from all over the world. "I am so excited to offer this unique opportunity for writers. If your screenplay is great, it shouldn't be collecting dust on your coffee table," said Leonard.

Cirillo chimed in saying, "I'm thrilled to have such talented and successful judges for this competition. Having these three brilliant writers read your script is a prize in itself!"

In addition to announcing its upcoming Screenwriting Competition, BVEW is proud to announce the launch of its re-designed website with expanded member benefits. BVEW membership is open to arts professionals in all disciplines from film to theatre to visual arts to multimedia to music and more. Whether up-and-coming or a seasoned pro, BVEW offers resources that every artist can benefit from and tools to further the collaborative process. Annual membership for artists is only $50, and $95 for artist collectives and bands. Members can create a profile where they can share their work, take advantage of exclusive member deals and discounts, use BVEW’s extensive resource guide including over 125 production forms, NY and LA vendor directories, as well as listings of film commissions and unions, and keep up to date with festival and grant deadlines. Members can also browse through jobs available and projects currently casting on BVEW’s projects board, and post opportunities on the jobs board and in the BVEW member bulletin. Members attend free BVEW events, which range from intimate film screenings to interdisciplinary celebrations of the arts and showcase members’ work. BVEW artists also gain free online entry to all of BVEW’s online competitions. Additionally, BVEW features free articles and reviews that profile events, companies and artists, along with film and theatre reviews written by people who actually work in the industry.

Upcoming events and competitions include the Be You Artists Series in the Fall, of which BVEW is a sponsor and coordinator of the film program. Also coming this fall will be BVEW’s National Film Competition, sponsored by Canon. The much sought-after prize valued at over $50,000 will be unlimited free Canon cameras and lenses for 30 days, as well as other prizes and resources that will help the winner create his or her film on a limited budget. Judges confirmed so far for the National Film Competition include Russell Carpenter (cinematographer, Titantic), Alex Buono (cinematographer, Saturday Night Live) and Rik Cordero (independent music video and commercial director).

In May 2010, actress Dani Faith Leonard and filmmaker Alex Cirillo teamed up to create BVEW, a one-stop destination with a fresh and unique perspective about the independent film and arts community in New York City. BVEW became a conduit of information, news, entertainment and resources to aid and support filmmakers and artists in the midst of the current economic climate and ever-changing media landscape. BVEW has since then evolved into a global arts networking organization with members, events and competitions in New York, Los Angeles and Washington DC, and soon to be in Chicago, Boston, Toronto, London and Madrid.

Alex Cirillo is a filmmaker born and raised in New York. In May 2010, she and Dani Faith Leonard launched Big Vision Empty Wallet after having produced film screenings and competitions through their sister company, Industry Power Play. Cirillo is also a Producer at Washington Square Films where she works on feature films, documentaries and commercials, and specializes in TV & New Media development. Last summer she worked on Margin Call, a feature film starring Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons and Stanley Tucci, which premiered at Sundance 2011, and Francine, an independent experimental drama starring Melissa Leo slated for release in 2012. Cirillo also serves as Grant Manager for Emmy-winning Director Robert Levi’s and Bowery Arts & Science’s National Endowment for the Humanities Grant for a documentary about a legendary jazz musician. Additionally, Cirillo is the chairwoman of the yet-to-be-named sub-committee of New York Women in Film & Television’s Special Events Committee. This summer she will also have the honor of serving as a judge for the Boston Comedy Festival’s New York Showcase. She is currently in pre-production on a documentary about children in inner city Baltimore and is looking forward to continuing to support independent artists through Big Vision Empty Wallet’s growth.

Dani Faith Leonard is a writer and actress based in New York City. She has acted in independent films and theatre in the US and overseas. She is a founding member of Broads & Wenches – the sexy girl group of NYC sketch comedy – and can be seen writing and performing with the sketch comedy troupe Really Sketchy. In June 2008, she founded Preen Productions under which she and business partner Alex Cirillo ran Industry Power Play, a series of monthly film screenings and events for the independent film and performing arts community of NYC. In May 2010, they launched BigVisionEmptyWallet.com, a networking organization dedicated to bringing artists together from all over the world. She currently has two films in pre-production and is looking forward to what this exciting year will hold personally, and for Big Vision Empty Wallet.

For more information and to become a member of Big Vision Empty Wallet, visit http://www.bigvisionemptywallet.com/join.

What's your most interesting overheard conversation?

2011-08-05T14:55:00.003-04:00

In a place like New York City, it's easy to accidentally overhear conversations, and you can use that in your writing - there is lots of material to work from...listening to the private conversation of others (even if you try not to!).

I had the opportunity today to speak with Journalist and Senior Producer Chris Ledgard, Senior Producer of the BBC Radio 4 Show “Word of Mouth”

I hope you will join our chat and check out the interview online - Sept 6 & 12!

Really? All women do not want to have children?

2011-08-04T14:51:00.001-04:00

How is this news?

My student, Melissa, sent me this interesting article on how not all women want children.

There's a rom com or six somewhere!

copy/paste link

http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/we_say_no_to_babies_and_yes_to_nyc_2i0q9vs7bKt4pcQfhbYNVO

How a single word can hoist your writing!

2011-08-03T12:19:00.002-04:00

Use the word "hoist" into a line of dialog, and then use it as the basis for a new scene in your current project. A great starter when you're feeling a little flat.Use the word "hoist" into a line of dialog, and then use it as the basis for a new scene in your current project. A great starter when you're feeling a little flat.

The essence of Queens-my awesome neighbor Steve Gettinger

2011-08-03T11:34:00.000-04:00

Steve is rocking out to Mala Femina sung by Jerry Vale.

He heard it first when he was 15 and only when I asked looked up the lyrics. To his dismay, this romantic melody was actually about a man cursing a woman out in Italian!

You're invited! Free Friday WEBINAR with Marilyn

2011-07-27T14:40:00.008-04:00

Please join us Friday for a free 1-hour webinar where I will discuss writing, my new online classes, and how my writing method can accelerate progress on your screenplay.

- 7/29, Friday at 12PM (Noon) EST / 9AM PST

- discussion about writing, plus Q&A session

This is as close to face-to-face as we can get, and all work in our pajamas (or other preferred writing costume)

(image courtesy of Princess Froglips, Creative Commons)

To join the online meeting (Now from mobile devices!)
-------------------------------------------------------
1. Go to http://tinyurl.com/marilynhorowitzwebinar

2. If requested, enter your name and email address.
3. If required, enter password: screenplay
4. Click "Join"
5. Follow the instructions

To view in other time zones or languages, please click the link:
http://tinyurl.com/marilynhorowitzwebinar

-------------------------------------------------------
To join the audio conference only
-------------------------------------------------------
Call-in toll number (US/Canada): +1-408-600-3600
Access code:625 063 375

**If you can't wait for the webinar (LOL :-)- check out a recent class recorded live at the Learning Annex in NYC on the 4 Magic Questions. FYI - it costs $0.99

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/15678425

How The Physical Aspects Of Your Character Reveal Their Inner Conflict

2011-07-22T13:00:00.004-04:00

Script Tip July 21, 2011

By Marilyn Horowitz

So often, characters onscreen reveal physical characteristics that reflect the inward person, their history, trials and tribulations, and how they deal with it. In The Wrestler – faded, has-been wrestler Randy ‘The Ram’ Robinson, played by Mickey Rourke, reveals his past and present without saying a word – through the way he moves, his scars, the long scraggly hair, his pain-pill popping, and clothing.

As seen in the movie, these are not merely the genius and hard work of producer-director Darren Aronofsky, production designer Tim Grimes, art director Matthew Munn and key makeup artist Judy Chin, it all started with writer Rob Siegel as in a scene in the opening montage – where Randy is shown in his glory days – then in the present.

“Present day. Post-match. Randy, pushing 50, still with the same long, dyed-blond mane, sits on a bench in the boys locker room of a Wilmington, Delaware high school.

CHYRON: 20 YEARS LATER

He pulls off his purple spandex wrestling tights. Lime-green

ram's horns run up the sides. They're the same kind of tights

as in the `80s pics----and may well be the actual same pair.”

Here's the exercise:

1. Get a mental picture of your main character, their physical characteristics – clothing, way of moving, tics, physical habits and you, the writer, adopt some physical attribute: such as; sitting the way that they would – slumped or upright.

2. Set a timer for 5-15 minutes, then write a scene.

3. “Writing” as your character, in the first person, compose a story about their glory days - what made them that way - how they got the scars, that fight they won, falling down, when they were on top of the world – as in the photo of Randy standing on the top rope, his bent arms pressed against the sides of his head like RAM'S HORNS. Try to take the story a little further than where it naturally ends.

4. As you work on your script, notice how the story and the resulting physical limitation affect the character’s behavior.

5. Now focus on your obstacle/villain. Imagine a similar scene, such as, in Batman, when the Joker falls into the vat of acid which permanently scars him. This scene reveals when and why the Joker became a super-villain.

6. Set a timer for 5-15 minutes, then write a scene.

7. “Writing” as your villain/obstacle, in the first person, compose a story about what made them look, and move, this way. Try to take the story a little further than where it naturally ends.

8. As you work on your script, notice how the story and the resulting physical limitation affect the villain’s behavior.

In summary, the bumps, trials and tribulations growing up make us who we are, inwardly and outwardly, and this is also true of our characters. By including these experiences in our character’s development, we cannot help but to improve our screenplays.

To read The Wrestler script, check out this link on IMSDB

http://www.imsdb.com/scripts/Wrestler,-The.html

The Allure of Hog Hunter in a Post...... Go Miska! The Realization of a New Webseries.

2011-07-22T10:49:00.002-04:00

I get a thrill from students and colleagues improving their writing:

Congrats to my Student Miska on reaching a significant milestone!

Hello Fans,

The ‘Here’s the Thing…’ Across America road trip officially wrapped up this past week with our last interviews in Los Angeles and the successful funding of our Kickstarter campaign. To all of you who backed us on our campaign, a HUGE THANKS!!! I am psyched to have pulled off this trip with your help, it means a lot to feel your support behind me.

The trip was tremendously rewarding for Jennifer and I, both as filmmakers and human beings. We had so many intense and meaningful moments – we laughed, we cried, we listened in amazement… I was humbled to be invited into our subjects’ homes and trusted with some of their most personal stories. I’ve got a lot to chew on in the next two weeks as I make my way back to NYC (yes, another road trip) and begin what promises to be an interesting editing process.

If you missed any of the updates from the road, check out the blog for the full blow by blow of the trip and keep an eye on the Facebook page for updates on the project moving forward. Here’s the final sixteen episode lineup of what we shot:

Charlie Brenneman – mixed martial arts fighter, East Hanover, NJ
Erika Anthony – homicide detective, Birmingham, AL
Lonnie Holley – folk artist, Adamsville, AL
Gary Stamper – hog hunter, South Labelle FL
Virginia – rancher and taxidermist, South FL
Glenn Miller & Randy Saizan – haunted B&B innkeepers, New Orleans, LA
Sonya Howard – tornado victim lost & found organizer, Joplin, MO
Leaford Bearskin – Native American Chief, Wyandotte, OK
Karena Domenico – Earthship resident, Taos, NM
Judy Messoline – UFO Watchtower owner, Hooper, CO
Timmy O’Neill – rock climber and humanitarian, Boulder, CO
Katy Manley – National Park Service Ranger, Grand Tetons, WY
Cary Turner – fireman and paramedic, Salt Lake City, UT
Kye Brackett – musician, choreographer, Las Vegas, NV
Nina Hartley – porn star, sex educator, and Ira Levine – fetishist, director, Los Angeles, CA
Dean Turner – retired hotel developer, Hollywood, CA

Can’t wait to watch these take shape and bring them to life. Look for the first episodes of the series to be released in the fall…

Signing off for now, have a great summer!

-miska

Here’s the Thing…
What do your possessions say about you?
Twenty-some objects tell the story.
Join us as we go Across America in this special edition.

Created & Directed by Miska Draskoczy
Creative Producer – Jennifer Howd

follow the series at:
facebook.com/HeresTheThingTV
heresthethingtv.com
twitter

This quote is some of the most important information I've ever read. Enjoy!

2011-07-16T15:38:00.000-04:00

Life is supposed to be fun. You said, "I'll go forth and choose. I'll look at the data, and I'll say yes to this and yes to this and yes to this; and I'll paint a picture of the things that I want, and I'll vibrate about them because that's what I'm giving my attention to. And the Universe will respond to my vibration. And then I'll stand in a new place where a whole new batch of yeses are available, and I'll say yes to this and yes to this and yes to this." You did not say, "I'll go forth and struggle into joy," because from your Nonphysical Perspective you know it is vibrationally not possible. You cannot struggle to joy. Struggle and joy are not on the same channel. You joy your way to joy. You laugh your way to success. It is through your joy that good things come.

--- Abraham

Excerpted from the workshop in Los Angeles, CA on Sunday, August 2nd, 1998 # 136

Our Love,
Jerry and Esther

One of my former students doing something amazing. Please donate if you can!

2011-07-16T15:16:00.000-04:00

Hello Fans,

We made it to Los Angeles, hooray!!! We've got just two more days left in our trip - today we shoot our last two interviews here in LA and then tomorrow we wrap up with a little celebration party and most importantly, the end of our Kickstarter fund raising campaign

We just passed the $10k mark in our campaign but we still need to raise another $1,649 in the next 34 hours or we won't get anything from Kickstarter. For better or worse it's an all or nothing deal! So it's now or never - please donate and help us bring this puppy home! If every one of you reading this gave just $10, we'd easily meet our goal and then some. That's less than what many of us spend on a lunch. Even better, give $20 and I'll send you a unique thank you postcard I picked up on the road (and even cooler souvenirs for $50 and up).

This project is what I like to think of as 'people powered' in the truest sense of the word, both in who we are shooting and how we are pulling it off. There is no studio or corporate backing for this. You, the fans, are the ones making this happen with your pledge as much as we are, pounding the pavement out in the field. So for those of you who have given, A HUGE THANKS!!! This trip has been tremendously gratifying as we've met so many cool and interesting people in a way that has gone really deep, touching our lives and theirs.

I just updated all our travel diaries, so catch up on all the great stories about our exploits on our blog, and If you want to hear more about the backstory of the project and how we set it up, check out this great feature Film Courage just wrote on me.

I hope you'll join us on this great adventure and sit back with a smile when then new episodes come out in the fall, knowing you helped play a part in it.

Thanks for everything, you guys rock... our country rocks,

-miska

Here's the Thing...
What do your possessions say about you?
Twenty-some objects tell the story.
Join us as we go Across America in this special edition.

Created & directed by Miska Draskoczy
Creative Producer - Jennifer Howd

follow the series at:
Kickstarter
facebook.com/HeresTheThingTV
heresthethingtv.com
youtube.com/heresthethingTV
twitter

My friend and fellow writer, Steve Kaire, will be presenting the following seminar this Saturday in NYC! Check it out!

2011-07-12T12:39:00.004-04:00

High Concept: Creating Original Compelling Scripts
By Steve Kaire

Why are the studios churning out endless sequels and remakes? It's because they are bankrupt for new ideas. High Concept projects maximize your chances of selling by starting out with a strong, original, intriguing premise that has wide audience appeal. There's a reason why High Concept screenplays sell for double or triple what non-High Concept Scripts sell for.

This unique seminar covers:

The 5 requirements for High Concept Scripts
Advantages of High Concept
Examples of High Concept Films
Easiest Genres to Sell
Ten Brainstorming Techniques

Whether you're writing a screenplay or creating a TV series, this breakthrough class can cut years off selling time.

Steve Kaire has been a Screenwriter/Pitchman for over 30 years. He's sold 8 projects to the major studios without representation. He holds a Masters Degree in Dramatic Writing and has taught writing classes at the American Film Institute. He's also appeared on the Tonight Show's "Pitching to America" with Jay Leno. His CD, "High Concept - How to Create, Pitch & Sell to Hollywood" is a top rated best seller. His website is: HighConceptScreenWriting.com

High Concept: Creating Original Compelling Scripts
July 16th - 3PM sharp!

Shetler Studios
244 West 54th Street (12th Floor)
Between B'way & 8th

An article about a recent seminar I taught in LA, written by the lovely Kara Lennox

2011-07-12T12:28:00.004-04:00

The 4 Magic Questions with Marilyn Horowitz
By Kara Lennox

For years, Marilyn Horowitz has watched screenwriters struggle with their art, slogging through draft after draft and sweating bullets, which prompted her to ask: Is it necessary for it to be so hard?

She thinks it shouldn’t be that hard.

As an award-winning New York University professor, script consultant, producer, and the author of six books, her goal s to help writers write good scripts without all the suffering.

“I help people get over that last little thing so they can sell,” she said at the Scriptwriters Network meeting on June 18th. And as part of her overall writing system, she developed the “four magic questions.”

With this one set of sharp tools, Horowitz said, you can stop being a student and become a writer “You're all professional writers,” she said. “Once you have written a screenplay and you've told a whole story, you are a writer. Own that."

A writer has to be the most important character in his or her life, she said. “You are the filter through which this story is going to come out.” So no one can tell your story like you can; you are the expert. We all know what it is to have a dream because we’ve located our writers’ hearts; ergo, we can locate our characters’ hearts.

All of which leads to the first magic question:

1. What is Your Main Character's Dream?

“Never think of your hero without a problem,” Horowitz says. She advises creating a strong villain from the beginning, rather than taking six drafts to create adequate opposition. The villain (who is not necessarily an evil person, just someone in your main character’s way) must have a dream, too, one that opposes that of your main character. She also says you should have more than one opposition character, or it gets boring.

If the two dreams don’t line up exactly, she says, it’s more interesting.

Using an example from the audience: The hero’s dream is to prevent a kidnapping. The villain’s dream is to restore the honor of his tribe.

Which leads you to a question with rich possibilities: How can kidnapping redeem the honor of a tribe? With that question, she says, “we can start seeing what the movie is going to be.”

This is a fundamental story technique. If you can find the basic opposition, you’ve got a movie on your hands because we can see it rise to a crisis. “We have a clear target to drive toward: losing the kid or losing the honor. You must have a clear sense of what is blocking your main character. Many screenplays I work on involve making things worse. So start out with stakes as high as you can make them.

Moving on to the second question...

“How many think Act II is hard?” Horowitz asks. “Anyone who didn't raise their hands is a liar.”

Questions 2 and 3 help writers to structure Act II from the beginning. Horowitz breaks Act II into two pieces: Act II, Part 1 (pages 30-60) and Act II, Part 2 (pages 60-90). “If we break Act II into two pieces and ask two different questions,” she says, “we can have an easier time structuring the movie.”

If Act I is all about the character's dream, she says then Act II is the character's nightmare. So that is the actual question:

2. What is Your Main Character’s Nightmare?

“Whatever you set up in Act I goes terribly, terribly wrong.” (She made the point that you can reverse these two concepts, and have Act I be the nightmare and Act II be the dream.) By using this “hard flip,” she says, you can do much more than you thought possible. She advises against being subtle. “Always push your story hard, throw in your strongest plot point,” she says, so you’ll have enough momentum to get through Act II.

Things go wrong in Act II because the character hasn’t yet evolved to the point where he’s capable of achieving his dream. She used the movie Tootsie as an example. In Act I, the main character uses people, he’s inconsiderate, etc. which is why he’s where he is (a loser). Act II Part 1 is his nightmare. The nightmare is not necessarily the failure to attain the dream, it’s just the dream gone wrong.

Moving to Act II, Part II, the third question we ask:

3. Who or What Would Your Main Character “Die” For?

“’Die’ is in quotes because in a comedy you're not wanting real death,” she says. In Tarot cards, the death card doesn’t stand for literal death; it stands for change on a more fundamental level. “On more fundamental level, movies teach us how to deal with fears,” she says, where Change = Death. In Act II, Part 2 the character has to change, has to have an experience that changes him.”

Using The Godfather as an example, Horowitz says that by the midpoint, Michael isn't ready to be the godfather. The writer used up that plot in the first half of the movie, so he had to add a new element. What part of the story had he not been using? “When his love is blown up in the car,” she says, “that's when he becomes capable of being the godfather. If you can find that in your script, you'll succeed. Put your character through a crucible so they become (or don’t become) the person they need to be to overcome the obstacle in Act I.”

Act II, Part II has to provide a new experience. But you do have to set it up in Act I. “Plant it in Act I so it's not coming out of left field,” Horowitz says, “and it feels inevitable.” But when you are actually coming up with this “new element,” she advises you “go crazy, knowing you can go back and plant it.” Something crazy happens, and then you reverse engineer. “We all have these amazing things we call coincidences happen to us,” she says. “That's what you get to use in Act II, part II.” For example, what are the chances of Corleone going to Sicily and meeting the most beautiful girl in the world and falling deeply in love?

For Act III, we get to ask the fourth and final question:

4. Does Your Main Character Attain His Dream, Fail, or Get a New Dream?

You may ask, do you have to know your ending? “Your best writing comes when you are entertaining yourself and you're not sure,” Horowitz says. “You can plan a happy ending but be open to something different. You can dance with your characters more [using this method] than if you have a hard outline.”

She urges writers to think of the wildest ending possible, but above all, to be open to changing it. This "soft target" approach allows us to be looser as writers, she says. That way, if our characters start running away with our movie, we can let them. Being open to new, intense experiences in Act III—perhaps even giving our characters a new dream—reflects the more intense experiences we’re having in today’s world.

Horowitz then offered one last trick, which is not in her book but is her favorite thing. “I call the technique ‘Understand the Want versus the Need.’” She used the movie Wall Street as an example: The main character wants money, but he needs his father's approval. The same dynamic is true for The Godfather. “The trick of being a writer is to knowing what your character needs but not letting them know it.” In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy wants to go home, but she needs the ruby slippers so she's empowered.

To recap the four questions (and a few sub-questions), each covering ¼ of the script:

1. Whatis my main characters' dream? (And what is the opposition character’s dream?)

2. What is my main character's nightmare? (And these two questions can be reversed.)

3. Who or what would my main character “die” for?

4. Does the main character attain the dream, forfeit the dream, or get a new one? (soft target approach)

In a comedy, Horowitz explains, they get the dream; in a drama they forfeit it. (The Godfather is an example of this.)

When dealing with wants vs. needs, she says, we want to go for the external conflict. Because we are writing movies, we can only show what is physical. Our conflicts have to be shown externally. So the dream has to be a visible, tangible goal. We have to show it, then we have to give the character something to push against.

In response to a question from the audience, Horowitz explained that the dream can be just to stay alive. “That’s about the highest stakes. And if the stakes aren’t life or death, you have to sell it to the audience.” In Little Miss Sunshine, for example, the little girl isn't going to die if she doesn't make it to beauty pageant. “But doesn't it feel like it?” Whatever the character needs, you have to prove it to us, and it can’t be subtle.

When asked how we decide whether a character should achieve, forfeit or change his dream, Horowitz responded, “Hopefully you have enough courage to work with your character and not know. Aim them toward your target but let them be 50 percent of the story… In first draft, you have to see what happens. In act II Part 2 there's a kind of alchemy that happens. You might come up with something completely new. Your interest might shift. You might even change genres.”

Horowitz says this system works whether you’re writing for features or TV, short or long. “This rhythm is story-telling, and it works in all formats. You can take this and be masters, you don't have to be students anymore.” Horowitz ended her talk with some compelling advice: “Take back your power. Own it. If something gets you screwed up, don't use it. This is just top of the iceberg. This is my party trick. Listen to others talk about writing, but make your own determinations. If you hear yourself say something that makes sense, assume you do."

More on Marilyn Horowitz's books, DVDs and consultations can be found here: www.MarilynHorowitz.com

A new guilty pleasure - This one is for the ladies:

2011-07-12T12:19:00.003-04:00

PhD in Him - Vanessa Hidary (Hebrew Mamita)

"If I counted up all the hours

I'd studied

Read

Focused on

Fucked

Sucked

Cried over

Gotten up and been resilient about

Not given up on

Believed in

Loved

Hated

So believed in

Ignored my friends advice about

Talked about

Did I mention talked about?

I'd have a PhD in him.

By now, I could have had a PhD

In Philosophy,

Internal Medicine,

Middle Eastern Studies,

Stem-Cell research.

But no, I have a PhD in Him.

Funny how he brings me no income,

No pension,

No future,

Did I mention no future?

Funny how he brings me no Roth IRA funds

No medical plan including dental

No sense of security

Funny how he became my career

Yes, he became my career

My daily ambitions

My goals

My to do list today reads:

Him

And so don't ask me what I did this year

I didn't write any plays or any books

I didn't do some responsible shit like

Pursue a backup career.

I was fully employed in the fury of him

The fury, the passion

Clocking in 80 hour weeks

Graduated valedictorian at the tippy top of my class

Magna cum fucking laude

And a waste of fucking time

Hours upon hours

Spent figuring out his equations

Riddles

Word problems

Crossword puzzles

Treatment

Cracking his codes

Philosophizing his constitution over grand marnier

Wine

Vodka

Oh, did I mention vodka?

By now I could have been a brain surgeon

A novelist

A Pulitzer Prize winner

I could have fed under nourished children

Fought terrorism

Volunteered at soup kitchens

Fuck that – built soup kitchens!

But instead, I have a PhD in Him

Wasted hours in the library of man

So quiz me

I know him better than he knows himself.

I'm that matriculated doctorate ho

Paid full tuition at his All-About-Him University

Ladies have you visited?

See they pat you down at the gates for self esteem

And your core syllabus is a well-crafted list of lies

Study hard, bitches!

You’ve got a paper due Monday morning titled “My man wants to be treated like a man but won’t act like one.”

Who's hiring?

Any of you fools want to sit in my lecture hall?

See, now I'm licensed to teach and preach

Sparing my pride

In hopes that other women will read my dissertation

See, I have a PhD in Him

And my transcript is rolling off my wicked tongue.

Not sure of how my most difficult degree might serve me

But think one day I'll thank him

For reminding me how fierce a pupil of life I really am."

http://youtu.be/dnhC3Bq8wug

This could be a big opportunity- Check it out!

2011-07-12T12:17:00.001-04:00

Greetings LISG Members,

Have you finished your screenplay and are you looking for a screenplay contest to enter?

I have been asked by the ISA: International Screenwriter's Association to help promote the EMERGING SCREENWRITERS Screenplay Competition. The ISA has created a special discount code for the LISG members to use when they enter.

I have included the EMERGING SCREENWRITERS Screenplay Competition website links and the e-mail blast announcement below which includes more detailed information.

The GRAND PRIZE WINNER will receive the following:
Meet 20 Hollywood Producers at a special ProSeries Alumni event. (value: $650)
Airfare and Hotel— 2 night stay in Los Angeles'' (value $500)
ProSeries Screenwriting Class (value $1100)
Screenplay Studio (value $620)
MovieStorm Packs + 12 Months Subscription
Professional Screenplay Coverage by Victoria Wu. (value: $275)
PLUS, $1000 CASH!
For anyone seeking script analysis this looks like it would be a beneficial contest to enter.

The ISA is offering the LISG members a special early-bird registration discount code!

REGISTRATION DETAILS:

Regular feature script registration is $29.00 during the Early bird deadline period.

Feature Entry plus Basic Feedback (2 pages of notes) is normally $79. Use the code and save $29!
Your early bird discount fee = $50.00

Feature Entry plus Extended Analysis (5 pages of notes) is normally $170. Use the code and save $50!
Your early bird discount fee = $120.00

Either way, if you use the code for FEEDBACK or ANALYSIS your entry is FREE!

THE SPECIAL LISG DISCOUNT CODE IS: R4HWIE

The early bird deadline is July 15th
The second deadline is August 31st

Note - There is a price increase for entries after the first deadline.

The LISG Discount code expires on August 31st!!

Here is the EMERGING SCREENWRITERS Screenplay Competition website:

Home:
http://emergingscreenwriters.com/#

Registration:
http://emergingscreenwriters.com/registration.aspx

ONCE AGAIN THE SPECIAL LISG DISCOUNT CODE IS: R4HWIE

E-mail me with your thoughts and questions.

Please let me know if you plan on entering the contest and e-mail me after you have registered.

Howie

Grant for $1,000 for Women Directors!

2011-07-06T21:45:00.000-04:00

THE NANCY MALONE DIRECTING AWARD

The Nancy Malone Directing Award provides $1,000 to a New York area based woman director for a narrative short or feature film.

Nancy Malone was a founding member of Women in Film in Los Angeles. She began her career as an actress, worked as an executive and then as a producer and director—one of the first women directors in television.

In 1976, she became the first female vice-president of television at 20th Century Fox. In 1977 she was awarded one of the first Crystal Awards by Women in Film for outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry. She won an Emmy Award for producing Bob Hope: The First 90 Years (1993) (TV) and was nominated for Emmy Awards for directing episodes of Sisters in (1991), and The Trials of Rosie O'Neill in (1992). In 2007, she was inducted as an honoree into the "She Made It: Women Creating Television and Radio" collection at the Paley Center for Media.

Guidelines
Films may be of any length. The funds will be awarded to help complete a work-in-progress. Films must have completed principle photography to be eligible. Films that are already finished are not eligible. Filmmakers must be based in the New York City area.

INSTRUCTIONS

Please download the application form from the top right of this page, fill iout the form, or facsimile thereof, and submit with a 2-page description of the project; a project budget, indicating amount raised to date; a list of key creative personnel with one-paragraph bios; and a DVD of the work-in-progress.

Applications must be received by July 25, 2011.

Applicants’ paperwork may be sent electronically, but works-in-progress must be mailed or delivered. DVDs must be labeled with the project name and name of the director. To submit paperwork electronically, email this form, the project description, the bios and the budget as separate attachments to development@nywift.org.

And

Mail or deliver the DVD of the work-in-progress, with a copy of the paperwork, if not sent electronically:

New York Women in Film & Television
Nancy Malone Directing Award
6 East 39th Street 12th FL
New York, NY 10016

Applications and DVDs must be RECEIVED by July 25, 2011. There will be no exceptions.

Questions?
Contact Easmanie Michel at 212-679-0870 x 39, or email development@nywift.org.

This is a cool festival, and I will be presenting there!

2011-07-06T21:43:00.000-04:00

http://www.santafeindependentfilmfestival.com/

Note: DEADLINE IS JULY 15TH!

When Doctors go on strike

2011-06-24T14:38:00.000-04:00

Doctors Have Been on Strike Periodically and During Each One, Death Rates Decreased Substantially From Certain Treatments

Below is a compilation involving doctors when they have been on strike during various times, which gives an overview glimpse of this prevailing grim situation, where many preventable deaths would be in fact saved from occurring if physicians were missing in attendance from a variety of certain common medical practices. Very little news coverage has been presented to the public regarding these occasional strikes, about their resulting similar consistent decrease in mortality rates during each work stoppage and why it is a valid concern.

In the Columbian capital of Bogotá (South America) during 1972, doctors went on strike for 52 days, with only emergency care available. The death rate dropped by 35%. Los Angeles County in 1976, during a partial “work slowdown” by doctors protesting against the sharp increase in premiums for liability insurance, the number of deaths fell by 18%. A similar phenomenon occurred in Canada when a percentage of physicians refused to work and the mortality rate dropped during that period as well. When the strikes ended after a number of weeks, the death rates went back to their previous levels.

Physicians have now gone on strike four times in Israel over the last six decades. During all four situations the mortality rate had dropped. The first strike started back in the 1950s, and the next one in 1973, when Israeli doctors went on strike for four weeks, deaths fell by 50% during that month.

The Israel Medical Association (IMA) implemented a strike in March 2000, lasting three months, to protest against the government’s proposed imposition of a new four-year wage contract for doctors. Hundreds of thousands of visits to outpatient clinics were canceled or postponed, along with tens of thousands of elective operations. Emergency rooms, dialysis units, oncology departments, obstetric and neonatal departments, and other vital facilities had been working normally during the action. During this strike period, the death rate fell by nearly 40% according to calculated funeral records. The only area of Israel which was found to not have a reduction in its death rate was the city of Netanya. It also just so happens that all of the doctors at the only hospital in that city have “no-strike” clauses in their contracts and were therefore unaffected by the action.

The Jerusalem Post surveyed non-profit burial societies about the March 2000 strike, which performs funerals for the vast majority of Israelis, and found that the number of funerals had fallen dramatically. Meir Adler, manager of the Shamgar Funeral Parlour, which buries most other residents of Jerusalem, declared with much certainty: "There definitely is a connection between the doctor’s absent from work and fewer deaths. We saw the same thing previously in year 1983, when the IMA applied sanctions to stop work, which lasted 4 ½ months."

Jerusalem Sun newspaper, year 2000

"The number of funerals we have performed has fallen drastically," said Hananya Shahor, the veteran director of Jerusalem's Kehilat Yerushalayim burial society. "This past month of May, there were only 93 funerals compared with 153 in May 1999, 133 in the same month of 1998, and 139 in May 1997," he said. Last April, there were only 130 deaths compared with 150 or more in previous Aprils. "I can't explain why," said Mr. Shahor. The society handles 55% of all deaths in the Jerusalem metropolitan area.

Dr. Joseph Mercola,

British Medical Journal 2000; 320:1561

COMMENT: Well, here we have it again, definitive proof that traditional medicine overall kills more people than it saves. There is no question that traditional approaches for acute traumas (e.g., heart attack, stroke, accidents, etc.) are valuable and should not be abandoned. However, when involving a drug / surgical paradigm to address chronic illness, it is generally a prescription for disaster.

Consider this as you the reader evaluate here human behavior involving business: The Burial Association had actually requested Government to intervene and quickly help stop such walkouts, because their business comings and goings drop markedly.

This also indicates why the pharmaceutical business feels compelled to spend massive amounts of money on drug advertising, partly aimed at influencing children, where the future stability of its industry is at stake. Children watching television in the United States, for example, are generally being trained to think there is a pill for every ill. Many parents may laugh at this “pharma hype” and avoid lining-up themselves to the prescription drug side-effects approach for treatment of their particular illness, but it all becomes quite normal to a child.

COMPARATIVE CAUSES OF DEATH;

AN ANNUAL AVERAGE IN THE U. S. **

Adverse Drug Reactions 100,000 to 140,000 --- JUST THOSE REPORTED CASES ARE LISTED (doctors are not required to file drug reactions; it’s a voluntary procedure and through data tracking estimates show that less than 11% of such cases are ever reported, making this statistic a basically very conservative figure). ++

Automobile Accidents 39,325

Food Contamination 9,100

Boating Accidents 2,064

Household Cleaners 74

Acute Pesticide Poisoning 12

All Vitamins 0

Amino acids 0

Commercial Herbal Products 0

** Sources Data as of 1995 from American Association of Poison Control Centers, National Center for Health Statistics, Journal of the American Medical Association, Centers for Disease Control, March of Dimes, Consumer Product Safety Commission, FDA Reports.

++ It is worth noting that if one factors in these adverse drug reaction fatality numbers with all the other people who became directly SICK from the same particular present day routine standard medical lucrative practices, but didn’t actually die during the yearly 12 month data recording cycle (of what was filed and all those not filed) -- the entire combined number of all effected iatrogenic(medical definition -- caused by a physician) instances could easily be up to several million each year, according to compiled survey test samples.

If you are interested in learning about the closely tied symbiotic relationship between physicians, the pharmaceutical industry, FDA, medical schools, lobbyists, lawmakers, and many manipulated hired research studies – a collective influence that is causing a shocking amount of illness in so many areas of medicine --then consider watching this free of charge six award winning documentary “Prescription For Disaster.”

Just click along here to start watching “Prescription For Disaster.” 88 min.

Note: You can increase the screen size when viewing by using the video control panel to either click on the arrow menu pull-up, or one click on the rectangular box, or thirdly with certain computer systems, a double click directly on the video picture screen itself.

Be well,

Pat

STOP COMPLAINING!

2011-06-07T22:45:00.000-04:00

I rarely complain and avoid those that do. As a result, things are pretty good. I recommend really working on finding things to honestly praise. This is a great quote from the Abraham-Hicks folks. I have taken their advice and it did change my life.

"Complaining about anything holds you in the place of refusing to receive the things you've been asking for. Justifying about anything holds you in the place of refusing to let in the very things that you've been asking for. Blaming someone holds you in the place of refusing to let in the things that you've been asking for. Feeling guilty, feeling angry, it doesn't matter what you call it; it is a refusal, not a conscious one. You're asking; you can't help but ask. The Universe is yielding; it must yield. It's a big question, folks: why aren't you letting it in?"

--- Abraham

Writing helps you let it in!

Setting matters

2011-05-19T20:38:00.000-04:00

I am so tired of seeing movies set in the same places, even more tired of reading screenplays that are always set in New York, or Tuscany, or LA. A facebook friend sent me this article about where she actually lives and I thought I would share it because it lists many locations that are scenic and would make potentially good settings for films. I will use this quest to find new settings to visit a couple of these beauty spots and make my vacations business trips that are fun. Please read the article and think about how to set your next project somewhere new.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/06/01/travel/01places.html

Facebook friends

2011-05-05T15:34:00.000-04:00

I am a lover of facebook, and recently, it seems that it's being used not just for social media, but also as a kind of personals column. I get emails from all sorts of men wanting to facebook chat, and find it amusing. This latest one I thought was so 21st Century, and hope that if the gentlemen recognizes his post he will take the compliment! and by the way, I am in the USA!

"hello cute, Well I guess to start with I am very outgoing, With a great sense of humor. I try not to worry about the small things. I am very easy going and easy to get along with. If you would like to know more, just send me a message. Hope to talk to you later. expecting to hear from you soonest.. Which country are you from ? "