2008 SCREENWRITING EXPO
Where better
to find out about screenwriting than the home of film itself? From 12th
– 16th November 2008, Screenwriting Expo 2008 – the largest
screenwriting event ever – is going to take place in Los Angeles.
Organised by Creative Screenwriting Magazine, the Expo has snowballed
with such velocity that a staggering estimate of 4000 screenwriters travelled
down to the event last year and more are expected this time.
Stand-alone registration usually costs around $30 (£15) per day.
However for $349 (£175) there is the Gold Pass, which gives attendees
complete and flexible access to not only every event--from over 300 seminars,
panels, guest-of-honour appearances and workshops led by some of the top
writers, script consultants and teachers in the business--but also all
the luncheons talks and networking parties. It is also great way to beat
all the massive queues.
One of the big draws of the Expo is to be within crotch-brushing distance
of Hollywood’s top writers. It is not often you get the truth about
the joys and the horrors of the business from those who have been slugging
it out in the trenches. The Expo boasts a veritable Who’s Who of
everyone who is anyone in the world of Hollywood screenwriting. This year
the guests of honour include the writers and creators of Lost, Damon Lindelof
and Carlton Cuse; the Hollywood legend that is William Goldman; and Christopher
Markus and Stephen McFeeley the writers of the new Narnia franchise.
The Expo’s long weekend begins for real on day two. Both hotels
are jammed with eager students rushing all over to see the many screenwriting
gurus on hand to teach everything about the screenwriting craft at a mere
£2 per class. For beginning, advanced and professional level writers,
they cover a dizzying array of subjects from Evan Smith’s 'Comedy
Writing: Make It Funny From The Ground Up’ to Wendall Thomas’
‘Writing Subtext’ to ‘The Perfect Pitch’ with
pitch king Ken Rotcop. With teachers from such renowned schools as UCLA
and USC willing to give their all to anyone who will pay.
The vast majority of attendees have only one agenda at the Expo: to sell
their scripts. Held at the Renaissance, the Pitching Meetings gives screenwriters
the chance to pitch to over 60 A-list Hollywood producers and agents (for
£13 per pitch). This was not just a publicity stunt; these industry
insiders were seeking features of all budgets. At a previous Expo, one
lucky pitcher from Texas sold his reality television concept to Chameleon
Entertainment.
Fortunately, the Expo is not just all theory; it also gives attendees
the chance to put all that learning into practice in the ‘Creative
Screenwriting Open’, the biggest on-site, timed screenwriting competition
in history. 1000 contestants are given just 90 minutes to write a scene
with a predetermined plot. The scenes are then judged on structure, originality,
dialogue and style to decide who would advance to the next round. Actors
at the Expo’s closing ceremony perform the two finalists’
scripts live and then winners are selected by an audience vote, netting
a $5000 cash prize and exclusive representation with the Hollywood View
Agency.
For all those of you who will not be able to make it to the Expo, DVDs
of some of the lectures are available at the CS website. Ultimately, though,
you have to be there to get the whole atmosphere of the industry. A visit
to LA is an essential part of any screenwriter’s education. We may
not like it but Hollywood is the centre of the world’s mainstream
film industry and must be understood. If you are in the business of screenwriting,
you need to be at the centre of the screenwriting business. In the US,
the films made by the studios and independents total around 500 per year.
Not that all of these are good. We are talking quantity here, not quality,
but it means work for the writer with the resilience to see it through.
Therefore, whether you go for a week or forever, you must see LA and the
Screenwriting Expo will be an excellent place to start. Get your pitches
ready, stock up on notebooks and prepare to have experiences and make
friends who will stay with you for years to come.
Information about the Expo, including DVDs and podcasts with audio interviews
can be found at:
http://www.creativescreenwriting.com