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Yeah, yeah ... I too am on 
now.
If you like what find here on my site, you can use this link to post to your own Twitter account about it:
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I've worked with Irin on several of his scripts, all of which have one awards at contests. In fact, his scripts have placed in many contests, winning a total of 54 awards! You can read more about him here on his website: Irin Evers.
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As the article says,
"Overture Films has purchased teen comedy spec "Freshly Popped," penned by tyro scribe Megan Parsons, and set it up with Steve Tisch, Jason Blumenthal and Todd Black at their Escape Artists banner.
The Megan Parsons-written spec project, a teen comedy from the producers of "The Pursuit of Happyness," was picked up for development by Overture.
In an unusual turn, newcomer Parsons was actually on a cruise to Antarctica when the spec was sent out and only heard of the sale upon reaching the continent.
Escape Artists, which was behind "Happyness" and is also producing the Tony Scott remake of "The Taking of Pelham 123" and the Will Smith-starrer "Seven Pounds," will produce. Steve Tisch, Jason Blumenthal, and Todd Black of the shingle will also produce; Chris Coggins and Lance Johnson will co-produce.
With the delicious double-entendre of a title, the film concerns a less-than-cool high-school senior with a part-time job at a movie theater who's torn between losing her virginity to a geek who really likes her, a cool guy who probably won't talk to her afterwards and a very attractive jock.
Parsons is repped by Paradigm and Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment.
WOW!
When Megan sent me her script and I read its logline and then opened the script and saw that title, I immediatley laughed. And reading it showed that she had written a smart and funny script. There was work to be done on hammering out a stronger storyline and structure and making the protagonist more active, which is what I worked with her on, but obviously she has done that and all her success comes from her hard work and commitment to making it the best script she could. She did that and then proceeded to follow it up with submitting to contests (she won at the 2007 Cynosure Screenwriting Awards) and a funny query letter and ... voila!
Chad Kinkle's short script "Fruit Farm" won the short screenplay contest at the recent 2007 EERIE HORROR FEST! Chad is a purveyor of what he likes to call "Southern Fried Horror" and let me say that that is the best self-labeling I have ever seen a screenwriter do. His self-invented genre genuinely combines the best of the classic Southern Gothic literary tradition and visceral horror films. He already has the feature version in the works.
Baxter Taylor's comedy TOUGH LUCK was one of the top winners at the Monterey Screenplay Competition! Baxter was flown to CA to take meetings with producers and agents and as a result of that his script was optioned by Hollywood production company Skyline Pictures! Baxter's a dedicated screenwriter who honed TOUGH LUCK through several drafts, and it now contains some of the funniest moments I've read.
He was also featured in an interview in HOLLYWOOD SCRIPTWRITER. You can find out more about the magazine at it's website:
(No, that's not Baxter on the cover --
you have to get the magazine to see his visage.)
So Baxter's TOUGH LUCK has turned out to be very good luck for him.
Plus his script TILL IT THUNDERS was optioned by Landfall Productions, Inc. in Burbank CA! Jeff is also semi-famous for allowing me to post the analysis of his script BLOOD COUNT here on my website as a sample for all to see. Not only is he talented, he's brave too! CONGRATULATIONS!!
Laura Paglin's, whose independent movie NIGHTOWLS OF COVENTRY I consulted on (and is now available on DVD at Borders, Blockbusters, Amazon, Netflix, etc.) has just won CineWomen In New York's "Someone to Watch Award!" As Laura put it, "It actually means that I should be watched closely because I might steal $ for my next production!" Now that's a shining example of a successful independent filmmaking mindset! But all kidding aside, Laura has worked hard on her craft (including her Sundance selected short, "No Umbrella") and her tenacity and talent are truly inspiring.
Liisa Napolitan (yes, that's Liisa with 2 i's) just won Showtime's THE L WORD's episode writing contest, having her episode voted the best out over a hundred entries. You can read it online here: Liisa's Episode.
I've been teaching at New York City's 
for almost 16 years now, teaching all levels of screenwriting, plus certain filmmaking classes. My Fall '08 classes will begin in early September and they are...
SCREENWRITING 3: Finishing the First Draft
You have a script started, you've been writing it, working hard on it ... but you're having problems completing it. Well, this is the class for you! With careful guidance, each student re-examines, tightens, and rewrites the outline and existing scenes in a workshop setting. Attention is given to structure, logic, motivation, complex character development, tone, and theme. There is special emphasis on problems of scene writing and developing a professional writing style so as to make a compelling presentation on the page. Examination of successful produced screenplays provides examples. The goal is to finish with a polished, professional first draft. Prerequisite: Students must have at least 50 pages of a screenplay, properly formatted, in order to register.
15 sessions on Mondays 8:00 PM-9:50 PM, beginning September 8.
Independent Filmmaking A- Z
This course is a complete overview on how to make an independent feature film (narrative or documentary), from initial concept through financing, planning, shooting, post-production and marketing and distribution. This is an exciting time in independent filmmaking because digital technologies are lowering both the expense of making movies and the barriers to distributing them. But too many beginning filmmakers don't properly plan the complete process of making, completing and distributing their movies and so end up running pell mell straight into chaos. Knowledge and organization do not kill creativity; they cradle it and allow filmmakers to better accomplish what they really want.
15 sessions on Wednesdays from 8:00 PM-9:50 PM, beg. September 3.
You can find out more about these and other New School classed via this link:
The short film I produced and directed, "A Relaxing Day", based on a one-act play by Pulitzer Prize nominated playwright Theresa Rebeck recently finished its tour of the international film festival circuit, winning a "Best Film" award.
This is the trailer for the film an it's rated "F" for frequent (and hopefully) funny use of the F-word.
If you want to know more about the film, please visit this website:
I recently wrote four episodes of a new animation series that's just finished production, THE SCHOOL FOR VAMPIRES. It'll be a while before the series is ready to air, as there is such a l-o-n-g lead time in animation, but when it does, I'll post information on it.
I've also done writing of another kind: I was hired to write a series of Afterwords for Signet Classics reissue of several classic novels. Being packaged with the books are DVDs of film versions of their stories; my job was to write pieces entitled "Fact, Fiction and Film" that discuss the books, their authors, the historical context of their publication and how the movie versions compare. It was a fun and fascinating assignment that let me indulge of my love of both books and movies. And if nothing else, when you Google me, my name just might now come up with the likes of Tolstoy and Dickens!
The eight books/DVD combos (THE SCARLET LETTER, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, CYRANO DE BERGERAC, ANNA KARENINA, OLIVER TWIST, OF HUMAN BONDAGE, SHERLOCK HOLMES SHORT STORIES and the play THE EMPEROR JONES) are on the market now.
CHARMING BILLY, the independent film I wrote and directed, is in rotation on the IFC film channel. It pops up regularly, so check the schedule at the following site to see if it's on this month:
It's also available for rent on the ever-so-handy online service Netflix, if you are so inclined. Those are some of the things currently happening. Now, on to the main page!
