Introduce Yourself To the Group

[Jeff Bryce]

3 spec scripts written and rewritten. My first screenplay was a Semifinalist in ScreenCraft’s 2020 Fellowship. I think my second one is ready to market, and I hope this class shows me how to do it.

I am a financial planner & tax advisor, and a published landscape photographer.

[Deleted User]

Hi, I’m Karen Crider. I am a lifelong writer, poet, and artist. I have taken several courses at ScreenwritingU, and have written about six scripts. I dwell inside the corridors of comedy. I shy away from marketing since it feels foreign to me as a writer. I hope to increase my marketing skills; thereby, becoming more proficient at it. What’s weird about me? Poets are different. I love to be alone– to write within the solitude of nature; to find music inside words and laughter inside story. This, my motivation for writing. Nice to meet everyone…

[Tom Holowach]

Aloha! Yes, I do live in Hawaii… for 25 years now. Before that, LA for 25 years. I was always a theatre person, so I just started writing scripts this January after I finally retired. I like true stories, and my first script was a one-hour pilot for a mini-series about a girl kept in a mental hospital all her life. My second was a feature about F. Scott Fitzgerald, dealing with an important, unexplored summer in his life in 1935. I also wrote a one-hour spec based on “The Right Stuff.” I am now outlining another mini-series about San Francisco in the Gold Rush days.
Since I don’t live in LA, and am much older than the norm, I am looking for ways to aggressively find exactly the right managers and producers who are not afraid to take a look at well-written, true story, period pieces, since that seems to be my wheelhouse. And yes, they are more expensive to produce.
I started screenwriting after 2 years of intense research on my part to discover who my birth parents were, and once I did, to trace my family history back to when my ancestors first stepped ashore in the New World. Nice to be here!

[Stephen Maynard]

Name? Steve Maynard

2. How many scripts you’ve written? Three (3) going on fifteen (15) when I count the rewrites.

3. What you hope to get out of the class? It looks like it might be a great way to learn something about marketing and how to reverse-engineer the screenplay.

4. Something unique, special, strange or unusual about you? What do you mean by that? Are trying to say that maybe I’m paranoid or something? You guessed it! He’s got a weird sense of humor.

We look forward to working with you all! And I look forward to getting to know each of youz lovely people taking the class.

[Gordon Roback]

Hello everyone. My name is Gordon Roback and I live in Vancouver, BC. I have written 35 feature screenplays. Two have been produced, two others have been sold. Another five have been optioned. One of these (A Call To Arms) has been optioned five times.

I am taking this class in an attempt to overcome my biggest weakness as a writer, my deficient marketing skills. My youngest son observed the paradox of my career arc: I picked the most collaborative of the arts for someone who is an extreme introvert. Thus my challenge for this course is not just to learn the skills of marketing a screenplay but the ability to actually use these skills to advance my career.

Even though I have seven university degrees (one of them a degree in law) I have lived most of my life in poverty. As can also be said of the Captain of the Titanic, “I did it my way.” My last six feature screenplays have been film noirs about a burned-out criminal lawyer fighting for justice in East Vancouver. None have been autobiographical. None have been sold.

[Renee Brown]

Hi, Renee Brown here

I have written 1 feature script, (plus 2 re-writes), I have 2 more feature concepts in outline, and I am developing a TV drama in the SU Binge worthy TV Bootcamp. Working though the Pilot script now.

3. I’ve been writing for some years, and I feel like I am earning my chops there…but marketing? Not so much. All that’s about to change.

4. My purpose in life is to bring joy to millions though my creativity. Too much? Too Big? Naaaaaaa…:) I’m on it.

[Stephanie Schwartz]

Hi Renee,

I LOVE your purpose!

And I share it too!

So happy to be in this class with so many dedicated happy creatives!

Looking forward to a fun month learning together,

Stephanie 🙂

[Phyllis MacBryde]

Hello all,

I’m pleased to join what promises to be a group of very smart creative people. I’ve always written. I conceived of my first play when I was six and enlisted my playmates to act in it. They attended the first rehearsal and when they later mutinied, I vowed never to work with non-professionals again. To that end, I came up in theater and musical theater as an actor and I have written several produced musicals. My foray into filmmaking started with music videos and led to writing and producing a longform documentary/concert film on Branford Marsalis. My second feature film screenplay was a Nicholl Fellowship finalist, a heady experience for which I was not prepared. I knew nothing about the movie-making business. My current screenplay is an adaptation of a novel and a developing musical I’ve written. Both are riding on this screenplay, so learning how to represent the project like a professional is what I hope to takeaway from this class.

What’s unique about me? Well, everything. No one else on this planet is like me. Others sometimes find it curious that I like to write about cultures and people from backgrounds that are entirely dissimilar to mine. But I already know my own background and I’m insatiably curious about others. And, for me, the process has been a great ride.

[John Alen]

I’ve written 5 feature-length scripts and 2 shorts. I hope to gain as much useful knowledge as possible from this class.

[Zohar Rom]

Hi, fellow writers, I’m Zohar Rom, a writer/director in Arlington, Virginia (next to Washington, DC). I often sum up my work by saying that “my art inspires compassion.”

I’ve written short scripts and a spec feature-length one. Now I’m writing a pilot for a TV series set in the year 2050, about a family of U.S. climate refugees who desperately want to find a new home and feel like they belong.

In this class, I want to learn how to set myself up for success, from framing my story to navigating conversations with producers. In short, I’m itching for knowledge that will help me be confident throughout the process.

What’s unusual about me? I performed on hip-hop dance teams and I used to be Superman — when I was 14, I played the Man of Steel for a live radio show: I was interviewed, then took questions from the audience.

[Philip Huber]

Hi everyone,

I’ve written two feature spec scripts, and several shorts two of which I have produced with mostly amateur crews. Diverging into filmmaking has been a great (and challenging) experience that has lifted my writing skills and understanding of the filmmaking business.

I hope the class will give me insights into the marketing process, and the skills and some confidence to sell my comedy spec.

Something unique about me, that may not be so unique in this group, is that I’ve set up my own filmmaking micro production company – Golden Smile Media. Check it out on IMDb and Facebook where you can find links to my short films. I’m based in Queensland, Australia – not really unique – but just so you know; e.g. in case you see some strange spelling and humour.

[Paul McGregor]

My name is Paul McGregor

I have written 5 scripts.

My marketing skills are close to zero, so I have everything to learn from this class.

I’m an Irish expat in Mexico.

[Mark Dresner]

Hi friends. I’m Mark Dresner from New York.

I’ve written 3 features and several shorts. One of my short scripts was recently sold and is scheduled to be shot at the end of the year.

My aim for this class is to get better at creating the desire for producers to want to make my scripts into movies. Having taken many ScreenwritingU classes and programs I believe this will help me achieve this goal.

See you all inside the course!

[Mark Furney]

Hi everyone. After majoring in journalism in college and working for newspapers though high school and college, I went off to law school. I spent many years practicing trial law, both civil (on the plaintiff’s side) and criminal (mostly defense).

Litigation is a young person’s game. While it was exciting for many years, it has a downside. It can make one cynical. So I got out of it and I’ve been doing various forms of writing for about ten years.

I’ve written four features (one of which I’ll show no one, it’s that bad). I consider my space to be legal drama/thrillers. Over the years, I found that the county courthouse is a great place to observe human drama playing out in real time. I hope my writing can capture a bit of that and get it onto the page.

I’ve taken four or five ScreenwritingU classes and I’ve found them to be very helpful. The “Thriller” class is top-notch.

I’m hoping this class can help on the marketing end of things.

[mark Morris]

Hi All, I am Mark Morris. My day job is cinematographer…of low-budg movies, cable docs in the past, and more recently web-based projects. I have written six feature screenplays and self-produced one through my production company at the time. I have also written stacks of documentary proposals and pitches that haven’t gotten produced.

I have gained lots of awareness about writing from Hal’s webinars, and have risen to a new level in skills. His 30 Screenplay class was the first one that I signed up for, and it enabled me to create a solid screenplay from a true-story treatment that I had written years ago. Its making the contest rounds now.

I am pretty sure that this class will improve my chances of getting this and other scripts seen by the right people, because Hal really know his stuff.

[cara star]

Hi, I’m Cara. I live in California.

I’ve written three feature spec scripts.

I would like to learn how to best write, and rewrite, for producers in my genre – drama. And, I’d like to better understand how to communicate my project to interested parties.

I tend to like international content.

[Deborah Daughetee]

Hi everyone. I’m Deborah Daughetee and I’ve written too many television scripts to count as in another life I was a successful television writer. I hope to learn how to market to this very different industry from when I was in television. I am 4 years out from a double-lung transplant and am feeling great!

[Jennifer Thym]

Nice to meet all of you! Iʻm Jen Thym, a writer/director/producer who relocated to Hawaiʻi this summer, so aloha kāua Tom! Iʻve made web series, shorts, and a feature (JASMINE starring Jason Tobin who is in WARRIOR). Iʻm a Sundance Episodic Lab Second Rounder and my scripts have earned rankings in Screencraft, PAGE, Stage 32, and the Coverfly Red List. I have three TV pilots Iʻm marketing at the moment.

I would love to meet like-minded creatives and collaborate! This is my first class with Screenwriting U but it came highly recommended to me by a writer/director friend. Iʻm also taking the horror class if anyone is in there!

Quirky: I coached a girls robotics team that ranked third in their division at VEX Worlds.

[Manny Makris]

Manny Makris

12 scripts

Knowledge

I had a heart attack 2 years ago and am near death on a daily basis as a result of the pandemic preventing me from getting the necessary surgery in a timely manner.

[Stephen Dexter]

Hi everyone. Greetings from Massachusetts! I’ve been writing scripts for a long time now, but it’s only been in the last three years that I’ve really taken the time to put in the necessary hours and effort. And here it is three years later and I’ve got four scripts that are now ready to go out the door. What I’m hoping to get out of this class is to figure out what I need to do now, to get these scripts into the hands of the people who can turn these scripts into movies. I learned how to write screenplays. It’s now time I learned how to market them.

[Emmanuel Sullivan]

Hi, Emmanuel, from Texas, look forward to learning more about script marketing.

[Kristina Zill]

Hi, I’m KZ, I’m a playwright and screenwriter living in the Catskill Mountains outside NYC.

I’ve written scripts in the Horror, Thriller, Comedy and Drama genres. I’ve taken a number of Hal’s courses, and always find them inspiring. Every time I start a new script, I go to my Hal binder and revisit the printouts.

I was a finalist in the Industry Insider Screenwriting Contest (Susannah Grant round) in 2013. A short film made from a play of mine, Forever Your Fireplace, won Best Short Comedy at Worldfest Houston in 2016. I’m currently writing a full-length Thriller for that same director.

Hoping to learn what to do with a script once I’ve finished it. How to avoid script issues by understanding the end game. How to be a better collaborator. How to pitch. How to take feedback. Well, in short, everything this class teaches is a skill I need to acquire.

[Mark Abel]

Hi there, my name is Mark Abel. I’ve written six novels, more short stories than I can recall, and am currently finishing my 6th and 7th screenplays in tandem. I hope that learning the business aspect of the industry will help secure representation to submit my work. Apart from writing, I’m a piano teacher and concert recitalist. I also appear to be, like, the fourth Mark on this list. Howdy, Marks! Howdy y’all!

:0)

• This reply was modified 3 years, 7 months ago by  Mark Abel.

[Robert Barhite]

Hi everyone! I’m Robert Barhite, and I live just outside Madison, Wisconsin. By day I’m a supervisor in a small call center. This is the second class I’ve taken through Screenwriting U. Over the next month we’ll be wrapping up Binge Worthy TV, which has been an amazing trip.

I’ve written twelve scripts – three feature lengths, two pilots, and six shorts. One short, “Seeking Bigshoe” won Best Comedy Short this past weekend at a film festival in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

What I hope to get out of the class are marketing skills and sharpen up my pitching. I’ve done pitching but I know it’s not up to snuff yet. I worked in sales a while back and I know everything we do is marketing, and that includes the query letter.

Something unique – In 2016 I worked on screen in an episode of “Finding Bigfoot.” It was definitely a trip.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 7 months ago by  Robert Barhite.

[Andrea Higgins]

Hi. I’m Andrea Higgins. What a nice group we have.

I’m a writer and an actor — and I wrapped filming on my first short project as a director about two weeks before the pandemic hit. Hope to do more directing in the future. I’ve got three pretty polished projects (2 features and a pilot) and several other projects in various draft stages.

I hope to get a clear sense of the best next steps to take—and to develop the business savvy to take those steps with confidence and a modicum of style.

My unusual thing: I teach the Feldenkrais Method of somatic movement. Unusual only in the sense that most people have never heard of it and don’t know how to pronounce it. But I’ve helped a lot of people over the years, so I’m proud of that. It’s a gentle movement method that helps people relax and move with greater comfort.

[Stephanie Schwartz]

Hi Andrea,

Great to meet you!

I’ve always wanted to learn the Feldenkrais method! How cool that you teach it.

Maybe I should start with some online tutorials…I know it’s a very precise method that requires some discipline.

Looking forward to being in class with you and getting to know everyone better!

Stephanie 🙂

[Andrea Higgins]

Hi Stephanie,

Thanks so much for your reply and your interest. Feldenkrais is a really wonderful method that offers a whole host of benefits. Many of the lessons are very relaxing, and often bring about greater ease and comfort with respect to movement. If you’d like more info, you can check out my website here: http://www.KinEdge.com. And thanks again!

Best, Andrea

[Lelnd Little]

Name: Leland

Have 9 completed scripts ready to market, in different genres, with 3 scripts that will never see the light of day

What I hope to get out of this program is a sold screenplay

[Lisetty Sandoval]

Hello!

1. My name’s is Lisetty Sandoval

2. I’ve written 3 scripts (2 produced) I’m on my 3rd one now.

3. I hope I can get help to refine a killer title for my script and be able to present it to at least 50 producers in my film genre.

4. Something unique, special, strange or unusual about you?

I have a background in business administration so I write my scripts with a producer/ business mindset. That is contained scripts without compromising the message of my story. I’m very imaginative so it’s easy for me to create stories from a simple sentence.

Please let me know if Hal will be answering my forum assignments or if is someone else in the industry? Thank you!

[barry Voss]

Hello everyone. My name is Barry Voss. I’m a former trial lawyer. As an attorney, I had clients in the film and music industries that brought me to LA on a frequent basis.

In the late 90’s I attended a pitchfest in LA only with a concept for a movie. I didn’t know what I didn’t know. Although 3 production companies expressed interest in my concept, I had nothing in writing. Nothing happened.

I soon wrote a crime-drama story titled A Taste of Cold Steel. I never seemed to have the time to market the book. Recently, I decided to write a spec screenplay based on the book. This year I sent out a few queries and got some nibbles.

Currently, I’m on my 6th rewrite of my second crime-drama spec screenplay; it’s about a judge.

I have also researched three more screenplays and will write them once I’m finished with my current screenplay.

This class interests me as I believe it can better explain marketing and the integral players essential to this industry.

[Stephanie Schwartz]

Hi Tom,

I love your focus on true story, period pieces! I am drawn to those too. All your projects sound fascinating!

Looking forward to a fun class and getting to know everyone better! 🙂

Stephanie

[Jon Macht]

Hi Everyone… I’m Jon…

writer, director, producer

I hope to learn in this class two things in the current industry climate: 1) What buyers (streaming platforms, studios, cable networks, networks want to see in terms of the high quality pitch/marketing materials we submit for consideration 2) I want to learn the best way to create a marketing campaign to get my scripts in the door.

Perhaps I’m unique in that I spent years working at the “big six” literary agencies APA (Agency for the Performing Arts) and UTA (United Talent Agency). Before and after, I spent decades working in both film and television production on movies and shows that are instantly recognizable including many Star Trek television series. I attended USC’s School of Cinema-Television in the MFA production division.

Specifically in describing my writing, I’ve written screenplays and teleplays on writing assignment for producers and production companies. And I’ve written spec feature screenplays and teleplays that were optioned and that went to production.

I’ve also written/directed/produced my own writing since 1975 and am now.

[Jonathan Marballi]

I’m Jon Marballi. I’m primarily a (mostly comedic) actor who is currently based in New York City. I’ve written on and off for years but started taking it more seriously about 7 years ago. I mostly write for myself and have written and produced two short films (“This Is That Night” and “Uber Ex”), one limited-series pilot (“Phelandra”, CoverFly Red List), and one action feature (“BlackCar”, ScreenCraft Action Thriller quarter-finalist).

I’m not sure how I ended up on the Screenwriting U email list but I started taking some of their free Friday classes and really got a lot out of them. Last Friday’s really resonated with me. My last two project titles have been proper nouns that tell you nothing about the script, I’m completely incompetent when it comes to hooks and high concept premises, and I’m just terrible at marketing my own work. So I guess what I’m hoping to get out of this class is improvement in all of those areas.

With regards to something unique / special / strange / unusual… I grew up as an American in Asia in the 90s, which was cool, and I got busted in seventh grade for trying to pirate and sell VHS copies of “Species.” That was the beginning and end of my criminal career.

Oh and since some people are sharing day jobs, mine is as a “software engineer.”

• This reply was modified 3 years, 7 months ago by  Jonathan Marballi.

[John Vanis]

Hello, everyone. My name is John Vanis.

I have written 4 screenplays and I hope to write many more. I have written an adult picture book with a second one coming soon. My ideas are in the style of “Go the Fuck to Sleep.” This past year, I have started a production company with two film buddies of mine and we are working on developing movies, TV shows, comedy shows and web series.

I do have a legal question I’d like to ask about my picture book. There is an app called “Painnt.” You can make your photos look like a sketch, cartoon, painted, etc. Could I publish those altered photos in my book without any legal ramifications? Any and all feedback is appreciated.

I look forward to getting to know all of you and to be a part of this community.

[Michael Wallace]

Hi everyone. My name is Michael Wallace from Long Island, New York and I have written three screenplays and have started a fourth. I set up my own production company last year (great timing), to produce my first screenplay which I have a director attached. I am trying to build relationships with collaborators and financiers and hope to learn new strategies in this course. I have extensive entrepreneurial experience and believe that my business experience combined with like-minded producers with more experience in this business will be a formula for success. Michael Wallace

[Stephen Joubert]

Hi everyone,

I’m Stephen Joubert. I got a degree in film production 30 years ago and worked in the business as a PA an then a cameraman. I left the business to raise a family. When I got divorced 3 years ago I decided to get back in as a writer.

I wrote my first feature length screenplay when I was 13 years old and I must have written about a dozen scripts in total.

I’ve always looked at “the business” as a business that deals in art. That is reinforced, having spent the past 25 years in the software development world. I want to better understand the art/business relationship and leverage that information to sell screenplays.

I run my own software consulting business. We specialize is in secure, highly scalable, enterprise software. In addition to having been a cameraman I have also been a dog trainer in New York City. I am a published author on the subject of canine aggression and for a brief period I operated my own bakery.

[James Peters]

Hi folks – I’m one of those screenwriters that Hal talks about in Lesson One — about 20 screenplays (feature length and shorts) and a weak market strategy. I’ve tried InkTip and other marketing services for several years, and out of hundreds of queries I received one offer to option–for one dollar American! I hasten to add I’ve had fun, too–teaching screenwriting at a local college for three years, writing coverage for producers, agencies and clients for a decade, judging scripts for competitions, and even earning three producer credits for a feature and a couple of shorts. Two of my scripts have won minor competitions and others placed well elsewhere. As if all that weren’t enough, I studied screenwriting at UCLA, ScreenwritingU and NY Film Academy, I’m a disabled combat veteran, a former rancher, a former environmental engineer, and host to an armadillo family that feasts nightly on the newly laid sod in my front yard! So why is marketing my work not working? High concept and imaginative storytelling have always been foremost in my mind, and it’s always been fulfillment as a screenwriter–not fame or fortune–that make me work hard. So maybe this course will help.

[Deleted User]

Hi Everyone,

I’m Liz Yanders. I’ve written two scripts since November of 2019. The first one won several placements in screenplay contests including three finalists positions and a top ten out of about 5,000 entries. The second one, that I finished a few months ago, has also won placement in three screenplay contest including second round in Austin Film Festival (waiting for results on others it’s entered in). However, I’ve never won the grand prize or a prize that will introduce me or get my script to serious buyers.

I hope this class will teach me how to take a different path to selling my script, and how to deal with producers during the sell and after. The correct mindset. I have no problem with the idea of selling my scripts. I made a living selling printing.

I’m an artist.

I also write poetry and am working on finishing a novel.

Getting here late because I had a film festival to attend and a couple of other Zoom classes. Playing catchup, but happy to be here.

[Stephen Greenberg]

Hi Everyone,

I hope this is getting out to everyone, although it looks like it is only going to Cheryl.

Sorry I’m about a week behind, but I’ll try to catch up.

My name is Tony Greenberg, and I’m a bit of an anomaly to this class. I’m not really a screenwriter, but I think the purpose of this class will be totally meaningful to my objectives.

I’m a new producer having come from another profession altogether. I’ve always loved movies and wanted to participate in their creation, but lacking the talent of screenwriting, acting, artistic design, or photography. As a producer, I’ve acquired options on several books which I hope to get produced.

While I’ve hired screenwriters to create the scripts I need, I have the challenge of getting the production of those scripts financed. So, in a sense, I am looking for the same sources as the writers taking this class. However, rather than selling the script, I’m trying to find partners with much more experience than I have who will want to produce it with me. This might be even more difficult than the writer’s challenge.

I hope that this class will help me better evaluate the material (optionable books and the scripts that get adapted) and give me skills to better market the scripts that I acquire. I’m not sure how applicable some of the assignments will be since I’m not a writer, but I will try my best to accommodate the requirements.

[Guil Parreiras]

Guil Parreiras

Working now on the sixth feature-length script.

I hope to improve my marketing/pitching skills so I can generate interest from producers and managers, and sell my scripts.

I have written and directed stage plays, made short films, written poetry, played lead guitar in rock bands… I love the arts in general. I was able to safely shoot a new short and direct a music video in 2020, right in the middle of the pandemic. Gotta keep working, no matter what!

[audrey jacobs]

1. Name? Audrey Jacobs

2. How many scripts you’ve written? Six or seven counting a few extended maps, from the classes of horror, thriller, comedy, contained movie, etc.

3. What you hope to get out of the class? Both the skills and courage to pitch with natural confidence.

4. Something unique, special, strange or unusual about you? I’m a 50’s style woman transformed into a cougar after 60 years of marriage and becoming a widow.

[Torino Von Jones]

My name is Torino.

I’ve written 13 screenplays. I worked for a Japanese/Chinese/American production company for 5 years developing content. It was a great way to learn about the business, but everything I learned about screenwriting I learned at ScreenwritingU. I’ve worked with 10 producers, had three scripts optioned, two A-list talent attached but nothing produced.

I would like to learn the nuances of marketing my content to seasoned producers and studios.

I was raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, but lived in the UK, Europe, Japan, and South Africa for thirteen years. It gave me a global perspective and I aspire to write for a global audience.

[Ed Vela]

Okay, I could’ve sworn I DID this already, but I don’t see my reply on here, so here I go again.

My name is Ed Vela.

I started my writing life as a playwright in the late 90’s after a long and uneventful career on stage as ham actor in non-professional theatre and a short turn in stand up comedy.

I’ve been trying to make the bridge into screenwriting since 2008 and to date have written 2 feature screenplays, about 6 TV Pilots, and a BUNCH of short scripts.

I’ve entered and WON a LOT of minor, regional film festivals (via FilmFreeway), by the way that does very little good in trying to make an inroad to the industry (unless you win Nichols), it does stroke your ego though to have a myriad of Best Screenplay Certificates framed and hanging on your wall.

I wrote, produced, and directed for several years a web series I created on You Tube that never went viral, never got popular, I just did it to have something creative to do (to keep my limited sanity).

I also W/P/D some of my own ultra-low budget shorts, some of which have also been screened at these lesser film fests, and won awards there.

I am here to FINALLY learn HOW to MAYBE get my Award Winning Dramedy into the hands of SOMEBODY that might recognize its potential, but we’ll see if I can keep up with the class AT AT ALL as I try to balance these classes and a full time rent job, and trying to produce a new short script.