[Zohar Rom]

Hi Cheryl and Hal, I learned:

– I need to just build my skills, brick by brick, without criticism, so that I wind up with a structure that can support any of my scripts.

– How the course’s design (as a training program) enables students to become more creative and more commercial simultaneously.

– How an ideal producer would give, say, 4 notes. Honestly, it reminded me of the advice that Joan Darling gave in a directing class:

“Take 30 notes. Give 5.”

“Trim the bush too soon and you will kill it.”

– Use a script consultant only if their niche matches my need.

– The 7-step development process will help me get through the bootcamp.

[Zohar Rom]

Hi, I’m Zohar Rom. I haven’t completed a full-length script. I’ve written, directed, and produced short films.

I hope to learn skills so I can create compelling stories that inspire compassion. I want them to get made and seen.

Something unique about me: I performed on a couple of hip-hop dance teams. (It’s hard for me to believe too.)

[Zohar Rom]

I’m Zohar Rom.

I agree to the terms of this release form.

GROUP RELEASE FORM

As a member of this group, I agree to the following:

1. That I will keep the processes, strategies, teleconferences, communications, lessons, and models of the class confidential, and that I will NOT share any of this program either privately, with a group, posting online, writing articles, through video or computer programming, or in any other way that would make those processes, teleconferences, communications, lessons, and models of the class available to anyone who is not a member of this class.

2. That each writer’s work here is copyrighted and that writer is the sole owner of that work. That includes this program which is copyrighted by Hal Croasmun. I acknowledge that submission of an idea to this group constitutes a claim of and the recognition of ownership of that idea.

I will keep the other writer’s ideas and writing confidential and will not share this information with anyone without the express written permission of the writer/owner. I will not market or even discuss this information with anyone outside this group.

3. I also understand that many stories and ideas are similar and/or have common themes and from time to time, two or more people can independently and simultaneously generate the same concept or movie idea.

4. If I have an idea that is the same as or very similar to another group member’s idea, I’ll immediately contact Hal and present proof that I had this idea prior to the beginning of the class. If Hal deems them to be the same idea or close enough to cause harm to either party, he’ll request both parties to present another concept for the class.

5. If you don’t present proof to Hal that you have the same idea as another person, you agree that all ideas presented to this group are the sole ownership of the person who presented them and you will not write or market another group member’s ideas.

6. Finally, I agree not to bring suit against anyone in this group for any reason, unless they use a substantial portion of my copyrighted work in a manner that is public and/or that prevents me from marketing my script by shopping it to production companies, agents, managers, actors, networks, studios or any other entertainment industry organizations or people.

[Zohar Rom]

What I learned doing this assignment is seeing different ways to appeal to a producer.

Logline for “Are We Home”: After climate change wipes out their community, a family of U.S. refugees have to figure out how to belong again.

2 Components of Marketability

<div>
Timely — connected to some major trend or event: Climate change
</div><div>

Wide
audience appeal: Compelling family drama

</div>

Elevating the components:

– Everyone is affected by climate change. We follow other families in a Refugee Camp in Chicago who are inventing ways to survive/thrive.

– Sarah, age 15, is fed up with her blended family and tries to run away … but the weather, then guilt, keep her bonded to them. She winds up becoming the glue that holds the family together.

[Zohar Rom]

Zohar Rom “Are We Home” Target: Producers

1. Drama, “Are We Home” — Aching to feel like they belong, a family of climate refugees struggles after they wind up in Chicago in the year 2050.

2. How does a family cope after climate change has wiped out their community? Like millions of other Americans in the year 2050, they’ve become refugees in their own country and ask themselves, “How can I ever belong again?”

3. I picked “producers” to target because I know of a couple of them. I hadn’t focused on managers or actors’ production companies.

4. What I learned today is to open my eyes and widen my net.

[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.

[Zohar Rom]

Zohar Rom

I agree to the terms of this release form.

GROUP RELEASE FORM

As a member of this group, I agree to the following:

1. That I will keep the processes, strategies, teleconferences, communications, lessons, and models of the class confidential, and that I will NOT share any of this program either privately, with a group, posting online, writing articles, through video or computer programming, or in any other way that would make those processes, teleconferences, communications, lessons, and models of the class available to anyone who is not a member of this class.

2. That each writer’s work here is copyrighted and that writer is the sole owner of that work. That includes this program which is copyrighted by Hal Croasmun. I acknowledge that submission of an idea to this group constitutes a claim of and the recognition of ownership of that idea.

I will keep the other writer’s ideas and writing confidential and will not share this information with anyone without the express written permission of the writer/owner. I will not market or even discuss this information with anyone outside this group.

3. I also understand that many stories and ideas are similar and/or have common themes and from time to time, two or more people can independently and simultaneously generate the same concept or movie idea.

4. If I have an idea that is the same as or very similar to another group member’s idea, I’ll immediately contact Hal and present proof that I had this idea prior to the beginning of the class. If Hal deems them to be the same idea or close enough to cause harm to either party, he’ll request both parties to present another concept for the class.

5. If you don’t present proof to Hal that you have the same idea as another person, you agree that all ideas presented to this group are the sole ownership of the person who presented them and you will not write or market another group member’s ideas.

6. Finally, I agree not to bring suit against anyone in this group for any reason, unless they use a substantial portion of my copyrighted work in a manner that is public and/or that prevents me from marketing my script by shopping it to production companies, agents, managers, actors, networks, studios or any other entertainment industry organizations or people.