Book and feature manager-producer on Sept. 17th

Gotham Group vice president Julie Kane-Ritsch is our next speaker. If you're thinking about writing a children's book or developing material for animation you don't want to miss our special Monday-night event at the Comedy Central Stage in Hollywood on the 17th. Special thanks to Comedy Central for hosting us. Info below. Free.

For those of you attending "The TV Experience", Gary Shusett's workshop with TV writers, I'm moderating the Friday and Monday sessions. If you have any interest in a career in TV writing you don't want to miss it. Info below.

Gotham Group manager-producer Julie Kane-Ritsch on Sept 17th...

ScreenplayLab presents Gotham Group manager-producer Julie Kane-Ritsch [IMDB]. Since joining Gotham in 1999, Julie Kane-Ritsch has been developing animated and family entertainment projects for television, feature films and publishing. She is currently a co-producer on the feature film THE SPRIDERWICK CHRONICLES to be released by Paramount Pictures. 30-minute talk followed by an hour of audience Q&A. Comedy Central Stage, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd.,Los Angeles. Monday, Sept. 17th, 2007, 8pm to 9:30pm. Free residential street parking nearby (check signs, or for $5 in lot on Hudson). Free with RSVP online at www.ScreenplayLab.com.

Thank you GREY'S ANATOMY executive producer Krista Vernoff...

Thank you to Krista Vernoff for speaking on Sunday at Raleigh Studios. She spoke to an enthusiastic packed house. Special thanks to Raleigh Studios for hosting us.

Krista's career advice was to not dilute yourself, to be really clear with people whether you're primarily an actor or writer. When Krista arrived in Hollywood to seek a career as a writer, she kept secret that she had a degree in theater from Boston University and had been a working performer singing on cruise ships such as the Portland Spirit. She and her boyfriend at the time John O'Brian, another Oregon actor, came to Hollywood with nothing. John would later write STARSKY AND HUTCH and DUKES OF HAZARD.

Krista had written several spec TV scripts and volunteered to be a reader to a producer she met at Women in Film. After months working for free as a reader, the producer unexpectedly referred her to an agent. Krista described selling a pitch for LAW AND ORDER in the first sentence. After 200 episodes, she came in with a story idea that they'd not heard before. Her boutique agent left, so Krista jumped to CAA. Then she got on CHARMED. After three years she decided to leave CHARMED, despite being offered double her salary to stay. Again she had no money, due to emptying her bank account for her wedding. (She and her husband Kevin now have a six-month-old daughter Cosette.)

Krista took a job instead on a little no-heat pilot called SURGEONS. The first 13 episodes were made in a bubble. The show wrapped before it aired. Krista did a pilot for her own show LENNIE ROSE, which didn't get picked up. Shonda brought her back to SURGEONS, renamed GREY'S ANATOMY, and the show climbed to #1.

Thank you for workshop reading of BOOK OF Z...

We read pages 67-84 of my feature martial arts action-comedy BOOK OF Z. The feedback was very positive, that the audience liked the action and the comedy. Kudos to Gabrielle for the casting and to our actors:

Gabrielle Pantera: casting director
Heather Ignacio: narrator
John Stancari: Max, General Chew
Stefany Northcutt: Nichi
Jim McCaffree: Lot, Gasso, Tommy
Xaque Gruber: Dr. Stroustrup

The TV Experience on Sept. 14-18th...

Presented by Gary Shusett and Sherwood Oaks College, meet up to 70 professional contacts in four days. I'm the panel moderator on the 14th. Producers, agents, managers, directors, and actors that work in TV. Why TV? Movies often take seven years to make while TV can take less than a year and is ongoing employment. $99 to $325.

http://www.sherwoodoakscollege.com/regtv.htm

ScreenplayLab Mixer on Sept. 25th...

Our next mixer is Tuesday, Sept. 25th. Sharky's Mexican Grill, 435 N. Beverly Dr., Beverly Hills. Free with RSVP online at www.ScreenplayLab.com.

ScreenplayLab booth at the West Hollywood Book Fair on Sept. 30th...

ScreenplayLab has a booth again this year at the West Hollywood Book Fair. Come see us! Book signings by a dozen authors in our booth. I'm teaching an improv screenwriting workshop. It was fantastic last year. Going to be even better this year! West Hollywood Park, 647 N. San Vicente Blvd. Our booth is near the center of the park. My workshop is in The Writers Room 3-4pm. Booth open 10am-6pm. Free.

http://screenplaylab.com/2007/weho.book.fair.html

Latest articles by Robin Rowe and Gabrielle Pantera...

My articles on THE OFFICE, TORCHWOOD, and BALLS OF FURY:

http://www.movieeditor.com

Gabrielle's articles on THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL and LOST IN AUSTEN:

http://www.movieeditor.com/books.html

What's ScreenplayLab?

ScreenplayLab is more than 1,900 screenwriters, actors, and filmmakers. Robin Rowe and Gabrielle Pantera, the founders of ScreenplayLab, are writer-producers developing projects based on best-selling novels. For more than two years, we've been hosting ScreenplayLab events in Hollywood each week. We host workshops, industry mixers, and present talks with industry VIPs. We lead ScreenplayLab out of goodwill. There are no membership dues. Our events are free. To join, send an email to info@screenplaylab.com with the subject 'subscribe'. To enter a script for evaluation and to possibly be read by actors in our workshop series costs $39.

Love you guys!