LAST CALL Fox exec speaking Wednesday

Coming up is our first event in downtown Los Angeles. Twentieth Century Fox SVP of domestic distribution Chris Aronson will be speaking. We have 175 RSVPs so far for this event. Normally that would seem a lot, but this time we have a 2,100-seat theater. Please forward this announcement to anyone interested or bring a thousand of your closest friends. Free with RSVP online at www.ScreenPlayLab.com.

Thank you Nickelodeon Writing Fellowship Director Karen Kirkand...

Karen gave a fantastic presentation on Sunday at ScreenPlayLab. She talked about her experiences as an actor, film festival producer, and fellowship director. Nickelodeon fellowship opens for entries in January. Looking unproduced writers looking for unproduced writers break, not solely a diversity program like ABC Disney Fellowship. Nickelodeon Fellowship and the ABC Disney Fellowship are the only paid fellowship programs. Looking for writers who want to write kids entertainment, live or animation. Paid fellowship for a year as staff writer for 4 selected. Costs nothing to submit.

In January, submit a spec of MY NAME IS EARL or some other popular current half hour comedy. Submitting a spec of a Nick show is not recommended. Entries are judged blind, on writing only. The 20 who make the cut will be asked for a second spec which is expected to be already written. Final selection based on 2nd script, resume and interview. Karen also looks for potential staff writers and show creators, unrelated to the fellowship. If you're submitting a festival short (that is, not for the fellowship) it doesn't have to be for kids, but you must want to do a kids TV show. By the way, Karen is not connected to Nickelodeon movies which is run out of Paramount with development VP Luke Ryan who spoke recently at ScreenPlayLab.

Thank you Pitch Clinic participants....

We workshopped two pitches:

J Pinder: caper comedy
Stogie Kenyatta, urban comedy

It's much easier to analyze a pitch when it's not you doing the pitch. Pitching is a type of performance. Kudos to our pitchers for the courage to stand up and test themselves in front of a live audience. The formula for a pitch logline is to give the title, genre, flawed hero, hero's goal, and hero's obstacle. Having this is a good first step in preparing a pitch. If you have a good hook you lead with that before the logline, but there's no formula for a hook. The hook may be the tagline for the movie ("Hide all the bridesmaids" for WEDDING CRASHERS), a personal revelation, or something else that's surprising and charming. It's usually better to avoid the rhetorical question hook (e.g., "what would you do if you found a bag of money?") because your audience may relate to the question in a way you didn't anticipate or think it's not that interesting a question. More info about pitching in the links on our home page.

Fox SVP of distribution on Nov. 7th...

ScreenPlayLab presents Twentieth Century Fox SVP of domestic distribution Chris Aronson. 30-minute talk followed by an hour of audience Q&A. Chris creates company distribution policy for the U.S. and Canadian sales divisions for movies such as THE SIMPSONS MOVIE. This is a must-see event for producers and filmmakers ready to learn the art of domestic distribution and how to work with major studio distribution. No workshop tonight. Featured speaker only. Los Angeles Theatre, 615 S. Broadway, Los Angeles (in downtown historic district), Wednesday, Nov. 7th, 2007, 8pm to 9:30pm. Networking at 7:30pm. FREE with RSVP online at wwww.ScreenPlayLab.com.

What's ScreenPlayLab?

ScreenPlayLab is more than 2,000 producers, directors, actors and screenwriters creating upbeat mainstream films and television. ScreenPlayLab presents weekly events providing an opportunity for aspiring artists to learn how Hollywood works and to meet executives. More than three dozen actors and many writers have signed agent representation after being referred though other members. There are no membership dues and events are free. To join send an email to info@ScreenPlayLab.com with the subject 'Subscribe'.

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