An AWS Networking & Screening Event (invitation only)

A networking & screening event hosted by:

 AWS Management  & Award Winning Screenwriters

www.awsmanagement.com

"Our way of saying 'thank you'

to our past clients, collegues,

and future partners!"

Saturday, Nov. 6th, 2010

1:00 - 4:00pm

The meeting will be held at the elegant, high tech:

Wilshire Screening Room & Art Gallery

8670 Wilshire Blvd.

Beverly Hills 

DIRECTIONS:  On Wilshire between S. Robertson Blvd. & La Cienega. Blvd., in Beverly Hills.

THE EVENT:  FREE!   BUT INVITATION ONLY

(please contact Erin at erin@awsmanagement.com if you want to bring a guest.)

PARKING:  FREE!  Enter parking garage from Willaman Drive. Park in any unassigned spot.

ITINERARY:  Meet in the Art Gallery

1:00- 2:00       

Welcome, introductions all around:  your background and credits, what  you are working on now, and/or what you are looking for script-wise or partnership-wise. 

2:00-2:15      

Break for networking

2:15 - 3:00    

Continue introductions all around 

3:00 - 3:55    

Adjourn to Screening Room

Screening of ________

Brothers & Sisters episode - matt donnelly

45 mins of Joan of Arc - michael alexander miller

Pre-screen scenes from Stranded - Brian Pittman 

3:55                

Exit Screening Room.  May Continue Networking in the Lobby Area Only.

SCREENING: 

CONFIRMED PARTICIPANTS:

Simon Herbert (aka Jeremy Bonner, AWS Analyst) - received an M.F.A. degree in Screenwriting from UCLA in 2007 - winning the Harmony Gold Award In Excellence and Jay Grossman Award two years running. He currently teaches the course for the UCLA Discovery Program in Screenwriting, and has worked in the story departments of established production companies (including Sidney Kimmel Entertainment and Concorde-New Horizons), and has been a script doctor on a number of projects. He has optioned his own scripts numerous times.  Jeremy has impeccable taste, and a clear grasp of screenplay structure and plot development.

Matt Donnelly (AWS Analyst/Mentor/Client) - Matt Donnelly holds an M.F.A. degree in film production from Loyola Marymount University in 2004. He began covering feature screenplays at Sony Pictures in 2002 and has since worked with Warner Brothers and Disney Studios. An active WGA member, Matt has written for both film and television in a variety of genres, including comedy, drama, and thriller. Along with his coverage experience, he is currently a screenwriter and script coordinator on the ABC television show Brothers & Sisters. 

Andra St. Ivanyi (AWS Client) - Andra is a screenwriter specializing in romantic comedy, feature films, and represented by AWS Management. She has fifteen years of experience in the film industry, primarily in acquisitions. She currently vets “greenlit” screenplays for eight international distributors and brokers; and writes marketing materials for Summit Entertainment and New Line Entertainment. She has had four short stories published in national literary journals, and holds a B.A. degree in Communications.  Award: NJ Council on the Arts Young Artist Grant.

Erin Chapman (AWS Screenwriter/Literary Manager) - Erin is a literary manager, screenwriter, and owner of Award Winning Screenwriters. AWS offers many screenwriting services through the writing talents of experienced screenwriters, including: ghost writing, coverage, analysis and creative development, re-writes, write-for-hire, script doctors, and hundreds of spec screenplays. Currently co-writing a script with CIA and Delta Force consultants on an antiterrorist action hero.  She also has written several spec scripts, two biblical epics on Joseph and Exodus, and a music drama/caper set during Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

Brian Pittman & Rachel Long (AWS 2009 Contest Winners) -  Screenwriting team Rachel Long and Brian Pittman have written several screenplays and numerous treatments together, receiving top industry awards for their writing. Rachel was a 2002-2003 Paramount Chesterfield Fellow, and both writers were 2008 Austin Film Festival finalists for their script “Stranded,” which was the 2009 Award Winning Screenwriters contest winner and also a 2009 ScriptShark Insider Contest semi-finalist. Their psychological thriller “Sindrome” is a 2009 Shriekfest finalist and also a 2009 ScriptShark Insider Contest semi-finalist, and they have also placed in the top ten as finalists or semi-finalists in screenwriting contests ranging from Cinestory Screenwriting Contest to the Latino Screenplay Awards. They have optioned several screenplays, and are currently in the process of having “Stranded” optioned and produced. Rachel has been a producer’s assistant on five films and an associate production supervisor on two films with Leucadia Film Corp.  She is also a freelancer reporter and writer. In addition to screenwriting, Brian is also a seasoned journalist, editor and media counselor who has interviewed luminaries, including Louis Farrakhan to Clarence Thomas, Bob Edwards, Margaret Thatcher, Boutros-Boutros Ghali and many others.  Their latest project as writing partners is “Subterra,” a science fiction/fantasy script about a guild of online gamers who use their in-game superpowers in the real world to save it from destruction. Others include “Dementia” and “Other Side of Paradise,” a Godfather-style movie set in Hawaii that they are working on with producer Norman Morrill and actor Eric Balfour. Rachel and Brian are also working on treatments for TV projects and a graphic novel, while pursuing script assignments. As a writing team, they have been represented by Matt Luber (Luber/Rocklin).

Jamelle Dolphin (AWS Client) – Jamelle is a writer, having completed an in-depth manuscript about his grandfather, John Dolphin, and is represented by AWS Management. The manuscript is based on hundreds of hours of interviews of family and friends. Both the manuscript and the movie Treatment are based on the true life story of Jamelle Dolphin’s grandfather John Dolphin, who was owner of the world famous record store “Dolphins of Hollywood” which began around 1948. Jamelle was inspired to interview his relatives, and to write the manuscript, as a natural outgrowth of hearing the many colorful stories about his grandfather. As Jamelle grew up in Los Angeles, having the last name “Dolphin” always seem to be followed by “are you related to John Dolphin?”  John Dolphin was the most successful black businessman in South Central Los Angeles during the 40s and 50s, owning a record store, radio broadcast, and labels that recorded some of the finest doo-wop and early R&B on the West Coast. Everyone who was anyone in the black entertainment business, stopped by John Dolphin’s store, Dolphins of Hollywood, on Vernon and Central Avenue in Los Angeles during the 40s and 50s, until his untimely murder in 1958. He was only 56 years old. Many musicians recorded music on John’s record label (including Jesse Belvin’s hit song Dream Girl which broke on the show).  The legendary Sam Cooke (A Change is Gonna Come, Chain Gang, You Send Me, Wonderful World), was a good friend of John’s, as was Leon Washington, editor of LA’s seminal black newspaper, The Sentinel. When singers and musicians would visit his store, John played their music from hugely popular radio show, that was broadcast right from the store window, and store guests included Aretha Franklin, Ike & Tina, James Brown, Little Richard, Louis Armstrong, Elvis Pressley, Sam Cooke, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holliday, Sarah Vaughn, Quincy Jones, and more.  As big and powerful in the black community, as John Dolphin was at the time of his death, his story has been largely neglected until now. John was a pioneer of desegregation in the L.A. music scene, and overcame tremendous pressure and discrimination from a racist L.A.P.D., and pre-Civil Rights Act society. This important, but overlooked, story is an essential part of American music history, an important piece of black history, and an even bigger piece of Los Angeles history.  Jamelle Dolphin is currently owner of the Dolphins of Hollywood Record Label and Entertainment Company in Los Angeles. 

Robert Cain - Robert is an award-winning screenwriter and producer whose films and screenplays have won international recognition, from Nicholl Fellowship honors to an Academy award nomination for best foreign language film.  He is also the Founder and Owner of Venture Spark, a consulting firm dedicated to helping new and existing ventures with their strategy, business plans, fundraising, strategic partnerships, and business development. Venture Spark (VS) has consulted in a broad range of industries, with particularly strong experience serving entertainment and digital media companies. VS has helped film and television production companies, film distribution companies, media technology companies, and many others. Representative successes include: developed organizational plan to enable MGM to optimize international distribution of its film library; established market entry plan for the BBC in the U.S., Korea and Japan resulting in at least $20mm in new business; raised $19 million for a family film; set up film production company in Russia; raised $5mm in funding, established cash management and library management protocols for a production/distribution company. Mr. Cain also recently served as COO/CFO for Vox3 Films, where he was Finance and Operations executive for this active New York based independent production company. The Company’s films include Sally Potter's "Rage," “Fur,” starring Nicole Kidman and Robert Downey Jr., "Broken English" starring Parker Posey, and “Secretary” starring James Spader and Maggie Gyllenhall.

Wayne Repich - Wayne works with film producers, writers, and directors to assist them with raising financing for films and slates. He also works as a consultant in presentation, business planning, investor relations and negotiating with film investors. He has high-profile clients and contacts in the music, television, and radio business, and access to various channels for film financing. Wayne can assist with vetting entertainment proposals, or with reviewing investments in the entertainment arena.