If You ONLY Want To Go To The Free Classes And Not Participate In The Actual Pitch Day, You Do Not Have To Register For The Great American Pitchfest To Attend These Free Classes.
If you want to be a screenwriter and are serious about developing your career, you need to be at the Great American PitchFest. Period. The Great American PitchFest brings you the best panels, classes, and speakers in the business, with more than 20 free classes taught by expert instructors all in one place – and all for FREE. All classes are available on a “first come, first seated” basis.
Here’s the list of all the FREE classes at this years PitchFest!
Let’s Sell Your Script!
9:00am to 10:30am – Academy One Ballroom
Panel with Ken Rotcop, Melody Jackson, Kathie Fong Yoneda & Pamela Jaye Smith
Join this free panel at the GAPF with a distinguished lineup of industry insiders who will teach you how to give your best pitch. What is a logline? How long should your pitch be? What information do you need to convey to best express your story in a short pitch meeting? This panel takes the guesswork out of pitching by providing the tools and advice needed to get you and your project on Hollywood’s radar screen.
Save the Cat!® Strikes Back – The Power of the Transformation Machine
9:00am to 10:30am – Academy Two Ballroom
with Jose Silerio
As writers, we only have one requisite: give our viewers a story about transformation. Change is what we look for in any story. That’s why we watch. That’s why we write. Using the 15 key beats of the Blake Snyder Beat Sheet, the Transformation Machine is the flow chart that illustrates change in action. This class will show you how to apply The Transformation Machine to your story and make sure that your hero “dies” yet comes out new in the end. It’s a life experience that will take your writing to the next level.
You Had Me at Hello: Making Your First 10 Pages Shine
9:00am to 10:30am – Academy Three Ballroom
with Danny Manus
This class covers the 12 different elements and steps to ensuring your script makes a great first impression, grabs the reader on page 1, and keeps them reading! We’ll also examine some of Hollywood’s hottest scripts and go through 10 of the most effective strategies to open your script. You will learn how to create the world of your screenplay, including tone, genre, character set-ups, eliciting emotion, stakes, structure and writer’s voice. And we’ll also cover the power of titles and how to know if yours is doing your story justice.
Intuitive Screenwriting: Unlocking Your Inner Genius
9:00am to 10:30am – Academy Four Ballroom
with Anne Norda
Get the tools to access your inner genius. You will learn techniques to hear your inner voice and discover new ways to spark your creativity. We will do writing exercises during the seminar to put the tools into practice and experience them viscerally. So bring paper and pen, and be prepared to unleash your imagination!
How to Give Yourself the Best Possible Chance at Screenwriting (and How to Avoid the Mistakes That Sink Most People’s Chances)
9:00am to 10:30am – Academy Five Ballroom
with Corey Mandell
What if most of what’s being taught about screenwriting is wrong? What if the rules, paradigms and secrets widely touted in books, seminars and classes not only don’t improve your chances of making it, but could actually sabotage you? And what if there were specific skill sets nobody talks about that could dramatically boost your chance for success? Come to this workshop to learn the five main reasons people fail and screenwriting and to come away with specific insights and hands-on tools that can help give you the best possible shot at success. Perfect for experienced screenwriters as well as beginners.
Writing the Killer Procedural
9:00am to 10:30am – Academy Six Ballroom
with Jennifer Dornbush
Learn to ace the procedural with step-by-step instruction from Jennifer Dornbush. You’ll learn how to structure it, pick the best type for you, create a monster antagonist, lay out a crime scene, use scientific evidence, build a compelling string of clues and solve the crime with an emotional pay-off.
Thrills, Chills & Bumps in the Night: Writing the Thriller/Horror
11:00am to 12:30pm – Academy One Ballroom
Panel with Pen Densham, Tom Lazarus & Special Guests
Full description coming soon…
Screenplay Competitions: How to Win, Why Enter & How They Can Change Your Life
11:00am to 12:30pm – Academy Two Ballroom
Presented by the PageAwards with Kristin Overn & Special Guests
Full description coming soon…
Five Secrets of a Killer Pitch
11:00am to 12:30pm – Academy Three Ballroom
with Carole Kirschner
Full description coming soon…
TBA
11:00am to 12:30pm – Academy Four Ballroom
Full description coming soon…
Theme: Using the Protagonist’s Arc to Clarify What Your Story Is About
11:00am to 12:30pm – Academy Five Ballroom
with Ruth Atkinson
Knowing what your story is really about is essential to the success of your script. Without a clear central idea, it’s unlikely that the audience will connect with your piece or understand what you are trying to say. Yet focusing the theme of your script can be surprisingly difficult. One way to approach this is to look to the main character and his or her journey to define what the story is really about. Generally, the theme of your piece can be articulated by what the protagonist learns over the course of the story. In this workshop presentation, we’ll look at Albert’s struggle to overcome his stammer in The King’s Speech and Carl’s pursuit of his lifelong dream to see the wilds of south America in Up to see how the protagonist’s journey holds the key to defining your theme.
Scriptchat & Studio 32 Present: Breaking In From Outside of Hollywood
11:00am to 12:30pm – Academy Six Ballroom
with Jeanne Bowerman & Richard Botto
Full description coming soon…
How to Get, Keep & Manage Your Agent or Manager
2:30pm to 4:00pm – Academy One Ballroom
with Chad Gervich & Special Guests
Full description coming soon…
A Conversation with… Special Guests Actor Lance Henriksen & Ghost Writer/Biographer Joseph Maddrey
2:30pm to 4:00pm – Academy Two Ballroom
Full description coming soon…
Pitch in a Minute
2:30pm to 4:00pm – Academy Three Ballroom
with Pilar Alessandra
Using Pilar’s legendary “fill in the blank” template, learn how to identify the key elements of your story, and how to pitch your script in a brief and engaging way. This class is guaranteed to make even your best pitch better!
Write a TV Pilot Script
2:30pm to 4:00pm – Academy Four Ballroom
with Jen Grisanti
Since launching Jen Grisanti Consultancy Inc., Jen has helped develop over 300 pilots and had 11 clients sell pilots. In this class, she’ll cover how to find a concept, story structure, finding your voice in your story, defining a dilemma and having a clear goal from it, building obstacles, elevating stakes, adding theme, symbolism and message and setting up your series. She’ll review common mistakes, explain how to write a pitch document and bible and include her workbook “How to Write a TV Pilot Script.”
Something Startling Happens: Beating Out the Blockbuster
2:30pm to 4:00pm – Academy Five Ballroom
with Todd Klick
Discover the minute-by-minute story beats that unite all successful movies, and learn how you can apply them to your screenplay.
Show Me the Money: Financing Your Screenplay
2:30pm to 4:00pm – Academy Five Ballroom
with Tom Malloy
Tom Malloy has raised over $15 million in private equity for film investments. His book, Bankroll: A New Approach to Financing Feature Films, is the best-reviewed book in the history of film finance, with a 2nd edition coming out in 2011. In this information-packed session, you’ll learn how to attract investors for your film, where to find investors, how to prep your project, how to make sure you have a killer script, how to build a business plan, how to find distributors, how to get attachments, sales techniques, the state of the film industry and much more.
Animation Panel
4:30pm to 6:00pm – Academy One Ballroom
with Aubry Mintz (Industrial Light & Magic) and Ellen Besen (Animator)
Full description coming soon…
ScriptChat Presents: An Interview with Doug Richardson (Screenwriter of “Die Hard 2?, “Bad Boys”, “Hostage”) & Jeanne Veillette Bowerman
4:30pm to 6:00pm – Academy Two Ballroom
Full description coming soon…
Guerilla Filmmaking for Writers
4:30pm to 6:00pm – Academy Three Ballroom
with Chris Jones (London Screenwriters Festival)
Full description coming soon…
How to Triple Your Contacts & Get Powerful People Reading Your Scripts
4:30pm to 6:00pm – Academy Four Ballroom
with Jessica Sitomer
Full description coming soon…
The Comic Premise
4:30pm to 6:00pm – Academy Five Ballroom
with Steve Kaplan
What are the keys to writing a comedy that works? Why do some comedies work more successfully than others? This session will explore the heart of a comedy—its initial premise. The session will explore how to construct a great premise that has the potential to develop into the sharpest, funniest version of your comic idea.
Improv for Writers
4:30pm to 6:00pm – Academy Six Ballroom
with David Skelly & Jennifer Skelly
Discover what every writer must know about acting! Create believable and dimensional characters, refine your story, and streamline your pitch using improvisation acting games, script analysis techniques, and story development exercises. LEARN TO PLAY LIKE THE PROS with screenwriters/actors Jennifer Skelly and David Skelly in this fun and informative in-depth workshop. The Skellys learned to play at Pixar Animation Studios, Jim Henson Productions, and on stage and TV. They’ll share their secrets on writing collaboratively, overcoming writer’s block, taking care of yourself during a studio pitch, and navigating Hollywood.
