Act One: Training for Hollywood

Do you have a story to tell?
Or do you want to get an insider's understanding of the business of The Biz?
Do you have what it takes to make it in Hollywood – as a follower of Jesus?
It’s time to find out.

ROCK ISLAND, IL - Heritage Church Screenwriting only	Sept. 19-20, 2008
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO - Glen Eyrie Castle & Conference Center	January 30 & 31, 2009
LOS ANGELES - "What's the Big Idea: The Art of Cinematic Storytelling" Lecture Series	March 21 & 22 March 28 & 29 April 4 & 5

FORT WORTH, TX - Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary - REGISTER NOW	February 19 & 20, 2010

Act One, Inc. presents Act One Seminars - intensive, practical workshops for aspiring and professional writers and entrepreneurs who are serious about their Christian faith and who dream of creating culture that respects and enriches a global audience. These two-day seminars offer a fun, fast-paced overview of our renowned Writing and Executive Programs, taught by Hollywood professionals.

If you love film and television, if you're crazy about telling stories, and if you're serious about your faith, Act One Seminars are designed for you - and chances are, we're coming to your area this year. Don't miss it!

When: Friday, February 19, 2010 (1pm to 10pm) and Saturday, February 20, 2010 (8:30am to 6pm)

Where: The Riley Center at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
1701 W. Boyce Ave. Fort Worth, TX 76115

Cost: Early bird reservation by November 15, 2009:
$225.00 regular attendees and $205.00 for full-time students

After November 15, 2009:
$275.00 regular attendees and $255.00 for full-time students

The seminar consists of an intensive weekend training program designed for aspiring writers and producers who are serious about their Christian faith and are eager to learn more about how to create culture that respects and enriches their local Church communities as well as a global audience.

Instructors include:
Dean Batali - Writer, Executive Producer, That ‘70s Show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Chuck Slocum - Assistant Executive Director, Writer’s Guild of America, West
Sheryl Anderson – Writer, Charmed, Flash Gordon, Dave’s World, Parker Lewis Can't Lose
Gary David Stratton. PhD. – Author, Cultural Analyst, Act One Executive Director
Bryan Belknap - Comedy screenwriter, author and speaker, Act One Alum

Our conferences were launched in response to requests from churches and individuals that we bring the content of our summer programs to people who could not travel to Hollywood. Consequently, they are designed to provide an overview of our summer writing and executive curriculum. You can visit our website for a more detailed account of course content; however, the basic conference schedule is as follows:

*Finding Your Story - Choosing the right stories, understanding genre, the difference between a story and a character or premise, and what makes your story stand out from the others.

*The Big Structure Lecture - An overview of basic 3-act structure, illustrated through a breakdown of an epic motion picture.

*Pitching Workshop - Students learn pitching tips, work in small groups to complete a development assignment, and then participate in a pitching session with evaluation from Hollywood pros.

*Haunting Moments: Truth In Film - The Act One hallmark! An intense look at storytelling from a biblical perspective, the parable approach, wrestling with good and evil on the page, the writer's responsibility to the audience, and time-tested principles for using the power of film to communicate "capital-T" Truth to the audience. Students learn by example from thought-provoking film clips, and the works of great Christian artists including Madeleine L'Engle, CS Lewis, Flannery O'Connor, JRR Tolkien - and history's greatest Storyteller, Jesus Christ. This is the cornerstone of our program.

*Breaking Into The Business - A frank dialogue between workshop participants and our faculty and staff members about the business of show business, what it takes to make it as a professional and as a Christian in Hollywood, and next steps for those who believe God is calling them to an entertainment industry career - plus, opportunities in other regions and markets, indie production, and media ministry.

*Formatting: The Basics - Industry standard script formatting, a discussion about scriptwriting software, submission do's and don’ts.

*Before Fade In: Loglines, Treatments, Beat Sheets, Outlines - An insider's look at the development process, and tips and tools for refining basic story ideas BEFORE starting to write.

*Character and Dialogue - Instruction and inspiration for creating unforgettable characters and putting realistic, engaging words in their mouths.

*The Producer’s Business Class - An introduction to the process and principals common within the small core of the film industry’s most consistently successful production companies.

*Introduction to the Marketplace & Commercial Creativity - An overview of the current Hollywood marketplace, what ideas are selling and how to make your material more commercially attractive.

*Optioning a Winning Script or Other Source Material - An introduction to option and purchase agreements, non-exclusive attachment memos and other intellectual property contracts.

The Insider Event varies slightly in content based on current industry trends and the selection of our keynote speaker. However, audiences can anticipate the following -

*Greetings from the Church In Hollywood - A multi-media presentation about the Hollywood mission field, an introduction to various Hollywood ministries, and the surprising ways Christians can team with them to make a difference in their families, their communities, and the culture at large.

*A keynote address from a high profile Hollywood professional about the Truth in entertainment, redemptive storytelling, and the call to all Christians to positively influence popular culture.

*The Hollywood Insider Panel - a provocative, no-holds-barred, unrehearsed, "ask us anything, and we mean ANYTHING" Q&A panel about life and work on the world's most influential mission field featuring the Act One faculty and staff.

Who Should Attend?
Act One Conferences welcome all professional and aspiring writers, producers and entertainment executives. If your state says you're old enough for high school, you're old enough for our seminar. We don't care what church you attend, or how you vote - if you love Jesus and love the idea of creating film and television, come spend a life-changing weekend with us. Bring a pen, a sense of humor, and an open heart and ready mind.

You Should Know...
Our sessions are packed with film and television clips. Some of them include brief instances of adult subject matter and language. We do our best to present these clips in a Christian context, but they don't necessarily represent the worldview of Act One, Inc. or our instructors. If the MPAA were rating our seminars, they'd probably call them PG - and so do we.

Your conference registration is NON-REFUNDABLE. If your plans change, we'll be happy to credit your registration fee to another Act One Conference within a 12 month period - or transfer your registration to anyone you choose.

Sheryl J. Anderson , an entertainment industry veteran, has served as a television studio executive and a half-hour writer. She currently works as a writer and producer for hour-long series. Sheryl's credits include Flash Gordon , Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Dave's World, Charmed, and For The People . She and her husband also write the Molly Forrester novel series ( Killer Heels, Killer Cocktail ). In addition to her work with Act One, Sheryl teaches for the UCLA Extension Writers' Program.

Dean Batali is a writer and producer of some of television's most popular and provocative shows. He began his career writing for regional theater, and transitioned to television writing for Duckman , Bruno the Kid , Mickey's Campfire Tales , NBC's Hope and Gloria , and Nickelodeon's The Adventures of Pete and Pete . He also wrote for the first two seasons of Buffy The Vampire Slayer . Most recently Dean served as Executive Producer for That 70's Show . He is currently writing for the Fox News comedy show, The Half Hour News Hour and developing new television pilots for two networks.

Jack Gilbert is the former Workshop Director of the industry's most prestigious and successful television writing program, the Warner Bros. Writers Workshop. He has also been a freelance reader for the William Morris Agency, NBC, and MTM Productions, and consulted on projects ranging from The Addams Family to Batman Forever . Jack is currently coordinator of Act One's TV Track and Alumni Programs as well as an Adjunct Professor at Azusa Pacific University and Columbia College of Chicago.

Monica Jimenez-Grillo is a filmmaker whose projects have taken her from autopsy rooms to aircraft carriers. On dry land, she has worked as a field producer and assistant director for episodic television ( The New Detectives, FBI Files ), feature films, and music videos. She developed the story for and is currently co-producing the Hurricane Katrina aftermath drama Saturation . Monica left her beloved Dominican Republic to study opera in Belgium, and later earned her M.A. in directing and editing. She is the producer of the City of the Angels Film Festival, the President of Cricket Films, and the director of the Act One Executive Program.

Barbara Nicolosi is a screenwriter ( The Work, Select Society ), script consultant ( The Passion Of The Christ ), columnist ( National Catholic Register ), author ( Behind The Screen ), and the founder of Act One, Inc. Barbara currently works as a development executive for Origin Entertainment and serves as Board Chairman for Act One, Inc. She is also a board member of Catholics In Media.

Dr. Thom Parham is a writer, producer, and script consultant whose television credits include the CBS dramas JAG and Touched By An Angel , and the Family Channel sitcom Big Brother Jake . His film production company, Dos Negros Entertainment, recently released the short films, Jaded and Someone Else . Thom is also an Associate Professor of Theater, Film, and Television at Azusa Pacific University.

Vicki Peterson is the Director of the Writing Program. Previously, she was a development executive at Origin Entertainment and Hero PIctures. She was recently hired for the rewrite of the feature film, Lucky and Plumpton, which she also helped develop. Vicki also consults on various scripts and projects around town.

Chris and Kathy Riley are screenwriters whose first film, After The Truth , an award-winning German-language courtroom thriller, sparked international controversy in 1999 when it was released in Germany. The husband-wife team also wrote 25 To Life (Touchstone Pictures), The Other White House (Sean Connery's Fountainbridge Films ) and Aces (Paramount Pictures), and adapted the nonfiction book Actual Innocence (Mandalay/FOX Television). A veteran of the Warner Bros. script department, Chris is the author of The Hollywood Standard: The Complete and Authoritative Guide to Script Format and Style .

Chuck Slocum is Assistant Executive Director of the Writers Guild of America, West. He has worked in the entertainment industry for nearly twenty years in a variety of financial and strategic planning capacities, including television finance at Paramount Pictures, audience research for ABC Television, and a stint as a game show judge for NBC. Chuck earned his MBA from the Wharton School of Business. He currently serves as the vice chairman of the Act One board of directors.

According to our post-conference evaluations, 96% of our participants say they would recommend the experience to a friend. Need more convincing? We'll leave that to them.

" Act One has done an amazing job of telling it like it is in Hollywood. They have also done an amazing job of telling it like it could be - a place where art, beauty, and truth can transform lives." (San Diego)

"Invest in this weekend. It's given me the confidence and resolve to start packing my bags for Hollywood...and that's from good ole' Wisconsin." (Madison)

"This conference challenged me professionally and personally, both in my craft and the direction God is leading it." (Portland)

"The weekend planted in me the idea that I can let my little light shine in a place that previously was completely closed to me - Hollywood. Act One and its students are impacting the world for eternity!" (Las Vegas)

"A perfect introduction to the craft and business of screenwriting - a well-balanced mix of practical instruction, honesty, and inspiration." (Seattle)

"A refreshing reality-check - the best two days of nuts, bolts and inspiration any believer seriously considering writing for Hollywood can get." (Philadelphia)

"I have been tossing around the idea of starting to write some of my own stories and didn't know where to begin. This seminar gave me the guidance, direction and foundation that I needed to get started. This has been a great experience." (Atlanta)

Coming Soon - FAQs. In the meantime, email your specific questions to karen@actoneprogram.com and keep checking this site for updates and online registration!

ACT ONE SEMINARS - SCREENWRITING & THE BUSINESS OF HOLLYWOOD