April 11 – Demolition

(registration deadline: Friday, April 8)

Meet on the Fox Studios backlot for an in-depth analysis and discussion of the screenplay DEMOLITION.

Logline: A man forms an unlikely bond with a sympathetic customer service representative he complained to when a vending machine failed to give him his M&Ms minutes after his wife died.

Written by BRYAN SIPE (The Choice), this indie drama opened the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival. The script was on the 2007 Black List, where it was discovered by director Jean-Marc Vallee (Dallas Buyer’s Club, Wild).

Demolition stars Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler), Naomi Watts (Birdman, King Kong), and Chris Cooper (American Beauty, Adaptation).

Production Companies: Mr. Mudd (Juno), with financing from Black Label Media (Sicario) and Sidney Kimmel Entertainment (Sleeping with Other People).

Producers: Black Label’s Molly Smith and Trent Luckinbill, Mr. Mudd’s Lianne Halfon and Russell Smith, and Sidney Kimmel. Executive producers include actors Thad Luckinbill (The Young and the Restless) and John Malkovich (Zoolander No. 2), talent agent Nathan Ross, director Jason Reitman (Up in the Air), Helen Estabrook (Whiplash) and SKE’s Carla Hacken.

Release Date: April 8 (Fox Searchlight). If you plan to see the movie before our meeting, reading the script before watching the film is advised.

Rated R. 100 minutes. 113 pages. Drama.

DAVID SILVERMAN will provide in-depth analysis and lead our discussion. David studied screenwriting and story analysis at USC School of Cinematic Arts, worked on over 30 TV shows, pitched, wrote and sold screenplays to studios, and has done rewrites on features for Steven Spielberg at Amblin Entertainment. He has created five TV shows, including The Wild Thornberrys, which spawned two feature films. Having graduated from Stanford University with Honors in psychology, David coaches writers on the psychology of writing, strategies to improve writing skills, creative writing tools, overcoming writer’s block, reinventing yourself and Breaking In: Alternative Strategies, a class he has taught at UCLA. Visit him at HollywoodScriptwriting.com and find out how to get a free 20-minute phone consultation, and follow him on Twitter (@creativeshrink)