January 9 – Miss Sloane

(registration deadline: Friday, January 6)

Meet on the Fox Studios backlot on December 12th for an in-depth analysis and discussion of the screenplay MISS SLOANE.

Logline: A ruthless lobbyist faces off against the powerful gun lobby in an attempt to pass gun control legislation.

First-time British screenwriter JONATHAN PERERA wrote Miss Sloane while working as an elementary schoolteacher in South Korea after a BBC News interview with corrupt D.C. lobbyist Jack Abramoff inspired him to explore the untapped milieu of the behind-the-scenes power players pulling the strings in American politics for his first-ever attempt at writing a screenplay. The original spec script found representation through a query letter and landed on the 2015 Black List. Perera is managed by Scott Carr of Management SGC and the script was repped by Peter Dodd and Carolyn Sivitz at UTA.

Directed by John Madden (Shakespeare in Love). Starring Jessica Chastain (The Help, Zero Dark Thirty), Alison Pill (The Newsroom), Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Dr. Who), John Lithgow (3rd Rock from the Sun), Michael Stuhlbarg (Trumbo, Steve Jobs), Mark Strong (The Imitation Game), and Sam Waterston (Law & Order).

Producers and Production Companies: Perera’s manager took the property to executive producer Patrick Chu at FilmNation (Arrival, The Founder) where Ben Browning (Passengers) produced alongside Kris Thykier (Kick-Ass) of Archery Pictures. EuropaCorp (Taken franchise), the France-based international distributor co-founded by Luc Besson (The Professional), picked up Miss Sloane for distribution after a bidding war in Toronto.

Release Date: Opened in limited release on November 25th, followed by a wide release on December 9th. If you have not seen it yet and plan to go to the movie before our meeting, reading the script before watching the film is advised.

Rated R. 132 minutes. 123 pages. Drama, Thriller, Political Thriller.

WENDELL WELLMAN will provide in-depth analysis and lead our discussion. Trained at the Actors Studio and the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, Wendell has acted in feature films, television, and on stage. He has taught screenwriting at UCLA and wrote FIREFOX, SUDDEN IMPACT, and the final Dirty Harry script for Clint Eastwood. He recently completed adapting the novel The River Journey by Robert Nathan and is currently working on setting up his screenplay Top Hat. Wendell’s book, A Writer’s Roadmap, is available at Amazon.

November 9 – TRUMBO

(registration deadline: Friday, November 6)

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

Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) stars as Dalton Trumbo, whose screenwriting career came to a crushing halt when he was blacklisted from Hollywood by the House Committee on Un-American Activites in the 1940s for his political beliefs.

Veteran TV writer/producer JOHN McNAMARA (Aquarius, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman) penned the screenplay from the 1977 Bruce Alexander Cook biography Dalton Trumbo, written with Trumbo’s full cooperation. The script is Mcnamara’s first feature credit.

Directed by four-time Emmy Award winner Jay Roach (Recount, Game Change), Trumbo also stars Diane Lane (Unfaithful) as Cleo Fincher Trumbo, Helen Mirren (The Queen) as Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, Louis C.K. (Louie), Elle Fanning (Maleficent), John Goodman (Roseanne), Michael Stuhlbarg (Boardwalk Empire, Steve Jobs), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Lost), and David James Elliott (JAG) as John Wayne.

Producers: Michael London for Groundswell Productions (Sideways, Milk, The House of Sand and Fog), Shivani Rawat for ShivHans Pictures (Danny Collins), Monica Levinson (Brüno), and Janice Williams (Love the Coopers).

Premiere: Toronto International Film Festival (September 12, 2015).

Release date: November 6 (Bleeker Street). If you plan to go to the movie before our meeting, reading the script before watching the film is advised.

Rated R. 124 minutes. 117 pages. Drama, Biopic.

MAX TIMM, Director of Community Outreach with International Screenwriters’ Association will provide in-depth analysis and lead our discussion. After six years as Director of Development at Writers Boot Camp, Max helps bring writers and industry professionals closer with a program for submitting ISA writers’ projects around town, helping them find representation and get their material read. So far in 2015 he has helped five writers receive options. Max is also a development consultant, screenwriting instructor, and author. His first novel, The WishKeeper, won the Los Angeles Book Festival YA category. As a part-time instructor, Max teaches film and television history to high school students at the UCLA Summer Discovery program. Visit him at maxtimm.com and follow him on Twitter (@iMaxTimm).

NOTE: On October 26th, StoryBoard also presents
the following Special Event:
WRITING FOR TV, CABLE, AND NEW MEDIA

April 13 – CHILD 44

(registration deadline: Monday, April 6)

Meet on the 20th Century Fox studio lot for an in-depth analysis and discussion of the screenplay CHILD 44.

The thrilling hunt for a serial child killer in the Stalin-era Soviet Union, adapted from the award-winning 2008 novel by Tom Rob Smith — the first in a trilogy following disgraced military police investigator Leo Demidov — and inspired by the gruesome, real-life crimes of the Red Ripper.

Screenwriter: Richard Price, Academy Award nominee for The Color of Money, WGA Award winner for The Wire. His other credits include Shaft, Ransom, Clockers (adapted from his novel), Mad Dog and Glory, and Sea of Love.

Director: Daniel Espinosa (Safe House, Snabba Cash)

Producers: Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Black Hawk Down), Greg Shapiro (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty).

Starring: Tom Hardy (Inception, Locke), Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight trilogy, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy)

Release date: April 17 (Summit Entertainment)

Rated R. 137 minutes. 132 pages. Crime, Drama, Thriller

WENDELL WELLMAN will provide in-depth analysis and lead our discussion. Trained at the Actors Studio and the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, Wendell has acted in feature films, television, and on stage. He has taught screenwriting at UCLA and wrote FIREFOX, SUDDEN IMPACT, and the final Dirty Harry script for Clint Eastwood. He is currently adapting the novel The River Journey by Robert Nathan. Wendell’s book, A Writer’s Roadmap, is available at Amazon.