• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

It’s hard being a producer. Schmoozing with the rich and famous and driving around in sportscars.

However, these are just stereotypes seen in the movies that producers themselves develop behind the scenes. The mystery still remains as to what a producer really does.

That’s where the new fall 2002 class called “De-mystifying Feature Film Development: From Story Analysis to Pitching” comes in. Sponsored by the UCLA School of Theatre, Film, and Television, the class is being offered in part as a three quarter workshop series inside the Professional Program in Producing. Upon completion of all three workshops, a certificate of producing will be given out.

Originally only a segment within a producing workshop over this summer, “De-mystifying” has become a more in-depth expansion on film development over the course of 10 weeks. More of an introductory class into what producing entails, the class is open to the public, which is anyone with a bachelor’s degree and $675.

Taught by Lisa Buono, who worked her way up from the intern level to vice president of development with Jodie Fosters’ production company, Egg Pictures, the class will be based upon her experience there.

Working with both the president of Egg Pictures, Meg LaFoe, and Foster for eight years, Buono will do a run down on what it takes to be a producer. The course subjects range from meeting with producers to working with writers and story editing.

“I walk them through from start to finish one of the films I’ve worked on so they can see the whole process,” Buono said. “So it was trying to give them some introductory experience, this is what it is, this is what ‘development hell’ is as it’s commonly called.”

The class covers all the basic skills to be a producer in how to get an idea started and especially how to pitch it.

“You need to know the characters, you need to know a little bit about their psychology, why they’re doing what they’re doing,” Buono said. “You need to know the basics of what this story is, somewhat of the thematics of the story, why you want to tell the story, and you need to be able to tell the story from start to finish but do it in about 10 minutes and get someone really excited about this idea.”

The students will be paired together as a writer/producer team. They will continue to develop story ideas and pitch them to high-profile executives in the film industry (Buono is currently booking specific people for the class).

The first five weeks will allow each duo to try a role, and then there will be a switch in writer/producer roles for the following five weeks.

“Everyone will get to see what it’s like to wear the shoes of a producer and wear the shoes of a writer. So when they really get out there, and if they really do pursue this they’ll just have that perspective,” Buono said. “All of them will have created and owned their own idea, and if it’s an idea they truly are excited about then that’s hopefully what they’ll work on. Then they have something that they can take out there with them and work on further.”

Enrollment deadline is Sept 30. Tuition is $675. Register online: http://www.tft.ucla.edu under certificate programs. Contact Mike Behrens at (310) 825-6124 or mbehrens@tft.ucla.edu with any questions.