Program focuses on opportunities in film

By Emilia Hwang

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Summer at UCLA is in full swing as the campus is overrun by
teams of cheerleaders learning to yell and groups of freshmen
trying to “orientate” themselves.

Starting on Friday, more people will begin invading the Westwood
campus. These, however, will be involved in activities like
learning to pitch, but there won’t be a baseball diamond or
dugout in sight.

The first annual UCLA Screenwriting and Producers Conference,
presented by the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television from
Aug. 25-27, welcomes aspiring writers and producers interested in
the process of feature development.

While they’re not learning how to pitch fastballs,
attendees can learn how to effectively pitch story ideas to
industry executives.

“The conference is really meant to give participants the
information and practical tools that they’re going to need to
break into the business,” said Lisanne Sartor, coordinator of
the event.

About 100 people are expected to participate in the panel
discussion, intensive workshops and one-on-one sessions featuring
top Hollywood screenwriters, producers and development
executives.

One seminar, for example, focuses on the art of story pitching.
Before a script can be put on the big screen, writers must meet
with industry executives to pitch their ideas

“I’ll be teaching people to pitch from the
executive’s point of view,” said Sheila Hanahan, who
will be conducting the seminar. “The biggest thing that
I’m going to be focusing on is the business side of pitching,
as opposed to the creative side of pitching ““ how to make the
people with the checkbooks feel like they’re buying something
worth their while.”

A unique aspect of the three-day conference is that it brings
writers and producers together, as the two are required to work
closely together in real life.

“We offer symposiums, seminars and other learning
experiences that are specifically geared toward bringing the two
disciplines together,” said student affairs officer Mike
Behrens. “We think that so much of the industry is based upon
writers and producers working together to create great scripts and
great stories that can then be made into great movies.”

This conference is ideal for screenwriters who want to learn
more about producing and vice versa.

Symposiums will provide insight valuable to both parties as
actual writers and producers will discuss how they work together to
make a film.

Hanahan, vice president of production and development at Zide
Perry Entertainment, said that the key to pitching stories is
finding a middle ground between art and commerce.

“Most of the time you have some very creative artistic
folk who don’t think like businessmen,” she said.
“It’s very difficult to educate each group about what
the other needs without bringing them together.”

Several of the intensive workshop instructors will also be
teaching screenwriting or producing in professional programs. Lew
Hunter, co-chair of the screenwriting program at the UCLA school of
Theater, Film and Television and author of the best-selling
“Lew Hunter’s Screenwriting 434,” will deliver
the keynote address.

“We’ve had such terrific instructors that we felt it
would be a great way to bring both of these disciplines
together,” said Stephanie Moore, coordinator of Professional
Programs at the School of Theater, Film and Television.
“It’ll give people a good chance to see the high level
of instructors that we have in these programs and get an idea of
what the programs are all about.”

Many of the instructors are also UCLA alumni, like writers Steve
de Souza. (“Die Hard,” “Die Hard 2″) and
Greg Poirer (“Rosewood”).

Although the conference may seem expensive at $725 for three
days, Hanahan said that it is a good way for people who are
aspiring to do great things in Hollywood to immerse themselves in
the industry.

Since succeeding in entertainment is often sink or swim,
first-hand knowledge is helpful in understanding the industry.
Unfortunately, that kind of experience usually can’t be found
in a classroom or a book.

“A lot of things that you need to gather in terms of your
weapons to conquer Hollywood are only found living it,”
Hanahan said.

She has had such experience with story pitching for five years
and working on films like “American Pie” and
“Final Destination.”

“This (conference) is giving you hands-on access to live
humans who are making a living in the industry,” Hanahan
said.

Moore is expecting a wide range of participants at the
conference, from people who have not written a screenplay to people
on the verge of breaking into the professional world.

“One thing the conference will do is give people not only
a lot of information, but it’ll give people the chance to get
excited and to take the next step they need to take,” Moore
said.

The conference will conclude with a career goals discussion,
“Where Do You Go from Here?” featuring Heidi Wall, CEO
of Dream City Films and co-founder of the Flash Forward
Institute.

There will also be a screening of a special episode of
“Third Rock from the Sun” with the cast of the show on
Friday evening. All UCLA students are invited to attend.

Hanahan said that in addition to screenings and workshops, the
conference provides a working model for the participants, offering
them the invaluable opportunity to gain feedback by real
interaction with industry executives.

“Hopefully I’ll be able to get some people’s
careers launched out of this, which is really the goal,” she
said.