When I got the call back in May that my script had won the FiLMLaB competition, I was ecstatic. FiLMLaB offers what I consider the most rewarding prize possible; the opportunity to put one’s work in front of an audience. The film that will be shown next month in Portland though, isn’t the film I…
Tag Archive for Willamette Writers
New This Year At The Conference
by Ruth Witteried With no new FiLMLaB updates to report I’m going to take this opportunity to write about what’s new at the upcoming Willamette Writers Conference, August 1-4 at the Airport Sheraton Hotel. First off, notice I refer to four days of conference, not the traditional three. That is because things are happening on…
In Case of Flood: Climb Platform(s)
by Ruth Witteried I met with Luke Ryan in February of this year at his Disruption Entertainment office on the Paramount lot in Los Angeles. A stalwart supporter of Willamette Writers since his days as an MGM executive, Luke has been a consistent presence at our conference teaching classes, guiding nervous writers through the…
Revelation, Story, and Plot in a Script for a Film Short
by Bill Johnson I teach that a story creates movement and the movement transports an audience. This dynamic holds whether the story is a novel, screenplay, play, short story, or short script. The language used to talk about stories often conveys movement: story arc, hero’s journey, plot points. Stories that fail to establish they are moving…
Hollywood Drive & Talk or: Seth Jaret Gets Real
by Ruth Witteried Some days it’s hard to know which way is forward. In this changing landscape of film and publishing, there is no single road to success. Instead, there are several; usually slow and tedious like the I-5 bridge at rush hour. If you’re lucky enough to survive the slog with your dreams intact and…
What Matters Most in a Short Script
Find out what matters most in a short script with Erik Bork I recently judged five short scripts for the Willamette Writers Conference’s FiLMLaB contest. It took me back to my own challenges in writing a compelling short script years ago in film school. And I was reminded of the specific elements that some say tend…
FiLMLaB: And the Winner Is……
By Ruth Witteried It is a beautiful May Monday, following a stunning weekend where many of us salmon bellied Portlanders stepped away from our writing to get outside and soak up some free vitamin D. Whether you found yourself fishing on the Columbia, biking along the Willamette or tending your garden . . . .…
Belated FiLMLaB Opportunities
by Ruth Witteried Sometimes opportunity comes knocking exactly when you expect it; other times it just shows up, unexpectedly late, waiting for you to open the door. Such is the case with FiLMLaB. Last week we received an email from a Northwest production company that features short film in many of its projects. They had…
Script-to-Screen Has Another Finalist
OK, so, here’s the thing: during our initial judging this past month, we had an email with some script submissions that did the electronic equivalent of falling behind a file cabinet and getting lost. We moved on while we were trying to sort it out, but then finally found the scripts this past week. We…
Off to the Judges!
by Ruth Witteried Last week four short scripts were forwarded to our celebrity judges for evaluation in the final round of FiLMLaB’s Script-to-Screen competition. In two short weeks we will have a winner and pre-production will begin. What will that look like? Pre-production is everything that has to take place before the cameras begin rolling:…