This Year’s Chesterfield WFP Workshop

The five Chesterfield fellows started their workshop year on December 5, 2002. So far, guest speakers Jerry Zucker (“Ghost”, “Airplane”), Ed Solomon (“Men In Black”), Nicholas Kazan (“Reversal of Fortune”), Steven Zaillian (“Gangs of New York”), Bruce Joel Rubin (“Ghost”), Tom Schulman (“Dead Poets Society”), Daniel Pyne (“Sum Of All Fears”), Robin Swicord (“Little Women,” “Practical Magic”), Scott Alexander and Larry Karazewski (“People Vs. Larry Flynt”, “Man On The Moon”), David Arata (“Spy Game”), Don Roos (“The Opposite Of Sex”), Peter Iliff (“Patriot Games”), Wesley Strick (“Cape Fear”), literary agent Judi Farkas, John Cameron Mitchell (“Hedwig and the Angry Inch”), Bob Tzudiker and Noni White (Diney’s “Tarzan”), director Bryan Gordon (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”), producer-manager Doug Draizin (“Fools Rush In”), producer Karen Murphy (“Best In Show”), Ken Levine (“The Simpsons”) and John Romano (NBC’s “American Dream”) have come to our Santa Monica offices to share their knowledge and experience with the fellows in an informal setting.

In recent workshops, the writers have been outlining their second screenplays. They have received extensive notes on their first screenplays from their writing mentors and Paramount executives and will rewrite their first drafts to address those notes.

For a look at last year’s workshop, click here.

 Producer Karen Murphy (“A Mighty Wind”, “Best In Show”)

“The writers who come in to the Writer’s Film Project to speak give you a sense of the reality of working in Hollywood.  We have real and open conversations about the movie business -- not some glamorized version of filmmaking you read in a magazine.”

-- Greg

Emmy-nominated director Bryan Gordon (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”)

Emmy-winning writer Ken Levine (“Frazier”, “The Simpsons”)

Jerry Zucker (“Airplane”, “Ghost”) shares his views on the importance of emotional stakes in comedy...

“Chesterfield is both a proving ground and a gymnasium. It's where you deliver the goods and stretch the muscles, sometimes simultaneously. It's equal parts frustrating, challenging and exhilirating, but most of all it is a hyper growth-spurt in my talents as a writer-of-movies and that, in the end, will be its own reward."

-- Colin

“Here’s the thing about Chesterfield:  Besides the honor, the extra cash and the unique pleasure and wisdom of the staff, it’s basically summer school in Hollywood for a solid twelve months. No matter how good a writer you think you are, you’re asked to prove it all over again.  And what happens is this: your weaknesses are exposed, and your strengths become the crutches that help you through the frustration. And it is that same focus and intensity of the program, coupled with the unique combination of five incredibly intelligent and talented writers with wildly different perspectives and opinions, that makes the program so valuable..”

-- Colin

Steven Zaillian (“Gangs of New York”) talks about dramatizing non-fiction events for the screen..

Bruce Joel Rubin (“Ghost”) discusses the challenges of doing multiple rewrites on a screenplay.

“Reading a host of scripts that work, watching the films, and, in many cases, talking informally with the writers of those scripts has been the most useful and direct kind of inspiration and education regarding my own writing and simply the craft of screenwriting.”

-- Chris

“Chesterfield helps break down barriers between the aspiring screenwriter, working in isolation, and the world of actually making movies--which makes it unique and priceless.”

-- Lydia

Writer-director Ed Solomon (“Charlie’s Angels”) talks about script conferences with directors, producers and studio executives..

Dan Pyne (“Sum of All Fears”) talks about the collaborative nature of screenwriting in Hollywood.

“The first eight weeks have been a quick and deep immersion in exploring, defining, and solidifying ideas that work narratively, creatively, and meaningfully in screenplay form. Many ideas.  I think we all--and it’s a sharp, productive group--have generated, worked on, thrown out, and focused on more stories than any of us might have in an average year.  The results for each of us are progressively tightening outlines of movies I can honestly say I’d like to see.”

-- Chris

“My meetings with my writing mentors, Scott Alexander and Larry Karazewski, have been incredibly helpful. They had real insight regarding my initial outlines -- what worked, what didn’t, what was funny, what was stupid... They really helped me move my screenplay in a new and much better direction. My executive at Paramount, Chip Diggins, has been equally helpful. It’s great to have the opportunity to be mentored by such intelligent, stimulating and inspiring people.”

-- Greg

Wesley Strick (“Arachnaphobia”) recalls events on the set of “Cape Fear.”

“Judy Farkas was impressive -- articulate and smart.  It was encouraging to meet an agent who seems genuinely to like and respect the writers she handles. She was focused, tactical and informed. Gave me hope!”

-- Lydia

Literary agent Judi Farkas (of the Broder Webb Chervin Silberman Agency) discusses the agent’s role in building a writer’s career.

Don Roos (“The Opposite of Sex”) talks about how to deal with writer’s block and other creative issues.

“In the middle of trying to refine my story ideas, Don Roos put down provocative beacons to help get through the writing process. His thought that you can't punish yourself into writing, that you have to take responsibility for it, play with it, really struck home.”

-- Helen

Robin Swicord (“Little Women”) shows how a storyboard was developed from her recent screenplay, “The Mermaids Singing.”

“The first weeks in workshop are tough but productive, an intensive period of shaping and reshaping movie ideas. Input from other fellows, who have the distance you don’t have from your own work--but that you desperately need for effective revision--speeds up the critical process.”

-- Lydia