More Political Humor!

SCRP Alum Tom Brennan will be back in town this Saturday with his political stand-up improv show, Electoral Dysfunction! You should check it out, because John Oliver isn't on Saturday Nights.

Philly Film Fest Volunteer Opportunities

The Philadelphia Film Festival (October 20-30, 2016) is less than a month away!  PFF is a local tradition that brings the best of Sundance, Berlin, Toronto, and Cannes to Philly for 11 days of amazing international and independent film, along with renowned filmmakers, industry professionals, and special guests.  This year, the PFF is turning the big 2-5, and we are celebrating accordingly.  You can look forward to even more of the screenings, panels, events, and guests that you know and love!  

Click HERE to check out the full PFF25 Program Guide.

None of this would be possible without our dedicated volunteers. Festival volunteers are essential to making sure that this event runs smoothly.  Every year, PFF attracts hundreds of volunteers who leave our theaters and events with lasting memories and friendships that grow for years to come. 

PLUS - for each shift, volunteers receive a voucher that can be redeemed for a movie ticket during the Festival or throughout the year.  Volunteers who work 6+ shifts get a FREE Gaffer Level Membership for the Festival experience all year long. 

Volunteering for PFF is the perfect way to get involved in the community, meet new people, and experience acclaimed cinema all at once—and we’d love to have you as a part of our team! 

What's Next -

· To sign up to volunteer, click HERE.  

· Once you sign up, you can register for a Volunteer Training Session HERE or on filmadelphia.org/volunteer. 

· You can also check out the Festival Volunteer Schedule at filmadelphia.org/volunteerschedule and sign up for your shifts during the Festival. 

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to me at volunteer@filmadelphia.org.

Library Resource Guide

For all your research needs, either creative or academic, you should reach out to our dedicated librarian, Shannon Robinson. She's prepared a helpful resource guide that can get you started on your way.

News, news, news!

Check out the news blast page which now contains the fall news update for the program if you didn't already read your e-mail.

Welcome to a New Year

No, no, no. Not a new calendar year, a new academic year on Drexel's Campus.

Welcome to all the Screenwriting & Playwriting Freshman who have recently hit campus! I hope you got to see the stand-up comedy show organized by Professor Graham during welcome week. It gave you a glimpse of classes that will be available to you in the future - SCRP 250 Creating Stand-up Comedy.

As the Freshman begin their writing journey -- seniors just started their capstone projects last week. As we enter the development phase, please remember to keep track of deadlines. Our next meeting for Senior Project is scheduled for Wednesday, October 5th, 6-7 PM.

Networking

I'll be the guest speaker at tonight's Philly Blacklist happy hour. Stop by and talk about screenwriting, current trends, and the biggest challenges for writers.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/black-list-philadelphia-happy-hour-tickets-27137210126?aff=es2

Fall's Around The Corner

As we prep for an exciting Fall Term at Drexel, I've got a couple of special opportunities that came across my virtual desk in the last week or so. See below and let me know if you have questions.

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The National Association of Broadcasters wants to know, “How can local television and radio broadcasters engage their communities with next generation content on any device, whether big, small or moving?” This question allows for many different ideas to be put forth and can encompass a great many different ideas.

Anyone who enters into the innovation challenge will receive free attendance to the NAB Show in New York and the NAB Show in Las Vegas. Winning submissions will also win up to $20,000. The competition is a great way for creators to get some funding, mentorship from industry experts, and have many people come in contact with their ideas. Winners will also be featured at the NAB show New York and NAB Futures in Pebble Beach.

Entries are allowed to be submitted by individuals or by teams and be submitted online until September 23rd at http://nabpilot.org/challenge/
If you have any question please feel free to reach out to me at agoode@quesnays.com

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Open Call: New Tv Series Projects

Milano – 9 August 2016. Milano Playwriting Festival and its producer It’s  Time Produzioni Srls are  looking for innovative  TV series projects from across the globe.   The selected projects will be first presented to Italian producers and distributors during  Milano Playwriting Festival  in March 31 – April 2, 2017. Soon after that It’s Time Produzioni Srls will act as a literary agent by presenting them to international producers and distributors  during  MIPTV  Cannes  in April  3 – 6  2017.

 Milano Playwriting Festival opens itself up  to innovative serial projects because it believes that supporting the playwriting fragile economy requires practically the creation of a flourishing screenwriters’ market around it. It considers supporting  high-quality playwriting  a preliminary condition to raise the quality in screenwriting too and believes that the two industries  need to be located close to each other to thrive and be able to reach remarkable results.

All applications need to be sent to : info@milanoplaywritingfestival.it , with the following subject: “TV series 2017 – Name of the Project -  Surname and Name  of the project’s manager” (example: “TV series  2017 – Lost – Smith John”).

The email needs to have attached 3 types of files:

1)   The Screenplay: possibly the full pilot, or alternatively an extract of it.

2)   A file containing  the following information:

a)   Project’s Manager Contacts (email, phone number, country)
b)   TV series Title.
c)      Logline: 3 sentences or 5 lines maximum that summarise the core of the story and highlight its originality.
d)   TV series Synopsys: one / two pages maximum that summarise the first season plot in a captivating way (sort of a written pitch)

The following information need to be added to the file only if the situation described matches your case:

e)   Information on books or other media products (video games/games/comics/films/other TV series/etc.)  from which  your  TV series project took inspiration.
f)       Literary agents already in charge of representing your TV series project.
g)      Public presentations that your TV series project has already received or will receive before April 2017, specifying: when, where, which format (degree’s final exam/festival/tv channels/pitching/etc), and what has been shown (trailer/extract/pilot/ etc)

 3) The  TV series creator /screenwriter /story editor’s CV.

Deadline to send  the projects: 30th of September 2016.

An answer will be given once the material has been received. In case of interest we will get back to you by the 30th of October 2016.

We take extremely seriously copyright issues: the material received will only be read by Milano Playwriting Festival’s artistic director and not shared with anyone else without the prior consent of the author or his legal representative.

The files (screenplay, information required and CV) need to be sent in English, Italian  or French  language. Applicants sending material in Italian or  French language need to be aware though that an English translation will be required later once the project  has been selected.

For further information about Milano Playwriting Festival please visit:http://www.milanoplaywritingfestival.it/en/  For all other enquiries please contact us at:info@milanoplaywritingfestival.it

Hail, Summer!

First meeting of summer term for workshops and senior projects. 11:30 AM today, at the CineTV Office Conference Table.

Senior Show Next Week!

Writer's Room Closed TONIGHT

The writer's room will be closed this evening, but will re-open next Tuesday, May 17th, in the regular time and place.

Drexel's Week of Writing - Next Week

Come out and support your fellow writers and artists! Glom onto the advice and insights from the FREE panel discussions. Be part of the campus writing community.

Unleash your inner businessperson--

The Baiada Center for Entrepreneurship has a Spring Business Model Competition in which our students may want to participate. Info sessions for students are on April 19 and May 5th.  At these sessions, the competition will be explained and further support provided. The competition will be held on June 2nd.

For more details, please visit http://www.drexel.edu/baiada/news/events, the competition will be held on June 2. Please encourage your students to visit the site, attend the info session, and consider participating in this wonderful opportunity to showcase their entrepreneurial thinking.

Detailed Contact information for the the Baiada Center:
Chuck Sacco, MBA
Assistant Dean of Strategic Initiatives, Charles D. Close School of Entrepreneurship
Laurence A Baiada Institute for Entrepreneurship
Drexel University
3230 Market Street | Pearlstein Building - Office 419 | Philadelphia, PA 19104
Mobile: 856.345.9639 | Office: 215.895.2527
Web: www.drexel.edu/close
Connect: @chucksacco LinkedIn @TheCloseSchool

Register for upcoming Baiada Institute events: www.drexel.edu/baiada/news/events
Join the Drexel startup bulletin board: www.drexel.edu/baiada/bulletinboard

Off and Running!

Spring term is already in its third week and we're heading down the home stretch for seniors. A couple of important notes as we move forward:

1. Writer's Room is Tuesday evenings, 6:30-9:30, in Room 026 (Audio Post). Stop by and discuss story issues you're having, talk about the writing life, or just hang out and do some writing. 
2. Project Blogs of your fellow student writers are up. Links are on the right hand bar of the page if you want to check them out.
3. Senior Show is scheduled for Wednesday, June 8th, 7-9PM. Mark your calendars.
4. Keep writing. It's why you're here. It's what you want to do. Make it a priority!

The Writer's Room Returns for Spring

I'll be back in the usual spot on Tuesday nights for the Writer's Room initiative. Snacks, talk about stories and scripts, screenings, and hacks for the #writinglife. Stop by and join in our conversation. Or just bring your computer and notebook and do some writing.

Writing Opportunities

PlayPenn is looking for summer interns. This is an AMAZING opportunity to work along side some of the most exciting playwrights in the country and to have your work heard as well (and they pay you)

I highly recommend this! Applications are due April 1st.

http://playpenn.org/get-involved/9-support/31-get-involved-2?mc_cid=b5a3ab0630&mc_eid=c33cc2448a

Spring News

As old man Winter tosses his last hateful arctic breath our way, I want to share a few announcements that dare to dream that Spring is on her gentle way.

New Class Opportunities

SCRP 266 Graphic Novel Art & Industry

Interested in comics and graphic novels? Think you might want to write for them someday? Take a class in our new Graphic Novel Writing concentration. This class explores the history and business of the medium and is taught by industry publishing vet Rich Johnson.Please note: due to an incorrect Pre-req in the catalog, you need to fill out an override, but this class is available to anyone!

SCRP 290 Game Universe & Story

First in the sequence of courses for the new Narrative Game Writing concentration. Level up and turn your passion for gaming into a future career opportunity.

SCRP 353 TV Drama Practicum

Are you ready for the Writer's Room? Join the team that's writing the next episode of Off Campus, the half-hour, single-camera series produced by the Television Production Program. It's your chance to get your name on an Emmy-winning TV Series before you've even left Drexel. Please note: due to an incorrect pre-req in the catalog, you need to fill out an over-ride, but this class is open to everyone who has completed SCRP 270, Screenwriting I.

Writing Opportunities

Mighty Writers

This community-based organization runs writing workshops for West Philly youth to help them realize their goals of artistic expression. There is an opportunity for a small group of students who want to give back to the community to create a Screenplay or Stage Play writing workshop for all ages. You can make a real difference in someone's life. Contact me for more information.

Drexel Hyperloop

A group of Drexel students is competing in the SpaceX Hyperloop competition, to boost a test pod into space. They're looking for media makers and screenwriters to participate in the project. E-mail me if you're interested and I'll keep you posted as I have more information.

Special Events

Jeff Vlaming

I hope you all got a chance to talk with Jeff Vlaming at one of the many events he attended in February. One of the best opportunities you get from being in a large University is the special even programming we can provide. You get to brush up against industry leaders in all kinds of settings.

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Zootopia Event

Digital Media is sponsoring an event with the directors of Disney's upcoming release, Zootopia. It's this Wednesday in Stein Auditorium at 3:00. It's your chance to get some behind-the-scenes info on what it's like to create an animated feature. Click the link to RSVP.

Please contact me or stop by my office if you have any questions about any of these opportunities.  I promise more faculty and alumni news in my next blast during spring term. For now, bundle up and stay warm!

Writer's Room Closed Tonight

Sorry, gang. Last minute emergency forces the Writer's Room to close tonight. I'll schedule extra open office hours tomorrow from 1:30-3:30 if you've got things to talk about. The Writer's Room will return Monday, January 25th!

New Year - Same Writer's Room!

Welcome to 2016!

The writers room starts a new season tonight. Professor Kaufhold will be hosting Monday night open forums. Walk in and talk about your stories, films, scripts, tv, whatever. Snacks and music, too.

6-9 PM in Crossings 026 (The Audio Classroom).