Screenwriter Sessions LIVE: Craft & Conversation

 In April 2021 we partnered with our friends at the Nantucket Film Festival to host a new experience: Screenwriter Sessions Live: Craft and Conversation, an online series designed to exist somewhere between a master class and an intimate conversation.

Our outrageously talented speakers included CHARLIE KAUFMAN, STELLA MEGHIE (SWC Alum), LESLIE DIXON, and NANCY MEYERS. And for icing on the cake: KAITLIN FONTANA (SWC Alum) will host the series. 

Each session was live and unique, based on the guest speaker’s personal style, as they shared insights on storytelling, craft, and the industry through a mixture of lecture and conversation. Topics were wide ranging, from dialogue and structure to how to generate and develop your best ideas. At one point, Charlie Kauffman gently asked a hesitant writer, “What are you most afraid of? What’s the worst thing that can happen when you share your work?” It was the sort of humane, real moment we’d hoped for when we decided participants should be able to ask questions directly to our esteemed guests.

The series was designed for aspiring and evolving screenwriters early in their career. With these speakers, however, the participants were more experienced than we expected. Ultimately, anyone interested in screenwriting and filmmaking benefited. As part of the development process, SWC and NFF reserved 10 slots for screenwriters from historically underrepresented groups nominated by arts organizations and community members.

We loved this program and hope to do more in the future. There’s clearly an interest since this series sold out immediately upon its announcement!