Screenwriters Panel and Live Read

Live reading from this year’s award winning screenplays plus panel discussion with working writers: Tony Dushane, Sarah Kass, Bears Fonte, James Carlson.

Live Read Scripts: Grace & Vengeance by James Carlson (scenes from the feature script) and Sergio and the Whale by Anna Kriegel (short script in its entirety).

Complimentary drinks and nibbles.

Sat Feb 10, 7p, Free, all ages.

SCREENPLAY READ:

SERGIO AND THE WHALE (short, presented in its entirety)

GRACE AND VENGEANCE (feature, 10 minute scene)

PERFORMERS: Siobhan Doherty, Rasheed Custer, Maura Halloran, James Roop

PANELISTS:

Tony DuShane is the author and screenwriter of Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk. He hosted the long running radio show Drinks with Tony that included celebrity guests like Chelsea Handler, Steve Buscemi, Nick Cave, Hal Harley, and hundreds more since 2002. He developed a TV series with Hunting Lane Films that never went to air. His journalism and essays have appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, Mother Jones, Penthouse, and The Los Angeles Times. He teaches novel writing at UCLA Extension.

Sarah Kass is a seasoned storyteller specializing in independent documentaries and non-fiction television. She began her career as a producer and director before focusing primarily on writing. She has crafted award-winning documentaries that have aired on PBS, Discovery Channel, and The History Channel. She is also a scriptwriter and story consultant for independent filmmakers. Her work has screened at international film festivals and on public television.  Sarah has written multiple short-form scripts for non-broadcast venues including 30 short films for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. She is currently working on several projects: two films about the incarceration of Japanese-Americans during World War II for the National Park Service; an Independent feature length documentary about legendary psychoanalyst Carl Jung; and three short films profiling grassroots environmental activists for the 2018 Goldman Environmental Prize.

Bears Fonté is a filmmaker, festival programmer, and journalist. His feature thriller iCRIME, which he wrote and directed, was released on DVD, VOD by Breaking Glass in 2011.  His short film, Roadside Assistance, was selected for 70 festivals including Fantasia International Film Festival and Dances With Films. He read screenplays and wrote coverage for agencies and producers in Hollywood for three years before working as the Screenplay Contest Assistant at Austin Film Festival.  After a few months he was promoted to Director of Programming for the film festival and founded Other Worlds Austin SciFi Film Festival after he left.  He has been programming for SF Indiefest since 2015.

James Carlson currently resides in Hollywood and graduated from California State University with a degree in Radio/TV/Film. His screenplay Grace and Vengeance is currently in development, producer attached, and received the following awards: GRAND PRIZE WINNER of the 2018 SF Indie Screenplay Competition; FINALIST – Hollywood Int’l Screenwriting Competition; OFFICIAL SELECTION – Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards.  James’ other feature scripts include The Contract, and Child Proof; Shorts include The Ice Cream Truck, The Bellhop, and The Honest Psychic. James proudly refers to himself as a Certified Film Fanatic and recently founded Goliath Films International.