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What's New, BlueCat? 
                                        
The Official Newsletter of the

BlueCat Screenplay Competition   



January 20th, 2015

   

 

 

Gordy Hoffman, BlueCat founder and judge, will host a live UStream broadcast tonight.

The cast and crew of Dog Bowl will talk about their experiences on the film and its upcoming Sundance Film Festival World Premiere.

They will also be able to answer all your screenwriting and filmmaking questions. Feel free to ask away on our UStream chat.  

 
IN THIS WEEK'S NEWSLETTER:
  • Screenwriter Damien Chazelle on Ambiguity in Whiplash
  • Mr. Leigh on Mr. Turner
  • 3 Scripts: Whiplash, Mr. Turner, Still Alice
  • 5 Questions for Still Alice Screenwriters
  • BlueCat Archive: Preparing for Representation
  • The Sundance Institute Episodic Story Lab
  • Cake Screenwriter and Director Q&A
  • The BlueCat Community Corner
  • BlueCat Workshop information
Screenwriter Damien Chazelle on Ambiguity in Whiplash
From The Dissolve

Before Whiplash was nominated for an Academy Award in the Adapted Screenplay Category, screenwriter Damien Chazelle sat down with The Dissolve to discuss the inspiration for the story, his writing process, and his use of ambiguity in the screenplay.  
 
Mr. Leigh on Mr. Tuner
From Creative Screenwriting

Writer/director Mike Leigh discusses his organic filmmaking style and his views on traditional screenplays.
 
Preparing for Representation  
From The BlueCat Archive 

 

Gordy Hoffman, BlueCat's founder and judge, discusses how many screenplays you should have in your arsenal as you prepare for representation.  

 

Q&A with Cake Screenwriter and Director
From Orange County Film Society

  
In this Orange County Film Society Q&A, Screenwriter Patrick Tobin and Director Daniel Barnz talk about their recent collaboration, Cake.

HEY, WHADDYA SAY?

 
"You can approach the act of writing with nervousness, excitement, hopefulness, or even despair - the sense that you can never completely put on the page what's in your mind and heart. You can come to the act with your fists clenched and your eyes narrowed, ready to kick ass and take down names. You can come to it because you want a girl to marry you or because you want to change the world. Come to it any way but lightly. Let me say it again: you must not come to lightly to the blank page."

- Stephen King
Author/Screenwriter  
SELECTED SCRIPTS
Three Screenplay PDFs

Whiplash
by Damien Chazelle

Mr. Turner
by Mike Leigh

Still Alice 
by Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmoreland


5 Questions for Still Alice Screenwriters
from Filmmaker Magazine
Writer/directors Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland talk with Filmmaker Magazine about the consistent themes of their works and the function of language in Still Alice

The Sundance Institute Episodic Story Lab
from Sundance Institute

Sundance Institue is currently seeking submissions for their next Episodic Story Lab, which will take place  at the Sundance Resort in Utah from October 1-6th, 2015.

HEY, WHATCHA UP TO? 

The BlueCat
Community Corner:

 

BlueCat is continuing our Community Corner in the newsletter where each week we feature what YOU'RE up to.    

 

Do you play in a band, paint, write books, draw, sculpt, make short films or web series, etc.? Do you participate in an arts organization our community should know about?

 

 

 

Share your accomplishments as well as upcoming fairs, shows, screenings, and gatherings by emailing:

 

info@bluecatscreenplay.com
Please use the subject line Community Corner Submission

Advertise With BlueCat
Would you like to advertise in our newsletter? Interested in a dedicated e-blast? We have nearly 13,000 screenwriters who read our newsletter every week. 
To discuss, please contact Heather at: info@bluecatscreenplay.com.
BlueCat Screenwriting Workshops
 
BlueCat Screenplay Workshops are an intensive opportunity to certifiably improve your script in a small group environment, led by award winning screenwriter and BlueCat founder Gordy Hoffman.

Your script will be read in advance both by Gordy as well as the other workshop participants; everyone receives in-depth feedback on their script from a number of different perspectives.

Winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the Sundance Film Festival for LOVE LIZA, Gordy Hoffman has taught screenwriting at the USC School of Cinematic Arts in Los Angeles, as well as led workshops all over North America, Poland, Australia, New Zealand and the UK. He has served as a panelist for the IFP Script to Screen Conference in NYC, Women in Film's Script DC Conference in Washington, DC, and the George Eastman House Film Festival, as well as a judge for the McKnight Screenwriting Fellowships in Minnesota. Gordy Hoffman founded the BlueCat Screenplay Competition in 1998 and remains its judge.

  

THE FULL SCRIPT WORKSHOP

Participants read all screenplays in advance of the workshop. During the workshop, Gordy provides direct and in-depth feedback on each screenplay, with everyone encouraged to contribute his or her own thoughts and concerns.

  

Each writer will leave with a great sense of what they can do specifically to improve their screenplay, as well as a better awareness of where they might properly develop as a professional screenwriter as a whole. Writers benefit from the direct focus placed on their screenplays by the workshop, along with the analysis of the other scripts.

  

Screenplays can be first drafts or rewrites, incomplete or partial, with first time writers and veterans all welcome. Scripts are due 10-14 days prior to the date of the workshop.

  

Note: Screenplays submitted to the workshop are not eligible to be entered into the BlueCat Screenplay Competition.

  

  

Regular Registration Option

Do you want to participate, but do not have a script to submit at this time? Regular registration for the workshop allows you to attend without submitting written material, read the scripts in advance and still participate in the discussion.

  

  


UPCOMING WORKSHOPS: 
 

Los Angeles - February 21st - REGISTER 

(Full Registration Sold Out)  

 

Billings, Montana - March 3rd - REGISTER
 (Only 2 spots left)

Intro to Screenwriting - Montana - March 4th - REGISTER 

 

Online - March 19th - REGISTER 

 

Austin - March 21st - REGISTER  

 

Nashville - April 18th -  REGISTER 

 

Honolulu - March 28th - REGISTER 

 

San Francisco - May 2nd - REGISTER 

 

Online - May 7th - REGISTER
(Only 5 spots left)

Los Angeles - May 16th - REGISTER

Phoenix - July 25th - REGISTER
(Only 1 spot left)

Portland - September 9th - REGISTER

Please let us know if you'd like the BlueCat Workshop 

to come to your town!

 

See you soon.