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

BlueCat Screenplay Competition   



January 27th, 2015

   

 

Awards Season 2015

The awards season is now in full swing. Here are the upcoming awards ceremonies which honor the past year's best screenwriters. Mark your calendars now and be sure to catch all the films in these screenwriting categories.   

BAFTA Film Awards - Sunday, February 8th

Writers Guild Awards - Saturday, February 14th

Film Independent Spirit Awards - Saturday, February 21st

87th Academy Awards - Sunday, February 22nd

IN THIS WEEK'S NEWSLETTER:
  • Dustin Lance Black's Screenwriting Process
  • The Imitation Game Screenwriter at the World Science Festival
  • 3 Scripts: Some Like it Hot, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and Airplane!
  • The Writer Speaks: Billy Wilder
  • Screenplay Consultations with Gordy Hoffman
  • John Hughes in Conversation
  • David Zucker's 15 Rules of Comedy
  • The BlueCat Community Corner
  • BlueCat Workshop information
DUSTIN LANCE BLACK'S SCREENWRITING PROCESS
from The Script Lab
Screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (Milk, J. Edgar) talks with Jameson Brown of The Script Lab about his beginnings as a shy teenager, falling in love with filmmaking, and his creative process for the Oscar-winning script, Milk.
 
THE IMITATION GAME SCREENWRITER AT THE WORLD SCIENCE FESTIVAL
From World Science Festival

  
Oscar-nominated screenwriter Graham Moore talks about the art of translating Alan Turing's life to the screen in this selection from a panel hosted by the World Science Festival.

SCREENPLAY CONSULTATIONS 
With Gordy Hoffman

 

Gordy Hoffman, BlueCat's founder and judge, is available to give comprehensive consultation services on your screenplay.
 
The overall goal of Gordy's consultation services is to facilitate the development of the script into a wholly original, highly engaging script that is viable in today's film market. Gordy will coach you on developing your script into an emotionally engaging experience for your reader and, ultimately, the audience in the theatre.

 

DAVID ZUCKER'S 15 RULES OF COMEDY
from Chicago Tribune
David Zucker ("Airplane!", "The Naked Gun" trilogy, and "BASEketball") outlines the 15 Rules of Comedy he abided by while penning his early works.

HEY, WHADDYA SAY?

 
"I'm never going to be shy about anything, what I write about is what I know; it's more about my version of the truth as I know it. That's part of my talent, really - putting the way people really speak into the things I write. My only obligation is to my characters. And they came from where I have been."

- Quentin Tarantino
Writer/Director of Django Unchained & Pulp Fiction  
SELECTED SCRIPTS
Three Screenplay PDFs

Some Like it Hot
by Billy Wilder & I.A.L. Diamond

Ferris Bueller's Day Off
by John Hughes

Airplane!
by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, & Jerry Zucker


THE WRITER SPEAKS: BILLY WILDER
From The Writers Guild Foundation

In this interview presented by The Writers Guild Foundation, writer/director Billy Wilder discusses his views on storytelling, character development, and how the film industry had changed during his lifetime.  
 
JOHN HUGHES IN CONVERSATION
From LondonScreenwriters
Reflecting the universal angst of adolescence and playing with archetypes of American teenagers, John Hughes' films touched a generation of young moviegoers and continue to resonate with audiences today.

In this podcast, John Hughes discusses his writing process and his film legacy.

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 

(Only 3 spots left)

  

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.