“To write a screenplay, there are certain things that have to be there or else it’s like a tent without poles — it won’t stand up,” said playwright Luke Shanahan. Shanahan and Kaua‘i Community College professor Noah Evslin will teach
“To write a screenplay, there are certain things that have to be there or else it’s like a tent without poles — it won’t stand up,” said playwright Luke Shanahan.
Shanahan and Kaua‘i Community College professor Noah Evslin will teach the architecture of the screenplay in a weekend workshop Dec. 1 and Dec. 2.
For anyone considering writing a screenplay, this is an opportunity to learn the basics for laying the foundation in an intensive information-rich weekend. Consider bringing a recorder to catch every lick of advice from two seasoned instructors.
Luke Shanahan, formerly on the faculty at KCC is a graduate of the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Noah Evslin was a winner of the National Spec Scriptacular Screenwritng contest.
Shanahan and Evslin will be teaching this two-day seminar in the art of the Hollywood screenplay in conjunction with Central Pacific Media.
Claiming he has had a screenplay stolen by a major Hollywood producer, Shanahan says he has first-hand experience of the dark side of Hollywood. “I knew a mutual friend of this producer and my friend Fed-Ex’ed my play to him,” said Shanahan. “About a year later I saw the trailers to my screenplay. They didn’t even bother to change some of the names.”
Shanahan was up for the fight and received some sage legal advice from a law team seasoned in these not-uncommon Hollywood thefts.
“The lawyer said we’d win ‘no contest,’ but since the only way to take on a big corporation is with a whole team of lawyers, they couldn’t look at it for the million-plus that the screenplay sold for,” he said.
Legal fees alone would have been to the tune of $4 million, Shanahan said.
Shanahan’s experience can be instrumental to other writers. “So that you don’t make the same mistake I made,” said Shanahan.
He also worked on the set for the major motion picture being filmed here, Tropical Thunder. “I’ve seen the nature of Hollywood. Knowing what I know now from working on that movie, I’d never have been so trusting.”
Besides learning how to protect words and creativity, the duo will cover structuring plot, building three-dimensional characters, intertwining plotlines, registering scripts, finding an agent, pitching an idea — everything needed from A to Z to spin a concept into a tight, saleable script.
The first day will cover screenplay theory and practice. The second day includes screenwriters’ workshop activities, TV writing and the nuts and bolts of packaging and marketing scripts.
The seminar will be held in a lush and serene setting at an easy-to-reach home in the Wailua Homesteads. Directions provided with reservations. Lunch provided both days. The workshop is from 9 a.m. to noon on Dec. 1 and Dec. 2.
Cost: $175 for both days or $100 for one day. Fee includes lunch and materials.
To register contact Luke Shanahan at 332-0727.
• Pam Woolway, lifestyle writer, can be reached at 245-3681, ext. 257 or pwoolway@kauaipubco.com.
