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ScriptBiz™Returns in 2010!

New Look, New Direction and New Focus: Wednesday, August 11th

This year's screenplay focus: Randi Barnes and Stacey Hegarty's winning screenplay “Haunted House sitter.”

Guests this year include writer/ director Chris Sparling and award-winning author of “Crazy Heart,” Thomas Cobb.

NEW: Molly Maginnis, noted Hollywood Costume Designer will do a special one-hour session about costume design in film. Ms. Maginnis has designed costumes for 50 films and multiple TV shows.

2010 Application Form, click here to download

• Read the News Release on this Year's Program, click here coming

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2010 ScriptBiz™ Workshop Fees:

$75 for the day-long program

Attention all scriptwriters with a story inside that is trying to get out...

Sign-up now for RIIFF’s ScriptBiz™ screenwriter’s workshop.

Order Your Pass Today:

ScriptBiz™ 2010 Wednesday, August 11th: $75.00

For more information on ScriptBiz10, call the RIIFF offices at (401) 861-4445.

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ScriptBiz™ is a day-long workshop that explores how to hone your

creative and business skills

Trying to navigate through the Hollywood system?  Tired of receiving rejection after rejection? 

The 14th Annual Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) proudly presents ScriptBiz.10, a day-long workshop that covers the nuts and bolts of being a screenwriter.  This year’s topic is “Make Your Own Success as a Writer” and is geared toward promoting yourself as a writer, finding producers, and networking your way to success.  .

This year’s annual ScriptBiz takes place August 11th in downtown Providence, RI. On Wednesday, the workshop begins at 9:30 a.m. and runs to 4:00 p.m. The fee is $75. Registration is at 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.

To apply to the 2010 ScriptBiz™ workshop, fill out and submit the downloadable application below.

For information, please contact RIIFF at info@film-festival.org, or call the Festival Office at 401/861-4445.

2010 ScriptBiz™ location:

Providence Chamber of Commerce Theatre

30 Exchange Terrace, Providence RI 02903

401.521.5000

75 capacity, http://www.providencechamber.com/

Map It:

Apply Today to ScriptBiz™ 2010

Program & Workshops Schedule:

9:00 – 9:30 a.m. Registration 

9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

From “Screen to Screen” - A personal look into bringing a novel and a screenplay to the movies. Tom Cobb – Author, CRAZY HEART and Chris Sparling, Writer, BURIED.

11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

LUNCH – OFF SITE

Ardeo Restaurant, located near the Chamber of Commerce will be offering all ScriptBiz attendees, a 15% discount on lunch, when mentioning RIIFF.

1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.

The Importance of Film Community, featuring Michelle Meek - Writer/Director NewEnglandFilm.com - Founder.

PLUS: Molly Maginnis, noted Hollywood Costume Designer will do a special one-hour session about costume design in film. Ms. Maginnis has designed costumes for 50 films and multiple TV shows.

2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Understanding Film Distribution, featuring Isil Bagdadi, President, Founder and Michael Sergio, CEO, Founder, www.cavupictures.com

Please Note: Visiting filmmakers can sign up for $25.

REFUNDS: Refunds, minus a $25 office fee, will be available until July 15, 2010. After that date NO REFUNDS will be made. Sorry for any inconvenience. Thank you for your understanding.

Who is Who at ScriptBiz 2010:

Isil Bagdadi has worked in the film industry as a producer, publicist, marketing and distribution executive.

In addition to producing director Michael Sergio’s debut film "Under Hellgate Bridge", she oversaw the theatrical distribution and marketing of the film, and brokered the domestic video deal with Lions Gate Entertainment. "Under Hellgate Bridge" has won numerous awards at film festivals, including "Best Film" and "The Regal Cinemas Dreammaker" awards at the Nashville Film Festival. The film is now available on DVD, and had its broadcast premiere on ABC.

In 2001, Isil and her business partner Michael Sergio started CAVU Pictures in order to finance, develop, produce, acquire and distribute cutting-edge, critically acclaimed and award-winning independent films. Ms. Bagdadi oversees the marketing campaigns and theatrical distribution of all of CAVU’s films.

She executive produced and oversaw the theatrical release of Independent Spirit Award nominee Eitan Gorlin's film "The Holy Land" which won the Grand Jury prize at the Slamdance Film festival. The film had an extensive theatrical release in 2003, and was the highest grossing film on a single screen for two weeks in a row when it opened at NYC’s Angelika Film Center. Isil also executive produced and oversaw the theatrical distribution of the critically acclaimed film “Take Out” which was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award.

Isil wrote, produced, and directed the short film “The Blue Marble”, which premiered at the Avignon/New York Film Festival, and screened at the Angelika Film Center as part of the IFP Market. The film had its broadcast premiere on Metro TV as part of their “Urban Indies” series and was then released by Lions Gate Entertainment.

Isil also consults and does PR for the QUAD Cinema in NY, where she recently helped launch the QUAD Cinema Four-Wall Select program. She is currently doing publicity and consulting on the theatrical campaign for the indie-rock musical drama CLEAR BLUE TUESDAY, which is set to open in theatres on September 3rd.

Isil frequently serves as a panelist, moderator, mentor and juror at film festivals, and has taught film producing classes at the Digital Film Academy, and lectured at the CUNY Graduate Center. Isil has a graduate degree in Film from the New York Institute of Technology and her undergraduate degree in Communication Arts from St. John's University. She is a long-standing member of NYWIFT, and IFP, and serves on the Committee for the Future at the New York Women’s Foundation. She is also an Honorary Board Member & Advisor at the Long Island Film/ TV Foundation.

Since 1987, Thomas Cobb has served as a member of the faculty of Rhode Island College, teaching fiction writing and literature, and as director of the program for 18 years. Prior to his tenure at RIC, he taught at Eastern Arizona College and in the Arizona State Prison System. Thomas Cobb’s novel Crazy Heart, developed from his doctoral dissertation in 1986 at the University of Houston, is the book upon which the 2009 Academy Award–winning film is based. Cobb, with Scott Cooper as screenplay writer, was the 2010 Scripter Award Finalist for Novel Adapted to Film. In addition to writing the novel Crazy Heart, he is the author of Bad Dreams (1986) and Shavetail (2008), as well as Acts of Contrition (2003), a collection of stories. Acts of Contrition received the 2002 George Garrett Fiction Prize. Shavetail has been awarded the 2009 Western Writers of America Spur Award (long novel) and the 2009 Texas Institute of Letters Jesse H. Jones Award for fiction. Cobb is currently working on his next book, Blood in Their Eyes.

Michele Meek wrote and directed the short film "Red Sneakers," which premiered at the Woods Hole Film Festival in 2008 and received an award in the children's category at the Rhode Island International Film Festival. She earned her M.F.A. in Screenwriting at Emerson College and will begin a Ph.D. in English program at University of Rhode Island this fall. She has taught film and writing courses at Emerson College, Boston Film Video Foundation and Massachusetts College of Art. As the founder and publisher of NewEnglandFilm.com, she has also served on numerous juries for film awards, festivals and screenwriting competitions.

Michael Sergio is an Emmy Award winning director, screenwriter, indie film producer and distributor. He began his career as an actor, musician and singer appearing in Manhattan clubs, on Broadway, television and in films before succumbing to a career as a director in the early 1990's.

As an actor, Sergio worked with Sidney Lumet on the film “Prince of the City”, with director Mark Rosman on “House on Sorority Row” and with director Bill Reilly on “Men of Respect” with John Turturro and Rod Steiger. TV appearances included roles on ABC's Loving, CTW's Mathnet, Ryan's Hope, The Equalizer, The Street, Law & Order, Kojak and The Last Days of Brian Darling for HBO. He also appeared in over 50 national TV commercials. Sergio was tapped by legendary stage director Gene Saks for the original Broadway production of “I Love My Wife”.

An accomplished singer and musician, Sergio has performed in some of NY's most cutting-edge clubs including The Bitter End, Folk City, The Comic Strip and The Original Improvisation where he was the house singer for 17 years.

His directorial career began with TV commercials for clients as diverse as Disney, AT&T, Continental Airlines, American Express and ESPN. Sergio directed for TV, crafting Emmy Award-winning TV specials, music videos and pilots before navigating the shoals of the independent film industry.

Some of Mr. Sergio’s directing projects include, John Ford Noonan's Night Man at the Sardi Building, Creating the Wizard of Oz on Ice, for which he was nominated for a DayTime Emmy and Ringling Bros. 1996 TV Circus Special for which he won an Emmy.

Sergio's directorial feature debut "Under Hellgate Bridge" garnered Best Director and Best Film honors at various film festivals, including Best Film award at the Nashville Independent Film Festival, and the Regal Cinemas' Dreammaker Award. Lions Gate Entertainment acquired domestic video rights and after a successful theatrical run, "Under Hellgate Bridge" was released on DVD nationwide in November '02.

In 2001 Sergio and producing partner, Isil Bagdadi, started CAVU Pictures to deliver indie-film alternatives to the marketplace. Sergio oversees all films produced and acquired at CAVU.

Chris Sparling is a writer/director originally from Providence, RI. He wrote the screenplay for the suspense thriller BURIED, starring Ryan Reynolds, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and will be released theatrically by Lionsgate Films. His follow-up screenplay, ATM, was acquired by Gold Circle Films and begins production in Fall 2010. He is currently working with producer/director M. Night Shyamalan on the screenplay for the supernatural drama TWELVE STRANGERS, part of a three-film series known as The Night Chronicles. Chris has directed several independent films and television productions, and served as an adjunct professor at Boston University, Emerson College, and Holyoke Community College.

Ron Tippe • about

Producer at IMAGI Animation Studios

Ron Tippe has been in the entertainment business for 37 years. He began
as a stage director and spent the first 9 years of his career directing
stage plays at various companies in New England. In addition, he was a
founding member and artistic director of the Incredibly Far
Off-Broadway Ensemble Theatre, which specialized in new play production
and staged productions set in different environmental locations. Ron
spent the next few years as a director of TV commercials, industrial
and education films, after which he spent years as a writer in Hollywood, CA. In 1994, Ron segued into the Feature Animation business when he produced the first Mickey Mouse short film, RUNAWAY BRAIN, which was nominated for an Oscar. At the same time he was the managing director of the Walt Disney Feature Animation Studio in Paris, France. Ron then went on to produce the hit film, SPACE JAM, at Warner Bros' Feature Animation studio. He subsequently worked at Dreamworks Feature Animation where he produced the pre-production for the hit film, SHREK. The next few years were spent working at George Lucas's ILM for a digital version of FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WOLFMAN, and at Warner Bros' Feature Animation producing a remake of the classic, MR. LIMPET. In 2004, he had the wonderful honor to work with Christopher Reeve on EVERYONE'S HERO, an animated feature for 20th Century Fox. In 2007, he produced the pre-production for Imagi Feature Animation Studios, GATCHAMAN. In 2008, Ron accepted a Visiting Professorship at Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI. Ron is also a certified Life Coach specializing in issues of story telling and the creative process. He is also the founder of THE WRITE APPROACH, a RI based screen writing workshop whose debut will be made during the RIIFF 2009 season. Ron is married to Hollywood Costume Designer, Molly Maginnis. They have two children, Annie and Sam, and two pug dogs, Lucky and Lulu.

Program Director for 2010:

Ron Tippe • email

Consultants:

George T. Marshall

J. Scott Oberacker

Duncan Putney

FLICKERS: Rhode Island International Film Festival™

Mailing: P.O. Box 162, Newport, Rhode Island 02840 (United States)
Street Address: 36 Rhode Island Avenue, Newport, RI 02840

Office: 83 Park Street, Suite 1, Providence, RI 02903
Tel/Fax: (401) 861-4445 / 490-6735
info@film-festival.org

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