In partnership with the Oklahoma Film + Music Office and Oklahoma City University, deadCenter Film Institute will host a free screenwriting seminar Saturday, November 19, from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Lead by Oklahoma native Matt Payne, the screenplay seminar will take place at StarSpace46, located at 1141 W. Sheridan Ave., just west of Film Row in Oklahoma City. The seminar is free and open to writers of all ages and experience levels.
Matt Payne worked in Hollywood for fifteen years, starting in production on Fox’s massive television hit “24”, moving into talent management at William Morris Endeavor, working for show runners on the CBS hit “Without a Trace”, and writing television episodes for “The Defenders”, “Vegas” and “Memphis Beat”. Payne currently runs The Point Writer’s Workshop in Oklahoma City and serves as an adjunct professor of writing and film at OCU.
Oklahoma filmmakers Casey Twenter and Jeff Robison will offer a keynote address at the seminar. Twenter and Robison wrote and produced the Sundance smash “Rudderless” with William H. Macy, “The Jogger”, “The Scent of Rain and Lightning”, and the recent Verizon television series “In the Rough”, which were all filmed in Oklahoma utilizing the Oklahoma Film Enhancement Rebate Program.
“It is an honor to continue our partnership with deadCenter Film as they launch their screenwriting seminar and intensive workshop this fall. Continued training and mentoring opportunities like these for our local writers and industry members make for a collectively stronger infrastructure which is essential for a sustainable film industry,” said OF+MO Director Tava Maloy Sofsky.
“All great movies start with a great story. Our goal with this free screenwriting seminar is to help writers working in Oklahoma improve their craft and establish working relationships with other local writers,” said deadCenter Artistic Director Lance McDaniel.
In addition to the public portion of the seminar, deadCenter is offering a private group writing session that same afternoon from 12:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. to twelve selected screenwriters. Writers interested in attending the private session need to submit a feature length screenplay by Saturday, November 5.
For more information about the public screenwriting seminar or how to apply for the private writing session, please visit deadCenterfilm.org.
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About the Oklahoma Film + Music Office:
Created in 1979, The Oklahoma Film + Music Office strives to share all that Oklahoma has to offer by welcoming filmmakers and music professionals to the state and by creating a network of support to develop Oklahoma’s film and music industries. For more information about the Oklahoma Film Enhancement Rebate Program or the Oklahoma Film + Music Office please visit www.okfilmmusic.org.
