Robert Stitzel

SCREENWRITER

I've been a professional screenwriter for 23 years. In that time I've worked for nearly ever major studio including Paramount, Warner Bros, MGM, Universal, 20th Century and HBO. In that time I've had three produced motion pictures: "Brainstorm", "Distant Thunder", "Eyes of an Angel" and upcoming, "Icarus". Of the 26 screenplays I've written, only two haven't received money - yet. Currently I'm a member of the Writer's Guild Credit Arbitration Board and continue working on my own projects and re-writes for studios. I'm also available for private consultation concerning your script problems. I can be reached at Screenplay Solutions.com

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Stan Brooks

PRODUCER OF TELEVISION MOVIES

Stanley M. Brooks is the award winning Producer and President of his own motion picture production company, Once Upon A Time Films. Established in 1989, Once Upon A Time has produced fifty movies, including numerous movies-for-television, multiple mini-series, a two hour music special and a feature film for Miramax. Mr. Brooks' most recent production is the upcoming BROKEN TRAIL, starring Robert Duvall and Thomas Haden Church for AMC. Brooks is known for working with big name feature stars in their telefilm debuts and was the Executive Producer on the directorial debuts of both Arnold Schwarzenegger and John Candy. Prior to starting Once Upon A Time, Brooks was the President of The Guber-Peters Television Company and was responsible for finding the story for RAIN MAN, which went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. His proudest achievement came eleven years ago when he established The Hollywood Indies Little League Foundation to bring after-school baseball back to inner city parks in South Central Los Angeles. This program is now the largest in L.A. County. Brooks has been awarded prestigious honors from the California Governor's Committee for Employment of the Handicapped, the Prism Award (for accurately depicting drug addiction), and the Monte Carlo Film Festival. Brooks is a Senior Lecturer at The American Film Institute Center for Advanced Film Studies and a former Governor of The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

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Phillip Goldfarb

PRODUCER OF FEATURES AND TV SERIES

Phillip Goldfarb has worked as a producer and production manager on many tv shows and features. The following are a list of his producing credits: 1."Michael Hayes" (1997) TV Series (pilot only) 2. Truth or Consequences, N.M. (1997) (executive) "Doogie Howser, M.D." (1989) TV Series (co-ordinating: pilot) 3. "Hooperman" (1987) TV Series (co-ordinating: pilot) 4. "L.A. Law" (1986) TV Series (co-ordinating: 1986-1989) 5. All the Right Moves (1983) (co-producer) ... aka All Right (1983) 6. My Bodyguard (1980) (associate) Thank God It's Friday (1978) (co-producer) 7. Taxi Driver (1976) (associate)

The following is a list of his credits as production manager: 1. All the Right Moves (1983) (unit production manager) ... aka All Right (1983) 2. Cheech & Chong's Nice Dreams (1981) (unit production manager) ... aka Nice Dreams (1981) 3. Taps (1981) (production manager) 4. Shadow Box, The (1980) (TV) (production manager) 5. Almost Summer (1978) (production manager) 6. Thank God It's Friday (1978) (unit production manager) 7. Casey's Shadow (1978) (unit production manager) 8. Ice Castles (1978) (unit production manager) 9. Taxi Driver (1976) (production manager) 10. Irish Whiskey Rebellion (1972) (production manager) 11. To Find a Man (1972) (production manager) ... aka Sex and the Teenager (1972) (USA: video title) 12. Taking Off (1971) (production manager) 13. Diary of a Mad Housewife (1970) (production manager) 14. I Never Sang for My Father (1970) (unit production manager) 15. Last Summer (1969) (production manager)

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David Schmoeller

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Frederick Levy

DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE

Frederick Levy is the Vice President of Development and Production for Marty Katz Productions which has a first look deal with Miramax and Dimension Films. Frederick has been involved with the production of such films as Man of the House starring Chevy Chase, Mr. Wrong, starring Ellen DeGeneres, James Cameron's Titanic, and the soon to be released Reindeer Games starring Ben Affleck. The company is currently in production on Impostor starring Gary Sinise and Madeline Stowe for Dimension Films. Mr. Levy's first book, Hollywood101: The Film Industry is coming out February, 2000 from Renaissance Books and St. Martin's Press. Please visit his website at www.hollywood-101.com for more information.

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Shannon Burwell

DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE

Head of Development - The Robert Evans Co. After growing up in Michigan (go Lions), Shannon spent time acting her way across America in cities such as Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas and Cleveland. After a short time in Los Angeles she shifted her career goals to the production side of the business and swiftly moved up the ranks. She began as a reader for companies such as Roth/Arnold and Alexander/Enright, then found more steady work as Script Coordinator for showrunner Paul Haggis on EZ STREETS, assistant to Sydney Pollack and, now, as development executive for the legendary Robert Evans.

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Sebastian Twardosz

DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE

Creative Executive C/W Productions. I grew up in Detroit. I think I was destined to be a car mechanic. But then my life took a spin and all I could think about was moving to Los Angeles. I ended up at USC Film School where I had a blast, met great people, made some really good flicks, and won the Academy Award for student films. Afterwards I worked my way up from the pits of the Z horror flicks to working for Roger Corman, ICM and finally CW productions where I currently reside(and I do mean "reside"). I've worked for a successful director, a well-regarded agent, a movie star, and a couple of outstanding producers. Think I've covered most of the bases...Time for a home run.

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Marcie Wright

MANAGER

Owner of The Wright Concept. Marcie got her start as an agent in 1983 working at the Dona Lee Davies Agency and left in 1985 to form her own company, Wright Concept Talent Agency. Within a short time she placed six writers on staff on four network series. In 1988 her company expanded to include TV drama and feature film writers. She has sold and set up more than 100 feature film scripts and has had clients on more than fifty TV series. Her clients have been nominated for a total of 14 emmys and 15 Cable Ace Awards.

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Christine Valada

ATTORNEY

Christine Valada, Esq., began her vocation as a creators' rights activist inthe 1980s lobbying Congress for changes in the work for hire provisions of the Copyright act of 1976 while she was still a full-time commercial photographer in the Washington, D.C. area. She attended law school at CaseWestern Reserve University and clerked for the Writers Guild of America,west, Inc. and the Directors Guild of America during two successive summers while in law school. Since graduating and passing the California Bar, she practices law in Los Angeles county, specializing in entertainment and copyright law. She represents individual writers, visual and performing artists, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (as outside general counsel) and is California Legislative Counsel for the American Society of Media Photographers. Ms. Valada will base her answers to questions on Federal Copyright Law or California law. She is not licensed to practice law in states other than California. Her answers should be considered in the nature of general legal information. For specific answers based on the facts of your particular situation should be obtained from local legal counsel. No response should be construed as establishing an confidential attorney-client relationship between Ms. Valada and the questioner.

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Thom Taylor

SPEC MARKETPLACE EXPERT, AUTHOR

With several years of experience in writing about filmmaking (for such publications as Millimeter, Variety, Locations, Movieline,and Variety's On Production) as well as working in the industry (for such filmmakers as Oliver Stone, Tim Burton, Thom Mount, Ed Feldman and Dick Clark), Thom Taylor has observed many sides of the spec buying process first-hand. The inexplicable nature of what drives some scripts to sell for millions -- while many quality screenplays go unnoticed -- prompted Thom to interview hundreds of Hollywood's participants in search of an answer. The result is "The Big Deal," an insightful exploration into the reality of what goes on daily in the land of creating make-believe. Thom will answer questions about the marketplace as well as how to atract an agent's attention.

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Serita Stevens

AUTHOR, FORENSIC NURSE

My training is in sexual assault and death investigations. I have also had training in profiling criminal cases as well. I am the author of Deadly Doses: A Writer's Guide to Poisons (Writer's Digest) Available at this website through Amazon.com. I am currently working on a book for St. Martin's Press called Silent Language about forensic nursing.

Serita has a new book entitled "Unholy Orders" published by Intrigue Press. It's a mystery anthology and features stories from 18 mystery authors including Serita!

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Bob Boucher

Firearms & Explosives Expert.

I have been a certified Licensed Explosive's Engineer since 1976, qualifying me to answer your questions regarding explosives. Having owned my own Firearms business for 19 years, I also have extensive knowledge & experience with firearms/ammunition, both military and civilian types. I hold an FFL [Federal Firearms License] and deal in machine guns and handguns, oftentimes dealing with law enforcement agents/agencies.

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Emergency Medicine

"Ted Gasowski is a board certified emergency medicine specialist with an interest in screenplays having written several. He will answer general questions (with a literary point of view in mind) regarding medical definitions and medical equipment labels. No response is to be construed as establishing a physician-patient relationship between the responder and the questioner. Furthermore, no response is to be construed as actual medical advice for any person(s) whatsoever."

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VICE PRESIDENT, PRODUCTION

"Chrissy serves as Vice President, Production for Escape Artists formerly known as Black & Blu Ent. Most recently she worked with Jason and Todd at Mandalay Entertainment. Currently, she is developing several in-house projects with many different writers and filmmakers. Chrissy is knee-deep in the development process and is currently overseeing numerous projects currently on the fast-track for Escape Artists' production slate. She is attached as producer on "Wedlocked" which will star Meg Ryan."

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PRODUCERS

"Lee and Jena Levinson are award-winning producers of quality movies made for television. Their credits include: "Skeezer" -NBC-TV; George Foster Peabody Award; Emmy nomination; Film Advisory Board Award; "The Legend of Walks Far Woman" -NBC-TV; Western Heritage Award for best teleplay adapted from a novel; "Playing with Fire" -NBC-TV; Film Advisory Board Award; special proclamation from the California House of Representatives, Sacramento; "Runaway Father" -CBS-TV; Film Advisory Board Award. Mr. Levinson is a longstanding member of the Producers Guild of America. He has lectured on filmmaking at a number of colleges and universities. The Levinsons package and produce movies for television and theatrical release. They also are personal managers, representing book authors and screenwriters. They have a weekly column every Friday called "How to Produce Movies for Television," which is based on excerpts from their forthcoming book of the same title."

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SCREENWRITER

Writer-director Grady Hall's industry experience ranges from the mail room to the director's chair. He started his career at Warner Bros., and went on to read thousands of scripts on the way to becoming, at age 25, the head of development for a prolific television producer. Grady worked on his own movies and series projects, staffing on series such as THE OUTER LIMITS for Sci-Fi. More recently, he has written and directed music videos for bands such as R.E.M. and Papa Roach, and directed award-winning commercials for Nike, DIRECTV, McDonald's, ESPN, and others. Grady has lectured on writing and entertainment at UCLA and Cal State Northridge, edited three children's books, and featured in magazines such as Creativity, Promo, Shoot, HOW, and RES. He will answer questions on both the business and creative sides of writing and directing.

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ACTRESS

K Callan is a talented and distinguished actress, whose acting career includes work in feature films such as Joe, A Touch of Class, American Gigolo, and The Onion Field; television movies and miniseries, including Mr. Murder, starring Stephen Baldwin (ABC-TV, Fall 1998); television series -- Ms. Callan played the role of Superman's mom on the highly popular ABC Television series Lois & Clark -- and theater. Ms. Callan is also the author of several helpful books, including How to Sell Yourself As An Actor, Directing Your Directing Career, and The Script Is Finished, Now What Do I Do? It's one of the best books written for writers who want to find out the ins and outs of the agency business. To order any of her books, go to her website at www.swedenpress.com. We carry her agency book through our bookstore.

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WRITER

Jack Sekowski graduated from The American Film Institute and obtained immediate representation upon winning a FOCUS screenwriting award. Instant industry attention followed. However, a rollercoaster ride through the giz lead to nowhere until BEFORE BILLY caught the eye of producer Larry Gordon and Universal Pictures. Jack and his writing partner, Maria Veltre, have gone on to write for companies as diverse as Middle Fork Productions (producers of "Anaconda") and Disney Feature Animation. Their script, MONEY FOR NOTHING, CHICKS FOR FREE, is going into production February 2001.

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Ms. Niad began her career at the Comedy Store where in addition to being one of the talent coordinators, she wrote comedy material for comedians such as Andrew "Dice" Clay, Judy Toll and several others. She stepped up her career path when she accepted a job as the assistant to motion picture literary agent Dave Wirtschafter (now head of Worldwide Motion Pictures at William Morris) at International Creative Management. Within 2 years, Ms. Niad was promoted and remained at ICM until 1995 working with such clients as Roland Joffe (The Killing Fields), John Briley (Ghandi), Randall Wallace (Braveheart; The Man in the Iron Mask), Spike Lee, and many others. From 1995 - 1997 she ran the literary department of Susan Smith & Assoc., working with talent such as Kathy Bates and Brian Dennehy as directors. Preferring to work more closely with her clients in a friendlier and less corporate environment, Ms. Niad left to become a manager. She began Niad Management in July of 1997 and has been flourishing ever since.

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WRITER/PRODUCER/DIRECTOR

Writer/Producer/Director Bill Robinson, 32, has worked closely with Diane Keaton over the past eight years and founded their production company, Blue Relief, where he serves as president. During that time, he has been involved in such successful productions as THE FIRST WIVES CLUB, UNSTRUNG HEROES, and HANGING UP.

In addition to a first-look producing deal at Barry Dillers USA Films, Blue Reliefs current slate of feature projects includes AVON LADIES OF THE AMAZON (with Bette Midler) for United Artists, ANCHOR WOMEN (with Meg Ryan) for Castle Rock, VICTORY PARK by SHINE scribe Jan Sardi for MGM, and the comedy SO SHOOT ME for Miramax.

Mr. Robinson sold his original screenplay BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE to Hollywood Pictures. In addition to writing lifestyle pieces for several national magazines, he has also written It's All Your Fault: How to Make It as a Hollywood Assistant, which was published by Simon & Schuster in January 2001, and can be purchased on Amazon.com (ISBN: 0684869586).

Most recently, Mr. Robinson executive produced Columbia Pictures HANGING UP. Currently, he is producing PLAN B, starring Diane Keaton, Paul Sorvino and Natasha Lyonne, to be released this year.

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DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT

Barry R. Nolan is the Director of Development for David Lancaster Productions, an independent feature film and television production company in Los Angeles. While at DLP, he has helped to develop numerous films for the company, most recently SECOND SKIN with Natasha Henstridge and Angus MacFadyen. Currently, DLP has three films in various stages of preproduction and many more in development. A writer as well, Barry has a number of writing projects in the hopper, which mostly getting done when he isn't honing material.

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FISH AND WILDLIFE OFFICER

Mr. Pritts is a state Fish and Wildlife Officer and a U.S. Deputy Game Warden for covert operations. Specialties include fish, wildlife, and boating enforcement (including maritime drug interdiction), pollution investigations, surveillance/covert operations. He is also an ex-Marine, a former police officer from suburban Philadelphia, author of 2 books, and author of various law enforcement training manuals used nationwide.

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PERSONAL MANAGER

Jeff is a personal manager representing producers, writers, directors, and actors.  He is a past member of the Board Of Directors of the National Conference of Personal Managers; and for the past twenty years he was a Blue Ribbon Panel Emmy Awards Judge.

He started out his career in production working on such hit television shows as All In The Family, One Day At A Time, Maude, Good Times, and The Jeffersons, and such specials as The Grammy Awards, and Kennedy Center Honors.  Jeff then switched gears and moved into the talent representation field by working at the prestigious William Morris Agency.  After several successful years there, he opened his own personal management firm, Jeff Ross Management.

Jeff's also active in civic affairs; and is an active supporter of the Democratic National Committee, assisting in fundraising for many local as well as national campaigns.

Jeff resides in Sherman Oaks with his wife Shareen, and their two cats, Boris, and Natasha.

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FORMER U.S. ARMY OFFICER

John M. Lovett is a former U.S. Army officer with over 17 years of active duty and reserve experience.  For the past ten years, his group The Hollywood Military Advisor has providing military technical advice to the video gaming, television, and motion picture industries.  The HMA has provided consultation and assistance to Warriors, Inc., Dreamworks Interactive, Legacy Interactive, Silvertouch Pictures, Synergy Group, and Nichols Productions.  Working as a writer, John is a contributing editor to e-magazine Suite101 - Military Movies.  He has been an editor for The Ordnance Magazine, reviewer for Military Intelligence Magazine, and contributor to various volumes of The International Military Encyclopedia.  He is a trained linguist in both Russian and German.  He has advised the Egyptian, Israeli, and German armies.  He has been interviewed regarding his views on current military affairs by the Scripps Howard News Service, Der Spiegel, MBC Korean Television, and the Orange County Register.

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PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR

Kenneth Dunn has been a private investigator for twelve years and is licensed in California.  While most of his clients are criminal defense attorneys, he also handles civil investigations including such matters as personal injury or wrongful death.  He has experience in locating missing persons, heirs, birth parents and witnesses.  With input from his colleagues, he can also address questions about C.P.S. (Children's Protective Services).

Mr. Dunn has worked the cases of defendants charged with misdemeanors (simple thefts, assaults, etc.) and major felonies such as homicide, kidnapping, armed robbery, serial rapes, drug dealing and money-laundering operations.  White collar, blue collar, no collar crimes.

A screenwriter himself, Mr. Dunn says, "The amoral private dick who played fast and loose with the law is extinct.  His legend offends today's professional investigators.  The public and most writers only know us by the clichés from the screen."

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