Take the money and run

The whispers of nervous small talk as hung over students registered for their respective courses. Just like being back at Oxford! So - hand over your money, hand in two story treatments, get your photo taken and register for a car pass.

So some of the chracters on the course:



OMAR SAMAD - originally from Pakistand but moved to New York at a young age.





COURTNEY STEPHENS - originally from San Francisco - on the screenwriting course - spent time in India and more importantly Nepal. Pitched a short about giant marrows injected with sperm!



NICK QUINN - Rule Britannia! Brit from Manchester, has been working as a TV editor for the last 10 years. Has even cut "Jim'll fix it!"



MIRIAM GILBERT - producing fellow from Massachusetts.



HARRISON YURKIW - Production design from Canada.



VALENTINA AVAYU - directing fellow from Santiago Chile



Bryan Jeffrey Croes - married with wife in town - from Minnesota - Producing fellow




Introduction to the school



SHEILA SULLIVAN - Vice Dean - opening address. We were told to have 'the courage of our own peculiarities'

So after all the formalities we were quickly split into four groups of 8 Directors, 8 Writers and 8 Producers. We each pitched our two story ideas and then left alone to form groups - nightmare for everyone involved!!

Oh our Directing Mentor for this process was Peter Markham. His CV as posted on the AFI website reads as follows:

Peter Markham - Holds a B.A. in Drama and English from Hull University in the UK with First Class Honors. Markham served as first AD on TRULY MADLY DEEPLY. After graduating from the BBC Director's Course where his final project, THE TABLE, was developed with and written by Anthony Minghella. Markham directed the extensive second unit on THE ENGLISH PATIENT. He directed THE CORMORANT and directed second unit on GANGS OF NEW YORK for Martin Scorsese.

OK so after an awkward time, teams were formed. I am with Sophie Watts and Adam Vincent Benic.



ADAM VINCENT BENIC - his cv from the alumni handbook is:

Adam is a recent graduate of Fordham University with a BA in
Communications & Media Studies. While at Fordham, he studied
film and screenwriting, and minored in Creative Writing, commut-
ing to the university’s Manhattan campus from his native Long
Island. He has worked for the independent film distributor and
production firm, ThinkFilm Company, collaborating closely with
those who brought award-winning films such as HALF NELSON
and SHORTBUS to the screen. He has also written film reviews for
the Brooklyn-based, NYC culture guide, The L Magazine, and was
a contributing writer and Poetry Prize winner for Fordham’s literary
journal, Red Rover.

We have a week to beat our scipt into shape and pitch to the DPs, Production Designers and Editors.

Ended up going for one of my ideas called 'She Cried Alive' A modern day beauty and the beast story.