how it works

the winners

judges

Deborah Chesher - I was a rock'n'roll photographer back when the music business was about the music. I am now putting together "Everybody I Shot Is Dead," a book of my photographs of the musicians who have passed, along with my personal stories. I am writing the blog at  http://everybodyishotisdead.blogspot.com/ to chronicle the making of the book, from its inception to release. I will write about the creative process and the business ups and downs of finding the right publisher. Come along for the ride. I promise it will be interesting and entertaining.

Alex Epstein is a screenwriter for television and movies. He was nominated for a Jutra and a Canadian Comedy Award for his writing on BON COP BAD COP, which won the Genie for Best Picture, and broke the Canadian box office record for a Canadian movie. He co-created the comic drama tv series NAKED JOSH for Showcase and Oxygen; it ran three seasons. He’s been nominated twice for a Canadian Screenwriting Award for his work on the show. He was Head Writer on the science fiction series CHARLIE JADE.

 
He began his career in LA, where, as a development and production exec, he helped produce a half dozen films and worked with directors such as Richard Attenborough and John Badham. He also co-wrote WARRIORS, starring Gary Busey. In 2000 he moved to Montréal, where he was Executive Story Editor on FoxKids’ series GALIDOR.  He has written two screenwriting books, CRAFTY SCREENWRITING: WRITING MOVIES THAT GET MADE, and CRAFTY TV WRITING: THINKING INSIDE THE BOX. He recently directed a short comedy film, TWELVE WAYS TO SAY I’M SORRY.

Epstein got his Master of Fine Arts at UCLA's School of Film and Television. He has his B.A. magna cum laude from Yale College in Computer Science and English.  Epstein lives in Montréal’s Old Port with his wife, two kids, and a big shaggy dog. He blogs about screenwriting at http://complicationsensue.blogspot.com. He is currently developing a dark fantasy drama series for The Movie Network and Movie Central.

Joel Haber is a professional screenwriter and script analyst with over a 13 years of film industry experience. He has been a script reader for such companies as New Line Cinema, Walden Media, William Morris Agency, Tribeca Productions (DeNiro), and many other companies and screenplay competitions. He has also consulted independently with developing screenwriters, helping them to further improve their craft. Joel writes about screenwriting in Script magazine ( http://www.scriptmag.com/) and on his popular screenwriting blog ( http://funjoel.blogspot.com/). Joel has been named a "Star Speaker" the last three years at the Screenwriting Expo in Los Angeles. He has an MA in Media Studies, and lives in Los Angeles after many years in New York City. He may be reached for private script consultations at FunJoel@earthlink.net and will soon be launching FunJoel.com.

Dr. Julia Evergreen Keefer www.nyu.edu/classes/keefer is a writer, screenwriting consultant and professor at NYU for the past fifteen years. She just published an 800 page fantasy memoir, and is now writing a screenwriting/story structure textbook. She received her Ph.D from NYU in drama and when she is not working on films she is teaching kickboxing, so she can give you the energy to get your butt and your story in shape!