WiFi Speakers

WiFi SPEAKERS 2008

Ken Rotcop
Award-Winning Screenwriter/Teacher/Former Studio Head

presented by:

"The Perfect Pitch"
Learn how to deliver the perfect pitch from the man who invented the "Pitchfest!"

Ken Rotcop's Bio:
Ken Rotcop, WGA award-winning writer and former creative head of Embassy Pictures, Hanna-Barbara, Cannon Films, and Trans-World Productions, holds weekly screenwriter's workshops in L.A. and the San Fernando Valley area for beginning and intermediate screenwriters, taking the writer from idea to completed screenplay!

Award winning screenwriter Ken Rotcop recently added best selling author to his impressive list of accomplishments. His book "The Perfect Pitch: How to Sell Yourself and Your Movie Idea to Hollywood" received rave reviews from The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, National Public Radio, Screentalk Magazine, HollywoodWritersBlock.com and Inside Film Magazine to mention a few.

A highly sought after screenwriting instructor, Rotcop has taught at UCLA, University of Texas, University of Iowa, University of St. Louis and the University of the Philippines in Manila.

His expertise being in great demand, Rotcop conducts screenwriting workshops and private screenwriting instruction. As an extension of his workshops, Rotcop was the first to establish the bridge between unknown aspiring screenwriters and Hollywood by founding the internationally renowned PITCHMART™.

It was the very first of such forums and remains the most respected in Hollywood. Screenwriters fly to Los Angeles from around the world to participate in his PITCHMART™. Since the inception of PITCHMART™ more than 80 projects have been optioned, 16 of which have been produced.

As a screenwriter, Rotcop's most prestigious production which he both wrote and produced was "For Us, The Living: The Story Of Medgar Evers" which starred Laurence Fishburne. Among the honors the film received were the Writers Guild Award, the Neil Simon Award, and the NAACP Image Award. The film was also honored by the American Film Institute, Women In Film, the city of Atlanta, the state of Mississippi, Filmex and the Democratic National Convention.

Rotcop was the recipient of the Unity Award for the CBS documentary series "Images and Attitudes" about African American history.

He and his workshop were the subject of a feature-length documentary "Talk Fast" which has won various film festivals and was the opening night feature at the LA Independent Film Festival. Most recently STARZ network produced a two-part series on Ken Rotcop, "Pitching Guru". Rotcop's complete biography appears in Who's Who in Entertainment.

Suzanne DeLaurentiis
Independent Producer

presented by:

"Distribution, Financing, Attaching Actors, Oh My!"

Learn how to attach the actor you want! Know the secrets to finding the financing and learn the good and the bad about distribution!

Suzanne De Laurentiis' Bio:
Suzanne De Laurentiis is an independent producer who has been producing, directing, and writing feature films, television, commercials, documentaries and music videos since the early 1980's. A native of New Jersey, Suzanne currently maintains her production offices in Los Angeles, California and South Jersey.

In the early 1980's and in her early 20's, Suzanne DeLaurentiis began her own production company - Suzanne De Laurentiis Productions.

Having worked her way up through the ranks as a director of photography, director, writer and producer, some of her feature credits include; Brothers by Blood, Silicon Towers with Daniel Baldwin and Brian Dennehy, Twin Towers, Mutant Man, Skate Dragons, Pocket Ninjas, The Sterling Chase with Ilana Ubach and Jack Noseworthy, Out of the Black with Sally Kirkland and Jack Conley, and most recently A Month of Sundays with Rod Steiger.

Additionally, Suzanne has acted as a consulting producer on Mannequin 2, Swiss Family Robinson with Jane Seymour, and Rocky V.

Suzanne De Laurentiis Productions, completed Shut up and Kiss Me, a romantic comedy filmed in South Florida.

10th and Wolf is a drama about the Philadelphia mob, filming in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Consulting on the film will be the most famous mafia informant "Joe Pistone" whose novel was made into the feature film "Donnie Brasco", starring Giovanni Ribisi, James Marsden, Brad Renfro, Brian Denney, Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Lesley Ann Warren, Tommy Lee, Piper Perabo, and Dash Mihok. 10th and Wolf won the Aroura and Telly awards for best picture, 2006.

Suzanne currently is the head of the Cinema City International Film Festival in Los Angeles, CA.

Greg Prange
(Executive Producer /Director One Tree Hill)

presented by:

"Shooting For The Edit"

Learn how to direct for the edit!

Greg Prange's Bio:
Greg Prange is an accomplished producer and director whose credits include
the hit Warner Bros. television series, "One Tree Hill" and "Dawson's Creek," as well as the ABC series, "Going to Extremes."

He started his career in his hometown, Los Angeles, as an editor for film and television including , "The Big One: The Los Angeles Earthquake," "Crazy From The Heart," and "Cagney and Lacey"(pilot) and an Emmy nomination for "To Heal A Nation." In his time as an editor he cut over 31 television movies and 5 feature films.

His producing credits include the 1995 remake of "Flipper," The WB's "Young Americans" (pilot & series), CBS' "Nash Bridges," ABC's series "Fantasy Island" (pilot) and his two most recent series, "Dawson's Creek" and "One Tree Hill" reached the television milestone of 100 episodes.

He has produced well over 250 hours of television and directed more than 25
episodes during that time.

For the past 11 years he has called Wilmington, NC, his home. He has become an advocate for filming in North Carolina and gladly spends time helping young filmmakers learn about the industry.

Speaker Pippin Parker

Presented by:

PIPPIN PARKER , Writer, Director and Dramaturge. Founding member and former Artistic Director of Naked Angels theater company in New York City. As a writer, his plays include “Anesthesia,” “Assisted Living” and numerous one acts, which have been produced in New York and Los Angeles. His radio play “A Gift” was broadcast on NPR’s “The Next Big Thing.” His screenplays include “Oh, The Humanity” for GreeneStreet Films and “Dinky.” Television credits include “The High Life” for HBO and the animated series “The Tick.”

He directed and was the dramaturge for the acclaimed Off-Broadway play “Betrayed,” written by George Packer, which recently received the Lucille Lortel award for Outstanding Play of the Year.

Mr. Parker is currently the Chair of the Graduate Playwriting Program at the New School for Drama in New York City. He is an elected member of the Writers Guild East leadership Council and served as an alternate on the Negotiating Committee for the 2007 Minimum Basic Agreement.

Learn the ins and outs of all the WGA is and what they have to offer you, the writer.

Timothy Hodge
(Executive Producer/Writer/Director/Animator)
@ Big Idea Studios and Bald Melon Productions

"Adventures in Storyboarding: Getting Paid for Doodling in Meetings"

Learn about the art of story-boarding and the creative process it takes to bring those pictures to life.

Tim Hodge's Bio:
Tim Hodge stumbled upon his dad's 8mm camera in the 7th grade and spent all summer making animated films with clay, sticks and anything else he could find. His live action films usually starred his younger sisters.

After attending ORU in Tulsa, he got his first job in animation at Willming-Reams Animation studio in San Antonio, Texas, where he drew animated television commercials for seven years. It was also during this time that he continued his art education at the San Antonio Art Institute.

Eventually, Tim applied to Disney Feature Animation located at the Disney/MGM Studios theme park in Florida.

His credits include "The Lion King", "Pocahontas", "Mulan" and "Brother Bear".

In the year 2000, he moved north to Illinois to join the studios of Big Idea Productions and started working in computer animation. Hodge's directorial debut at Big Idea, "Lyle the Kindly Viking" won the Best Direct To Video Animated Release at the 2001 World Animation Celebration. He was also nominated for Best Vocal Perfomance in 2003 for his role as Khalil in "Jonah: A Veggietales Movie".

In 2007 Tim accepted the position of Executive Producer and Show Runner
for the animated series, "3-2-1 Penguins!" which appears on NBC.

He currently lives in Franklin, Tennessee with his family.

Nick Osborne, Underground Films
(Executive/Producer/Partner)
"Navigating your way into Hollywood"

Learn about the development process and what steps you need to take get your screenplay to "industy standard."

Nick Osborne's Bio:
Nick Osborne is a founding partner of Underground Films & Management, a production and management company based in Los Angeles. Underground Films has a first look deal with The Weinstein Company.
Nick was a producer on the last year's summer comedy, LICENSE TO WED for Warner Bros along with Mike Medavoy, Arnie Messer and Robert Simonds. The films stars Robin Williams, Mandy Moore and John Krasinski and was directed by Ken Kwapis.
Nick is an executive producer on ALL ABOUT STEVE which will be released this fall by Fox 2000. It stars Sandra Bullock, Thomas Hayden Church and Bradley Cooper and was directed by Phil Traill.
Alongside his partner, Trevor Engelson, Nick was an executive producer on Sony's summer comedy, ZOOM, starring Tim Allen, Chevy Chase and Courtney Cox, and a co-executive producer on ABC Family's Christmas comedy MARY CHRISTMAS.
This fall, Nick will be producing MEMOIRS – a love story set in New York City. Allen Coulter is directing.
Underground Films has a diverse set of projects set up at different studios and financiers including the family comedy DR SENSITIVE at Universal Pictures with Tom Shadyac attached to direct, the comedies RISING SON and MUSKRAT LOVE, at the Weinstein Company ,CLASS ACT, with Halle Berry attached to star, at Dreamworks, ANIMALS at Sony, FIRE ON THE MOUNTAIN at Nationalk Geographic Films, SOCCER MOM at New Line and WISHWORKS at Universal Pictures.
Nick is also a writer; his latest script being a contemporization for Phoenix Pictures of Agatha Christie's spy thriller DESTINATION UNKNOWN. Nick has just finished his first novel, THE CONVERT.
Nick came to Los Angeles in 1995 to study for his MFA at the Peter Stark Producing Program at U.S.C. Within a couple of weeks, he had also wrangled himself an internship at Silver Pictures, where he spent the next year learning the fine art of copying scripts and making coffee.
One year in, Nick went to intern for the Sony based financier Phoenix Pictures and over the next 3 1/2 years worked his way through the ranks to become a V.P of Production. As an executive, Nick worked on a diverse slate of pictures including Apt Pupil, U-Turn, The Thin Red Line and Lake Placid. In 1998, Nick shepherded the box office hit Urban Legend to the screen.
In early 1999, Nick left Phoenix to start his own production company, O/Z Films. O/Z had a first look deal with Phoenix and in 2000 Nick executive produced the sequel to Urban Legend.
In 2001 O/Z Films, metamorphisized into Underground Films and Underground Management, which Nick co-founded with Trevor Engelson; two sister companies - one dedicated to producing quality films, the other to finding and managing the careers of talented filmmakers and screenwriters.
Nick is a native of Scotland where he grew up on a farm in the county of Angus. Before coming to Los Angeles, he got his B.A in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University and before that worked as an aid worker / teacher with International Rescue Committee / Project Trust in Peshawar, Pakistan on the border with Afghanistan.

Scott Houle Owner of Coastal-Studios
Sound Xpert

"Help! My sound sucks!"

Learn the Do's and Don't of sound on the set and in post-production. Tips and Tricks that will keep your production head-ache free (well, at least in the sound department)

Scott Houle's Bio:
A master at the art of dialogue replacement, Scott has worked on projects such as, The Lion King, Batman II, III & IV, The Crow and many more. He's also worked with actors such as Anthony Hopkins, Matthew Brodrick, Dennis Hopper, Jim Carey, Katie Holmes, Pat Hingle, and Peter Jurasik, just to name a few.

Houle's Anime projects include the English language versions of "Lupin III", "The Fuma Conspiracy", "Baoh", "Spirit of Wonder", "You're Under Arrest", "Ah! My Goddess", "Crusher Joe", etc. Scott also gave us the English dub of the live action classic, "Lone Wolf and Cub".

Lt. Colonel Paul Sinor

Learn how to bring realism to your script when it comes to action in film.

Lt. Colonel Paul Sinor's Bio:
Lt. Colonel Paul Sinor is the Entertainment Industry Liaison Officer for the U.S. Army Office of Public Affairs. After a highly-decorated term in the Army where he served in Korea and Vietnam, Lt. Colonel Sinor retired from the service and devoted time to writing and producing television and feature film projects, including "Dead Men Can't Dance" for Live Entertainment, "Testing the Limits" for Mystique Films, and "The Martini Shot" for On Tap Productions. He also taught screenwriting at colleges in Florida and Washington.

Sinor returned to Army service in the Entertainment Industry Liaison Office where he also served as technical advisor for the television series "Tour of Duty."

As Technical Advisor, his latest credits include: Transformers (2007), I Am Legend (2007) and the upcoming films: Major Movie, Doesn't Texas Ever End. In television, his credits include: 24, Numbers, Lost, Invasion, and many more.

As an author, Paul has published two books, "Operation Brighteyes" and "B$a Script Sale...when you don't live in Hollywood."

Barry Green
"The HVX Boot Camp"

Learn from the best of the best about how to use this popular camera to its fullest and richest potential.

Emmy-award-winning producer with four Emmy nominations for writing and producing. Award-winning screenwriter. Other awards for producing include Telly, Accolade, Aurora, Aegis, Summit, Cinema in Industry, and EMA awards. Staff instructor at the Wounded Marine Careers Foundation film school (www.woundedmarinecareers.org). Lead moderator of www.DVXUser.com, the largest online community of independent filmmakers.

Invited speaker at broadcast conventions around the world including Broadcast India, Broadcast Asia in Singapore, SMPTE Australia, and HD seminars in Bangkok, Thailand and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Author of the hugely successful training manuals The HVX Book and The DVX Book, producer and host of training DVDs including The HVX BootCamp DVD series and Sound For Film and Television.

Former member of the Board of Directors of Women In Film (Las Vegas chapter), past member of National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, American Film Institute, Independent Feature Project/West, Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, and Film Arts Foundation.

Barry is currently the owner and operator of Wrightsville Beach Studios, in Wilmington, NC.

Melodie Shaw

(Assistant South Region Director, Screen Actors Guild)

Presented by:

Learn about what SAG represents and what they can do to protect your rights as an actor.

Melodie Shaw started with Screen Actors Guild as an Administrative Assistant to the Southwest Region Executive Director, Jerre Hookey. Melodie worked closely with Jerre in his duties as Strike Coordinator, coordinating all national efforts for the 2000 Commercials Strike, and served as his assistant in his position of National Director of Organizing.
She served as a Business Representative for the Southwest Region for about 6 months prior to being promoted to the Utah and New Mexico Executive Director. In October of 2001, Melodie was named the Interim Nevada Executive Director in addition to continuing as the executive for Utah and New Mexico, a position she held until September of 2002 when she was promoted to North Region Executive.
In August of 2004 Melodie relocated to Miami, assuming her current role as Assistant South Region Director. In this position, Melodie oversees all production, member and agency relations in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Carolinas in addition to assisting in the oversight of four other branches, seven other states and the Caribbean as part of the South Region.
She oversees agency relations in eight of the twelve states and assists the executives in the other branches within the South Region. She has worked with various legislative bodies throughout the country on film initiatives, including Louisiana, to assist in the drafting and passage of child labor laws for the film industry as well as the establishment of child trust account legislation. She is responsible for coordinating all special events in the states served by the Florida Branch, including agency seminars, Conversations and LifeRaft events, all of which are sponsored by the SAG Foundation.