RSVPs will be accepted until 5pm the day before; after you RSVP, zoom will handle access to the event.

Please join us to discuss the problems of writing conventionally. Founder Jeffrey Gordon (JG), will share Writers Boot Camp’s myriad methods that have helped thousands of writers and artists jumpstart their climb in the professional entertainment business. We’ll pivot from a few key fallacies that ultimately hold writers back, including a lack of writing regimen.

While it’s clear that new writers entering the business may not as broadly see their path as prior generations before, with every disruption comes significant opportunity for motivated workers.

In addition to addressing the realities of AI looming, which may assist very clever writers in minimizing the drudgery of writing, JG will raise the profound differences between machine-based storytelling and the human intuition that will distinguish your material.

Regardless of trends or changes in the business, idealism about the creative process can help a new writer generate excitement for their ideas and muster a certain level of productivity. That said, it’s crucial to identify the methods of professionals–and to learn more specifically about the expectations of studios, networks, executives and established producers. Inexperience is inherently a path of inertia, which can present an invisible wall. Walls like being unwittingly derivative, not knowing how to test one’s ideas, being content-driven or text-driven, editing rather than rewriting more authentically, all contribute to profound delays in a writer’s productivity and career progress.

Too many writers approach rewriting without regard for audience experience, focusing on text-driven and content-based changes prematurely.  This rapidly devolves into editing prior to bringing enough new material to significantly alter and more fully express the story and, even more importantly, the fresh entertainment and conceits of the project.

Writers Boot Camp’s core philosophy is one of Full Development, a six-month, 10-draft process for part-time writers who have committed 10 hours per week for their writing regimen. Each of these drafts is not as daunting as a page-one rewrite, yet each one can bring a new layer of depth and improvement to a script. We’ll discuss how each month is refined by very specific creative objectives, as well as the best order of rewriting priorities.

In addition to doing too much with the first rewrite, mixing up the various fundamentals and levels of work–Concept, Structure, Character Development & Scene Work–inevitably undermines a writer’s sense of progress. In that way, drafts are not necessarily progressive and the writer’s view of their own work becomes obstructed and the work that would ideally feel stronger tends to lead to project burnout.

Rewriting Is Where the Work Is

For professional perspective, we have rarely seen writers attract interest for their material when they have not been motivated to rewrite on their own. While we believe in writers getting paid, Writers Boot Camp’s unique tools empower writers to more effectively and more fully develop their work. Most paid work comes from rewriting, whether having the chance to do the first rewrite upon setting up a project, landing a development deal or staff job based on your writing samples, or even as a show runner rewriting the staff’s work to match the voice of your show.

After the writers’ strike and economy meltdown of 2007-2008, limitations on private equity severely reduced independent production of feature films. However, when investment ramped up again a few years later, we learned that nearly 80 feature films were made between 2011-2017 that were written by Writers Boot Camp alumni. And you know how they earned their keep? By staying on as the writers of record all the way through the creative process.

We’ll have ample time for Q&A, and Founder Jeffrey Gordon (JG) will mention a few updates to the classic Checkpoints as topics converge.

If you have a colleague or loved one who may be considering Pro Membership and writing as a career, or even just the 10-Week Basic Training, this is an ideal introduction to many of the core philosophies that have helped thousands of writers and filmmakers for the past 36 years.

Please have your guests note your name on their RSVP.

If you RSVP and cannot attend, please let us know. Mini-Camps are an ongoing benefit of Professional Membership. We open certain Mini-Camps to Basic Training alumni and friends in the business to meet new writers and filmmakers who will benefit from our support.

For more info about Writers Boot Camp you can call 310/998-1199, check out writersbootcamp.com, or email jg@writersbootcamp.com

We always love to hear from alumni with news and success stories!