The 2010 Screenwriting Expo Announces Speakers John August, Shane Black, David Milch & Jennifer Salt

Sept. 9, 2010 - PRLog -- Los Angeles, CA—The 2010 Screenwriting Expo is set to kick-off October 7-10 at the Hilton LAX, with an acclaimed Guest of Honor line-up, featuring screenwriters John August, Shane Black, David Milch and Jennifer Salt. Additional speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.

Currently in its 9th year, the Screenwriting Expo is the largest meeting in the world, devoted exclusively to creative writing for feature films and television, with more than 1,700 participants each year. Founded in 2001 by Creative Screenwriting magazine, the Expo includes more than 120 teaching sessions on the business and craft of screenwriting, interviews with Guests of Honor, panel discussions with producers and agents, an Exhibit Hall for screenwriters, the world’s only live, on-the-scene screenwriting competition, the CS Open, and one of Hollywood’s most popular pitch fests, the Golden Pitch Fest.

During the Guest of Honor series, today’s most successful screenwriters are interviewed in a Q&A session on-stage in front of a registrant audience. At the end of each program, attendees will be given the opportunity to ask their own questions to the screenwriters directly.

About the Guests of Honor:

John August is the esteemed writer of Tim Burton's Big Fish and the indie hit Go. August has also collaborated with Burton on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the animated film Corpse Bride, and the 2011 Disney release Frankenweenie. August has also delved into action screenwriting by having a hand in both Charlie's Angels films. His last project was the lauded film The Nines, on which he made his directorial debut.

Shane Black is one of the highest paid screenwriters in film history, receiving large paychecks for his specs for The Long Kiss Goodnight ($4 million), The Last Boyscout ($1.75 million), and Last Action Hero ($1 million). He is also the mind behind the Lethal Weapon franchise, where he sold the script for the first installment at only age 23. He recently wrote and directed Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and is currently working on Lethal Weapon 5.

David Milch was an English Literature professor at Yale University when he wrote a script for Hill Street Blues. The episode, "Trial By Fury," won the Emmy, the Writers Guild Award, and the Humanitas Prize for that season. Milch went on to spend five seasons with Hill Street Blues becoming the show’s Executive Producer. Later, he co-created the history-making police drama NYPD Blue which garnered a record setting 26 Emmy Nominations its premier season, going on to win countless awards. David has continued to create numerous TV dramas including Brooklyn South, True Blue: The Real Stories Behind NYPD Blue, and as creative consultant for several series including Steven Bochco's Murder One and Total Security. Since forming Redboard Productions, Milch co-created Big Apple, and the multi-award winning drama Deadwood for HBO. He is currently in production on the new drama Luck, also for HBO, about the horse racing world.

Jennifer Salt is the screenwriter of the new feature film Eat Pray Love. Salt also wrote and produced eight seasons of the Golden Globe Award winning series Nip/Tuck. Currently, she is developing a script based on the Rachel DeWoskin book Foreign Babes in Beijing. Prior to screenwriting, Salt was a successful actress on Broadway and in film where she appeared in Midnight Cowboy, Robert Altman's Brewster McCloud, Brian DePalma's Hi Mom and Sisters, Paul Williams' The Revolutionary, and Woody Allen's Play It Again Sam, amongst others. As a writer, Jennifer’s first series job was with Sins of the City for USA network, followed by Nero Wolfe Mysteries for A&E. Her father, Waldo Salt, won two Academy Awards for his screenplays Midnight Cowboy and Coming Home, along with an Oscar nomination for Serpico.

The Expo offers more than 120 courses on virtually every screenwriting subject imaginable. Taught by leading screenwriting professionals and sought-after industry instructors, seminars at the Expo will focus on all aspects of the craft and business of screenwriting. This year, several classes will concentrate on the art of script pitching and marketing, with an au courant “Renegade Tactics” class taught by screenwriter Michael Elliot (Just Wright).

Undoubtedly, the Golden Pitch Fest is one of the most anticipated events at the Expo every year. In one-on-one rotating sessions, writers have the opportunity to pitch their own screenplays to A-list producers, studio execs and agents. For two and a half days, the Golden Pitch Fest grants unrepresented writers the chance to attain insider industry access. In order to gear up for these pitches, the Expo also offers an extensive pitch boot camp on October 6th.

A new and popular event is the pre-Expo Pitch Boot Camp (separate signup) held jointly by The Scriptwriters Network and the Screenwriting Expo during the day Oct. 7 to prepare writers to pitch in the Golden Pitch Fest.  The Expo program itself kicks off with the award ceremony for the Expo Screenplay Competition and a cocktail reception the evening of Oct. 7.    

Expo attendees also gain entrance to the Exhibit Hall, which features more than 30 exhibitors offering discounted products and services for screenwriters including books, software, script analysis and supplies. Networking Receptions will also be held nightly following the Expo events, offering screenwriters further opportunities to meet fellow industry professionals and up-and-comers.  

The 2010 Screenwriting Expo will open the evening of Oct 7, and will run through Oct.10 at the Hilton LAX in Los Angeles. For additional updates, class schedules and details, visit http://screenwritingexpo.com.