Stowe Story Labs Announces Mentors for First Annual Writers’ Retreat
Stowe Story Labs is pleased to announce the mentors for the May 2015 Writers’ Retreat. These seasoned industry professionals bring phenomenal experience, diverse backgrounds and individual perspectives to the Retreat.
The mentors at the 2015 Stowe Story Labs’ Writers’ Retreat are:
Amy Hobby – Creative Producer: Amy has over 20 years of experience as an award-winning feature film and television producer. With ten Sundance premieres to her credit (including SECRETARY, NADJA, HAMLET), Amy more recently began producing high-profile documentary films, which include Steven Soderbergh’s AND EVERYTHING IS GOING FINE about monologist Spalding Gray; LET’S TALK ABOUT SEX – a large-scale educational documentary on sex education in America filming in 10 cities over 2 years; and Academy Award nominated director Liz Garbus’ HBO documentary about Marilyn Monroe called LOVE, MARILYN. Amy recently produced Liz Garbus’ documentary about the incomparable Nina Simone, which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival on opening night. Amy and her business-partner Anne Hubbell recently launched their female-driven production company, Tangerine Entertainment. The company’s vision is to produce character-based features directed by women.
Elizabeth Kaiden – Development Executive and Dramatist: currently serves as Head of Development for Tangerine. She has evaluated scripts for a wide range of writers and directors, from New Dramatists, to Hamptons International Film Festival, to Moxie Firecracker Films, to Miramax. Prior to her work in dramaturgy and development, Elizabeth was a theater and film critic and arts journalist for The Straits Times of Singapore, American Theatre Magazine, The Forward, Metropolitan Magazine, Stagebill and others, and studied Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism at the Yale School of Drama.
David Magee – Screenwriter: David wrote the screenplay for director Ang Lee’s film, “Life of Pi”, based on the award-winning novel by Yann Martel. The film received nine BAFTA nominations and 13 Oscar nominations, including nods from both academies for Best Adapted Screenplay. Magee also wrote “Finding Neverland,” directed by Marc Forster and starring Johnny Depp, which went on to be nominated for eleven BAFTA nominations and seven Academy Award nominations, including nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay. His film, “Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day” starred Amy Adams and Frances McDormand, and was written with Simon Beaufoy (“Slumdog Millionaire”). Current projects include “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” for Sony Films, and “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair” with producer Mark Gordon (“Saving Private Ryan”).
Chris Millis – Screenwriter, Novelist: Chris is a prize-winning, bestselling novelist, screenwriter, producer, cartoonist, and celebrity collaborator. He adapted and executive produced his first novel, ‘Small Apartments’ (Anvil Press, 2001) into a cult film distributed internationally by Sony Pictures. The film was directed by Jonas Akerlund and stars Matt Lucas, Billy Crystal, Johnny Knoxville, James Caan, Rebel Wilson and many others. It made its World Premiere at the 2012 South by Southwest Film Festival. Chris has recently adapted his new novel, ‘God & California’, previously optioned by Lionsgate, into a feature film and is again producing with director JONAS AKERLUND. Chris has published thousands of his drawings and ideas in books, magazines, newspapers, on greeting cards and toys. Since 1995, Millis has co-created John McPherson’s syndicated cartoon feature ‘Close To Home’, which is distributed to over 700 publications worldwide by Universal Press Syndicate. He lives in Los Angeles and upstate New York.
Mark Piznarski – Writer, Director, Producer. Mark is a prolific award winning director. Mark has shot many pilots and has long-running series to his credit (Veronica Mars, 90210, Gossip Girl, My So Called Life, Friday Night Lights, etc).
David Pope – Program Director, Filmmaker, Lead Facilitator: David Pope is a filmmaker, consultant and training provider. Directing credits include the award winning feature film MILES FROM NOWHERE. David has designed and delivered training and / or provided script development services internationally for entities such as The UK Film Council, BFI, BBC, BAFTA, Warp Films, Allfilm, Cannes Film Festival, Wajda School, The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Polish Film Institute, National Theatre, Film London, Lionhead Studios, Xingu Films, Irish Film Board, FAS Screen Training Ireland, MEDIA, Creative Europe, Estonian Film Institute, Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, New Horizons Studio, London University and London Film Academy. David was previously selected as a participant on the British Councils Cultural Leadership International Programme and is a fellow of the Royal Society of The Arts.