Hollywood Agents Invade Portland

Over 40 Hollywood agents, producers, managers, New York agents and editors attend the Willamette Writers conference August 6-8th to meet writers and take pitches.

PORLTAND, OR (PRWEB) July 23, 2004 -- Over 40 film and literary agents, editors, producers and managers will invade Portland this August 6th through 8th, at the 35th annual Willamette Writers Conference. Theyll be coming from Hollywood, New York City and points beyond. And theyll be looking for new material.

While the Conference serves all types of writers, it boasts an extensive film track" of workshops, seminars, and pitch" sessions in which aspiring screenwriters can present their ideas one-on-one to over twenty film industry insiders. These insiders and/or the companies work for have been involved in such films as The Wedding Planner, K-19, Resident Evil, Runaway Jury, Confidential, Man on Fire, and Adaptation. Many have production deals with such distributors as DreamWorks, Paramount, WB, Sony, and Miramax.

The pitch phenomenon is making waves throughout America, as aspiring writers, producers, managers and agents attend similar conferences and pitch fests" everywhere from Hollywood to Austin, Texas and New York City. The Willamette Writers Conference is a favorite stop on this circuit.

Why Portland?

For one thing, the city is a Mecca for aspiring filmmakers and fans of mainstream, independent, foreign and experimental cinema. Agents and producers also point to Portlands vibrant filmmaking community, its strong base of ardent filmgoers, its plethora of art house film venues, and such local luminaries as Gus Van Sandt (Elephant) and Todd Haynes (Far from Heaven). Most of all, they have high praise for the caliber of writers who have pitched their projects at the Conference.

According to Conference Chair, Debbie Stone, The word is out. Every year we have scores of agents and producers clamoring to get in. Many of them have come several times. Theyre all looking for the next breakthrough script."

Perhaps this year, a northwest writer will once again land a script deal through contacts made at the conference. Last years Cinderella story was local scribe Marc Acito, who recently sold the movie rights to his novel, How I Paid for College, A Novel of Sex, Theft, friendship & Musical Theater, for a whopping six figures.

The roster of Hollywood decision-makers who will be taking pitches and/or offering lectures and workshops at the conference this August includes:

Tobin Armbrust, senior executive at Thunder Road Entertainment; Dave Brown, agent for writers and directors in film and TV at Genesis; Janet Jeffries who heads up development for producer Lawrence Bender; Mac Torluccio who works in Creative Affairs at the Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group; Ian Moore, Director of Development at Kirschner Productions; Sean Robbins, Director of Development at Robert Lawrence Productions; Afsoun Yazdian, VP of Production at Lloyd & Kass Entertainment, and many others.

A complete roster and bios are available at the Willamette Writers website, www.willamettewriters.com, and clicking on the conference link.

The three-day conference kicks off Friday, August 6th with a full slate of workshops and pitch sessions, ending with the evenings main event -- Short Films & Short Ribs." Co-sponsored by the Oregon Film and Video Office (OFVO) and Oregon Media Producers Association (OMPA), the evening includes a western barbeque buffet and a screening of short films hosted by Hollywood Producer Frederick Levy (author of the LA Times bestseller, Hollywood 101"). Levy will discuss his new book, Short Films 101: How to Make A Short Film and Launch Your Filmmaking Career."

The conference also includes workshops on writing fiction, genres, non-fiction, memoirs, and the business of writing, with opportunities to pitch to some of the country's top literary agents, including Donald Maass, Michael Larson, Elisabet McHugh, and Angela Rinaldi, who's sold five books by members of Willamette Writers in the last year.

Workshop presenters include Bill Johnson (A Story is a Promise, www.storyispromise.com), Elizabeth Lyon (Nonfiction Book Proposals Anybody Can Write), Cynthia Whitcomb (Writing Your Screenplay), and Al Siebert.

The 35th Annual Willamette Writers Conference is open to the public and will take place August 6-8, 2004, at the Embassy Suites Portland Airport Hotel. Full Conference information, registration and bios on all workshop presenters are available at www.willamettewriters.com, or by calling the WW office at (503)452-1592.

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Press Release -- Brooke Monfort