2018 Austin Film Festival & Writers Conference Schedule

The annual event in Austin, Texas runs from October 25 through November 1 and I’ll be there for my 5th appearance.

I’ve been quoted as describing the Austin Film Festival & Writers Conference as “Woodstock for screenwriters.” It’s a big, brash, boisterous event featuring 150+ industry professionals and over 1,000 attendees with dozens of panels and presentations centered at the iconic Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas.

Here is my current schedule of events:

Friday, Oct. 26
10:45–12:00
Roundtable: The Art, Craft, and Business of Film Television (panelist)

Saturday, Oct. 27
9:00–10:15
Deconstructing Psycho (panelist)

Sunday, October 28
11:30–12:45
DIY: Making Short Films, Webs Series, and Micro-budget Movies (moderator)

Sunday, October 28
1:15–2:30
The Spec Sale (moderator)

Featured panelists this year include Roger Corman, Tony Gilroy, Daniel Petrie, Jr., and Larry Wilmore, and those are just the honorees with a slew of other screenwriters, TV writer-producers, managers, agents, and the like attending as well. You can check out that roster here.

If you’re going to this year’s AFF, let me know. Happy to hang out, grab a pint, and talk shop!

For more information, go here.

UPDATE: Just added this panel:

Friday, Oct. 26th
3:15–4:30pm
The Third Act (moderator)

You’ve made it to ACT THREE — the conclusion that you’ve been building toward since your title page. This is also the moment when you can discover that ending a story can be just as challenging as beginning one. Join this discussion on how to efficiently provide satisfying closure for your conflicts and characters.

I’ll be moderating with panelists Scott Neustadter and Justin Marks.