The Owl Screenwriting Workshop

Join me in Athens, Greece from October 1–4, 2024.

In 2023, I was a mentor at The Owl Screenwriting Workshop and they have invited me back this year. Here are the details.

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THE OWL SCREENWRITING WORKSHOP IN ATHENS 
SEEKS APPLICATIONS

THE OWL, is an annual workshop for screenwriters who have already achieved early-career success with a distributed film or TV show and who are ready to launch their careers internationally. The workshop which is organized by the Athens Film Office of the City of Athens, aims to create a bridge for screenwriters working outside global centers of film production to reach some of the most well-funded and commercially successful film producers in the world. We are committed to supporting professional writers with a diverse range of backgrounds and identities.

A group of 10 film professionals with global ambitions will be selected to participate in the mentoring and networking workshop held October 1–4th, in Athens, Greece. The workshop, which is taking place for the third consecutive year, includes one-to-one mentorship by industry screenwriting and business experts. Additionally, participants will have the chance to attend the Industry Days, a two-day pitching event that includes presentations, panel talks, and networking with studio representatives, producers, broadcasters, and platforms.

The workshop includes personal guidance from leading industry experts. Among them are Marc Lorber, executive producer on “The Pact”, “Motherland” and “Devils” as SVP of Lionsgate’s international co-productions, Carlo Dusi, executive producer and managing director at Endor productions who previously led all scripted strategy across Red Arrow Studios International’s scripted production and co-production business, Kurban Kassam, executive producer at Pulse films, producer of BAFTA and RTS winning “Jungle” for Amazon studios, Julia Berg, award winning creative producer who has worked for leading BAFTA and Oscar winning producers and filmmakers and Lindsey Bender, agent of the internationally renowned Creative Artists Agency (CAA) who also teaches in the European show running program. More mentors will be announced soon.

The workshop will be led by Prof. Scott Myers, author of “The Protagonists’ Journey”, screenwriting professor at DePaul University, mentor at the Blacklist Seminars and acclaimed screenwriter having penned 30 projects for major Hollywood studios and broadcast networks such as K-9, Alaska, and Trojan War.

HOW TO APPLY

Applicants should submit an unpublished draft of an audience-driven movie or TV pilot script that could be adapted for filming in Greece. The adaptation for the film to be set or shot in Greece does not need to be completed before applying. Entries are judged by a Selection Committee of experienced film and TV professionals while judging is based on the writer’s track record and overall quality of the script, originality, writing style, and concept marketability.

Applications will be accepted online via Coverfly until July 8th, 2024.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Participation in the workshops will give attendees the freedom to explore their stories and characters alongside industry experts and an international cohort of peers, creating new sources of inspiration and establishing a network of industry connections.

During the four-day workshop running on 1–4 October 2024, the selected screenwriters will meet at St. George Lycabettus in Athens to discuss their projects. The selected screenwriters will have their accommodation, food, and local experiences covered during the workshop in Athens.

After refining their work alone, they will receive additional mentorship remotely in March 2025. During this time, screenwriters will participate in a group workshop, led by Prof. Scott Myers, where each cohort member has read each other’s revised scripts. The third and last part of the workshop will circle back in Athens during the 2025 Owl Industry Days where the writers will have a final session with their mentors and get the chance to pitch their projects in front of a group of industry professionals and guests.

The workshop is organized by he Athens Film Office of the City of Athens. For more info please visit theowl.afo.events or contact er@athensfilmoffice.com

The Owl offers a unique screenwriting workshop experience:

• I lead several presentations about The Protagonist’s Journey and its application to the story-crafting process
• There are multiple panels with other mentors covering the film and television business in Europe
• The Owl is open to both film and TV writing projects
• In addition to the initial workshop event in October, the following March, I oversee a Zoom session for both the TV and movie groups where we review and workshop their revised scripts
• Then the following October, these same writers have the opportunity to pitch their projects to industry insiders

The 2023–2024 group featured writers from Europe, the United States, and Canada (you can check them out here). The projects all have potential. In fact, one of the feature film projects Paws was recently at the Cannes Film Market where it launched international sales. Each of their revised projects showed improvement, some even page one rewrites which showed dramatic improvement based upon our original workshop session in Athens.

You may check out the program schedule here.

The initial roster of mentors here (more to be added).

FAQ here.

For more information, go here.

I hope to see you in Athens next October!