Photo credit: Liz Tigelaar
Fall is here. Students are going back to school and meeting new classmates, so are writers of the WGA who met with showrunners on Sept. 20 at the Fairfax High School, L.A. for the Writer’s Guild of America Writers Salon.
During three 45-minute sessions the 250 attending writers got to hear tidbits of writing advice from Mara Brock Akil (Being Mary Jane), Marti Noxon (Un-Real), Eileen Heisler (The Middle), Alexandra Cunningham (Prime Suspect), K.J. Steinberg (Gossip Girl), Moira Walley-Beckett (Breaking Bad’s Ozymandias), Liz Heldens (Camp), Marlene King (Pretty Little Liars) and Liz Tigelaar (Life Unexpected).
Meanwhile on the film front, other guild members were quite busy: Melissa Rosenberg (Twilight) fought for net neutrality on behalf of the Guild at the Sacremento forum and Katherine Fugate (Valentine’s Day), who is currently developing her first feature film as a director, has been re-elected at the board of the WGA.
Relive some moment of the Writer’s Guild of America Writers Salon:
Looking forward to the @WGAWest #WritersSalon today.
— Mystery F'n Creative (@MysteryCr8tve) September 20, 2014
Today @ericaharrell and I are attending #WritersSalon with @WGAWest not quite sure what to expect but excited!
— Desirée (@desire_yay) September 20, 2014
Going back to school today courtesy of @WGAWest! #WritersSalon #AlwaysMoreToLearn http://t.co/LDjy6pfDlz
— Jon Lee Brody (@JonLeeBrody) September 20, 2014
At Fairfax HS for #writerssalon #wgaw The lockers, the linoleum, so familiar. It's like I never left.
— Shernold Edwards (@ShernoldEdwards) September 20, 2014
I'm having every childhood PTSD flashback here at Fairfax high in the classrooms… #WritersSalon
— Mystery F'n Creative (@MysteryCr8tve) September 20, 2014
.@MaraBrockAkil is dropping knowledge @WGAWest #WritersSalon right now!
— Lou-Lou (@writeonloulou) September 20, 2014
"Just be fucking good. A writer once told me, 'you want to be missed when you go to the bathroom'"-@MaraBrockAkil #WritersSalon
— Lou-Lou (@writeonloulou) September 20, 2014
(Part 2) "You have to use your personal life as a resource to help you in the room."- @MaraBrockAkil #WritersSalon
— Lou-Lou (@writeonloulou) September 20, 2014
Big @MaraBrockAkil lesson: Know who you are in room, in your career, at any given moment so you can get 2 where you want 2 be. #WritersSalon
— Lou-Lou (@writeonloulou) September 20, 2014
On pitching: "You wanna get to the questions… then you can sit back and talk about your show" –@MaraBrockAkil #WritersSalon
— Lou-Lou (@writeonloulou) September 20, 2014
Learning the showrumner ropes from @MaraBrockAkil at @WGAWest #WritersSalon pic.twitter.com/e9Q5s8qfeD
— Denise Jaxon (@DeniseJaxon) September 20, 2014
Raising money for the Beyond Bullies charity (http://t.co/6jjT7fpOeM) at the @WGAWest #WritersSalon.… http://t.co/mrrsxd3DZY
— Yaani King (@YaaniKing) September 20, 2014
On being in the room: "sometimes people starting out lay back in the cut too much."-@MaraBrockAkil #WritersSalon
— Lou-Lou (@writeonloulou) September 20, 2014
Had a great @WGAWest #WRITERSSALON – Special thanks to Marlana & the WEC COMM!
— Hilliard Guess (@HilliardGuess) September 21, 2014
WGA's #WritersSalon event was pretty amazing. Marlene King, show runner of Pretty Little Liars @ABCFpll was by far my favorite session.
— Jazmen Darnell Brown (@JazmenDBrown) September 21, 2014
@WGAWest does it right. Afternoon writer's salon of showrunners, all of whom happen to be women. #thatstheway #WritersSalon.
— jamie pachino (@jpachino) September 21, 2014
Great afternoon @wgaw #writerssalon absorbing wisdom from @MaraBrockAkil @martinoxon @eileenheisler Thank U 4 your time & positive energy!
— Sydnie Suskind (@SydnieSuskind) September 21, 2014
"Every show needs a 3am person. It shows in your attitude." – @MaraBrockAkil #WritersSalon
— Lou-Lou (@writeonloulou) September 20, 2014
Common thread in all of these? Screenwriters rarely have a linear path. "I got in to this through a odd/roundabout way" #WritersSalon
— Mystery F'n Creative (@MysteryCr8tve) September 21, 2014
Other observations from the @WGAWest #WritersSalon There is not ONE way to get in to this biz. Not via agent, not via programme…
— Mystery F'n Creative (@MysteryCr8tve) September 22, 2014
Inspiring day at the @WGAWest #WritersSalon: wit and wisdom from showrunners @liztigelaar @imarleneking Liz Heldens and more. Thanks to all!
— Kira Snyder (@sugarjonze) September 21, 2014
Appreciated the insights & thoughts from Alexandra Cunningham, @KJSteinberg2 & @YoWalleyB at the #WritersSalon yesterday. Thanks @WGAWest!
— Mystery F'n Creative (@MysteryCr8tve) September 21, 2014
Watch Moira Walley-Beckett winning an Emmy Award for her Breaking Bad episode Ozymandias on And The Emmy Goes To… Directors, Screenwriters & ActressesWriters! Together! @imarleneking @martinoxon @YoWalleyB @surlysgirl1 @kjsteinberg2 and more pic.twitter.com/thZHetoqPT
— Liz Tigelaar (@liztigelaar) September 21, 2014
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