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Allen James Roughton is the Stage 32 Script Services Coordinator, a screenwriter, reader and development researcher who has consulted on over 100 projects, scripts, books, comics and films and conducted research on life stories, exposés, professions and locations for development at major production companies. Full Bio »
Writers can't rely on jump-scares and creepy music, so how do screenwriters create tension on the page? We'll take a look at needling suspense of THE BABADOOK, the tension just below the surface in GET OUT, the apocalyptic horror of “The Walking Dead”, and the creeps and chills of IT.




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Writers' Room Members! Much more than a Breakdown Webcast, our special guest, Story Analyst for AMAZON Studios, Michael Schulman, will be going to discuss how Spec Scripts get shopped by Agents & considered by studios using examples he worked on: GROUNDHOG DAY, THE SIXTH SENSE, REGARDING HENRY, and MUNICH. Our LIVE audience will get the experience of being in a producer’s meeting where the goal is to dissect the draft and get the project ready to submit to the studio. This is a deep, creative scrub that will provide a specific game plan for a rewrite that will help position your project in the sweet spot of what the studios and streamers are looking for. Michael began his career at the William Morris Agency as an agent trainee, then at ICM, as an agent in the motion picture literary department, Michael began representing emerging screenwriters, directors, and producers, brokering the deal for Danny Rubin’s screenplay GROUNDHOG DAY to director Harold Ramis. Michael also spent years on the buyer side of film as VP of Development for Alec Baldwin’s company at Orion Pictures and subsequently for Dennis Quaid’s company at TriStar, and worked at Barry Mendel Productions, where he was involved with the acquisition, development, and production of Oscar-nominated THE SIXTH SENSE and Spielberg's Oscar-nominated MUNICH. Michael spent two years as head of development for Michael Mann’s company, where he worked on Oscar-nominated ALI, 5-time Oscar-winning THE AVIATOR, and was a former story analyst/script consultant for Netflix in the Original Independent Film (OIF) division. Invaluable knowledge is being shared with our Writers' Room Members, right here on Stage 32!
We're back in the Writers Room this afternoon for a special The Breakdown Webcast: Writing Adaptations with Special Guest, Writers' Room Member Stephen Potts! Stephen Potts is a screenwriter specializing in adaptations with one feature film produced (a Philip Pullman adaptation), four others optioned. Also author of children's adventure fiction (seven books published) and writer for stage and radio.
We're back in the Writers Room this afternoon for The Breakdown Webcast with Film & Television Writer, Ashley Miller!
We’re back in the Writers’ Room for the Breakdown with Kay Ross. We breakdown produced screenplays focusing on a different aspect of writing every webcast. Join us as Kay breaks down the pilot of SHOGUN.
We’re back in the Writers’ Room for the Breakdown with Laurie Ashbourne. We breakdown produced screenplays focusing on a different aspect of writing every webcast. Join us as Laurie Ashbourne breaks down an episode of True Detective: Night Country.
Many times in writing our projects do not have a strong enough inciting incident to effectively kick off the narrative. During this webcast we will look at moments everything changed for our protagonists and they were launched on their journey. Every event that happens subsequently will be traced back to this one monumental event. We will examine the inciting incidents of films as well as television shows and explain how they changed the world in an irreversible way. Examples include films such as Monsters Inc., Saving Private Ryan, "The Sopranos," "Breaking Bad," and more!