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Jason Mirch is Stage 32's Director of Script Services and host of the Writers' Room. Outside of this role, he is a feature film, television, branded entertainment, and digital content producer and executive with over 15 years experience. Most recently, he produced a 3D animated feature film starring Jacob Tremblay, Christopher Lloyd, Mel Brooks, and Carol Kane. Full Bio »
Flashbacks are not meant to be a storytelling crutch, but rather a tool used to reveal additional backstory or subvert the audiences expectation of a character or situation. We will examine Casablanca, The Usual Suspects & Casino Royale.
The Breakdown
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In this breakdown webcast, Jason discusses how the process for writing animated features has evolved from Walt Disney's first animated feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarves to Pixar's most recent 3D animated releases. Jason discusses how writing for animation is similar to live action and where the process differs. Using scenes and scripts from Up, Wall-E, Bug's Life, "The Simpsons" and more as examples, Jason explains how to apply the principles of animation writing to your work.
Using the films Annihilation, Arrival, Avatar, Legion, and Mad Max: Fury Road as examples, we'll be discussing and describing visually original concepts.
We're back in the Writers Room this afternoon for The Breakdown with Will McCance. Will McCance is currently Vice President of Production for Ian Bryce, producer of blockbusters like SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, ALMOST FAMOUS, the TRANSFORMERS franchise, and most recently Michael Bay's SIX UNDERGROUND for Netflix and the recent hit FINDING 'OHANA for Netflix. At Ian Bryce Productions, Will oversees the company's entire development slate. Will entered the entertainment industry as an Agent Trainee at United Talent Agency, supporting UTA in the Motion Picture Lit group, as well as in the Motion Picture Talent department. After UTA, he moved into development at Original Film's TV department, working on hit shows such as THE BOYS (Amazon) and PREACHER (AMC), as well as on SWAT (CBS) and HAPPY! (Syfy). Will has produced films such as the upcoming LOLA JAMES, starring Nicola Peltz and Oscar-Nominee Virginia Madsen, BERNARD AND HUEY, starring Jim Rash, David Koechner, and Mae Whitman, as well as Belarus's 2018 Oscar selection for Best Foreign Film, CRYSTAL SWAN, along with Vice. He is also a frequent guest lecturer at UCLA's school of Theater, Film, and Television. PRAISE FOR WILL'S LESSONS: "Thanks, Will, for your insights and time! And thank you Kay!" -Martha C. "Thank you, Will. Incredible. Just incredible." -Reenita H. "That was fabulous. Thank you Will!" -Becky B. "Thank you Will, fantastic Breakdown of Succession. Will be re-watching this webinar, then re-watching the pilot and reading the script. Thank you Kaye and Stage 32. Have a lovely week." -Lyndsay S.
Watch a special edition to THE BREAKDOWN webcast with producer and Stage 32 Executive Liaison, Nick Phillips, as he breaks down the script for the Best Picture Oscar Winner, OPENHEIMER. Find out why it took home so much gold at this year's Academy Awards AND get a FREE copy of the script! We are excited to breakdown OPPENHEIMER and focusing on a different aspect of writing every webcast.
We love to hate them...or hate to love them! We're kicking off another month of a packed Writers' Room schedule with the Breakdown Webcast: Antagonists! During one of our character building webcasts, we noted that many of our examples of great characters, were characters who we traditionally see as antagonists! So let's dig in and really explore what makes these baddies so good. Stories need conflict, certainly, but conflict doesn't have to come at the hands of a cackling, mustache-twirling supervillain. There's more than one way to shape your story's antagonist! During this webcast we'll discuss 4 types of antagonists, 6 ways in which to develop a well-rounded and authentic antagonist, how to intrude your antagonists and explore our favorite antagonists from film and television, and a whole lot more!
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!