90-Minute Workshop. Session #2: Friday, February 17; 11 AM – 12:30
So You Think Your Life’s A Movie And Other Guilty Pleasures
In this ninety-minute workshop, we’ll take a look at the most dramatic, life-changing events in your life and the people involved through writing exercise and improvisation. Do you have a slice of your life rich enough to adapt into a movie? You’ll be surprised! Not only will you get an overview of screenplay construction and character development, you’ll come to understand the components of an award-winning scene.
8-Hour Intensive. Monday and Tuesday: February 20 and 21, Location: Biblioteca: Insurgentes #25
So You Think Your Life’s A Movie – Reel Magic!
In this workshop, you will learn how to find your A, B, and C stories, find the arc of those stories, create protagonists that you believe in and root for, and antagonists that change as much as your hero. You learn to write believable dialogue, research your project, write bios for each of your characters, and create the structure of a saleable script. On the last two hours of the second day, we will stop and start an Academy Award winning film to discover the plot points and act endings that make the film a success. It’s fast. It’s fun. Come early and stay late!
Or, as Margo Channing would say: “Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night!” –All About Eve, 1950
A screenwriter by trade, Linda Bergman has been paid to write over twenty-one films and produce five of them. She’s best known for her expertise in writing family drama and strong women’s stories such as The Jessica Savitch Story (Lifetime); The Pearl Buck Story (ABC); The Barbara Mandrell Story (CBS); and Matters of The Heart (USA network). Her films have been nominated for an Emmy, an Access Award, the Alpha Award for Excellence in children’s programming, and the prestigious Writer’s Guild Award.
Bergman’s book, So You Think Your Life’s A Movie – Ten Steps To A Script That Sells is available on Amazon and on her web site: www.bergmanentertainment.com.
Sarah Forever, Bergman’s screenplay about love on both sides of life’s curtain, has gone to producers, and her screenplay, Toot Toot Tootsie, Goodbye, based on Pulitzer prize winning author Ron Powers’s book, is in-play at Sid Ganis’s Out Of The Blue production company at Sony Pictures.
Linda teaches So You Think Your Life’s A Movie? in Los Angeles and New York City and has been invited to share her magic at Skidmore College in upstate New York, Brown University in Rhode Island, and Yale University.
Born and raised in Southern California, Ms. Bergman started working as an intern for Fouad Said’s revolutionary Cinemobile Systems while a film student at UCLA. She was hired away from Cinemobile by Twentieth Century Fox to train in script, casting, film production, and post production. Her first feature credit at Fox was for the mega hit, Billy Jack.
After three years at Fox, Ms. Bergman joined ABC’s Movies for Television development team, and — some 100 movies later – was promoted to Assistant to the President of MGM Television and Director of Program Development for series and movies.
When her first child was born, she chose to work from home and began writing her screenplays. A leukemia survivor, she is a contributing writer to Writing For Wellness by Julia Davey. In 2007 she was the keynote speaker to an audience of 4000 attendees at City Of Hope’s annual Survivor Day event.
Bergman is a professional photographer and writing consultant, enjoys scuba diving, yoga, golf, gardening and dancing. She is married to financial wizard, Charles Bergman, and they have two adult children, Sarah and Adam“
“Working with Linda was an absolute joy. She shared her wonderful talent, extensive experience, and boundless enthusiasm so generously with me. Lucky Reader, now it’s your turn to learn.” Valerie Harper, actress and activist
“Linda Bergman can solve a script problem faster than any writer I know. Working with her is like going to a party, no pressure and always fun.” Jerry London, film director (Shogun, Ellis Island, Chiefs)
“Linda Bergman’s genius is truly evident in her ability to do the research necessary and to incorporate the events in your life into scenes that are viable. I am proud to know her and call her my friend.” Barbara Mandrell, singer and actress
“Linda has the biggest heart in show business and wrote the best script of my career.” Maureen McCormick, actress — The Brady Bunch
“Linda reveals what it takes to write an award-winning screenplay. From the page to the screen, she shows you what works, what doesn’t and why. She is an inspiration, and her course materials are worth their weight in gold!” Christina Davis, speechwriter at a Fortune 500 company.
