The submission deadline has passed for the 2011 Latino Writers Lab - Notification by April 25

The Latino Writers Lab™ is a unique program for NALIP members who aspire to work as professional screenwriters and who want to develop a strong, viable screenplay for production or sale. It includes skills development by professional instructors, direct mentoring of your work-in-progress by writer/mentors, and workshop lunches on various legal, guild, and industry matters. This program is not for beginner writers. Only 12 – 15 experienced writers will be selected to participate in the 10-day intensive lab. The first five-day session and seminar will be conducted in Santa Fe, New Mexico May 18 – 22, 2011 beginning on Wednesday evening with an orientation and screening.

In its ninth year, the Latino Writers Lab offers the opportunity to develop your story or script if it is written either in English or Spanish! You must be fluent in English, however: all sessions, screenings, and professional lunches with instructors and executives are conducted in English. Individual projects written in Spanish will be analyzed and mentored by Spanish-speaking professionals.

All projects accepted for and mentored during the Spring seminar must be developed and rewritten during the Summer of 2011 prior to the start of the second phase of the program. The second five-day Fall seminar will be held in Santa Monica, California, in late September. Completed scripts (first drafts based on workshop treatments or polished drafts following mentorship and development input during the spring seminar) must be submitted for review by September 7, 2011.

Program Overview:
In the Spring, morning sessions will cover writing principles that make your script more exciting and moving, while simplifying the difficult job of transforming an idea into an unforgettable piece of cinema. Afternoon sessions include detailed discussion of your work with mentors and peers. Evenings include screenings of successful feature films, which are then analyzed in detail to support your writing and development process.

In the Fall, morning sessions afford each writer detailed work on dramatic scenes, using examples from Latino Writers Lab screenplays to hone writers’ skills for revising the basic building blocks of all film and television scripts. Afternoon meetings include specific discussion of your screenplay during in-depth mentoring sessions.

Commitment to both (spring and fall) seminars and the writing summer assignment is a MUST! You’ll thank us! Come away with a solid screenplay as the reward for your effort!

For more information contact:
Octavio or Carlos at 310-395-8880