|
ROBIN RUSSIN is Director of the MFA for Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts at UC Riverside (UCR). He received his MFA in screenwriting from UCLA, where he also taught from 1994 until 2002, when he became a professor at UCR.
Robin’s credits include the #1 box office feature On Deadly Ground, Abracadabra, Shark in a Bottle, The Prosecutors for the Discovery Channel, Vital Signs for ABC, and America's Most Wanted and Alcatraz: The Escape for Fox. He has several scripts currently under option. In addition, Robin has written and directed for the stage, contributed articles and reviews to various national publications, and he coauthored a book on screenwriting entitled Screenplay: Writing the Picture and a book on playwriting entitled Naked Playwriting.
• FULL BIO •
|
SESSION 1:
Saturday, Jun 16
Arrival
Sundays
Mondays & Tuesdays
Thursdays & Fridays
Class Days
Wednesdays
Saturday, Jun 23
Writing Days (no class)
Saturday, June 30
Departure by 10am
CLASS DAYS
Each seminar will be about three hours long, with a total of ten seminars during the two week session. The professor will be available at other times on class days to discuss individual issues.
We will hold our first class on the first Sunday morning. Plan to arrive on Saturday and expect to be writing by Sunday afternoon. Class hours on other days will be decided as a group. Each class day Villa Michelangelo's caretaker, Tina, will provide a light lunch at 1 pm and a delicious, country-cooked full dinner at 8pm. Meals will be fixed menu.
The professor may modify any of the above, at his discretion. Student preferences will be taken into account. |
|
THE PROGRAM
Michelangelo is an intensive residential program designed to launch you on a new project or help you finish that rewrite. Workshops run for two weeks and accommodate from 7 to a maximum of 9 students. Each two week session will include 10 class days, with off days interspersed.
To maximize your time, your professor may ask you to submit story outlines, beat sheets, or treatments in advance. As part of the application, you must submit a 1-2 page description of the project you would like to tackle in Italy. You may change your mind, but you must agree the switch in advance with the professor. To apply, see REGISTRATION.
Michelangelo is a paperless program. All submissions and exchanges of pages will be electronic. You will need a reliable laptop computer, a writing program capable of converting files to PDF format for distribution, and a USB port for memory keys.
SESSION 1: WRITING RETREAT
with Robin Russin
Join screenwriter/professor Robin Russin for two weeks of creativity and fun in the gorgeous Tuscan countryside! While designed primarily for screenwriters, writers working in other genres are more than welcome. As a produced and published writer, and as Director of the Multi-Genre MFA in Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts at the University of California, Riverside, Robin has nearly two decades of experience helping writers realize their potential, whether writing for the screen, the stage, fiction or creative non-fiction.
Among the topics we'll cover: Why is this the story you want to tell? What is the "spine" of your story—its central action and thematic subtext? What is the visual, temporal and emotional world you're exploring? Who are your characters—their personalities, their relationships, their back stories? What do they want, what do they need, and what is at stake for them? How can you make your writing visual and evocative? How can you make it as tight and essential as possible? What are your professional challenges and possibilities once you've finished?
This your chance to start, develop or rewrite that screenplay, teleplay, stage-play, or prose piece in a relaxed and supportive setting. Become part of a community of writers at the villa for creative conversation, readings, and constructive feedback on your work. Robin will lead intensive group and private sessions designed to address your specific goals—but there will also be time off to explore, eat, drink, socialize, and take advantage of the inspiration that is Italy.
SESSION 2: SCREENWRITING BOOTCAMP
with Ron Hutchinson
Put
a
story,
metaphor,
moral
issue,
great
mise
en
scene, and
interesting
characters
together
and
you
have
an
idea
for
a
movie.
To
get
it
to
script,
it
helps
to
have
line-by-line
advice
from
an
experienced,
Emmy-winning
screenwriter,
the
encouragement
and
support
of
fellow
writers
struggling
with
the
same
technical
problems
that
you
have
and
a
deadline
by
which
to
accomplish
the
immediate
goal—be
it
completed
script,
detailed
outline,
or
sample
scenes
and
runs
of
dialog
with
notes
for
later
character
development.
In
this
intensive
course,
your
individual
goal
is
what
we
work
towards
with
a
commitment
that
the
pages
you
produce
will
bear
the
hallmarks
of
a
professional
submission
when
the
time
comes
to
sell.
As
there’s
no
point
in
adding
to
the
pile
of
unproduced
screenplays
in
the
world,
you
will
be
guided
towards
making
your
work
a
page-turner;
discovering
techniques
such
as
internal
editing
within
scenes;
how
to
exit
the
scene
a
half
beat
early
in
order
to
propel
the
reader
into
the
next
scene;
and
advice
on
the
most
efficient
use
of
action-line
descriptions
and
how
to
make
your
dialog
say
the
most
things
in
the
smallest
number
of
words.
The
intensity
of
the
work
sessions
and
the
granular
detail
of
the
analysis
of
your
writing
will
be
balanced
by
seminars
on
professional
development,
pitching,
the
financial
reality
of
a
screenwriting
career,
a
dose
of
film
theory
mediated
by
thirty-five
years
in
actually
making
movies
and
TV
and,
culled
from
those
years,
some
war
stories
from
a
writer
who
has
been
on
location
with,
among
others,
Marlon
Brando
and
Elizabeth
Taylor
and
developed
projects
for
Mary
J.
Blige
and
Catherine
Zeta
Jones.
TESTIMONIALS
Our past students had a lot of wonderful things to say about Michelangelo Screenwriting. Also check out our photo albums! See our YEARBOOK.
|
|
RON HUTCHINSON has an Emmy and five Emmy nominations as well as other awards; has had over thirty scripts produced by HBO, ABC, NBC, Fox Features, Lifetime and Sony, among others; has worked as a contract writer for HBO, Sony Features and DreamWorks; and is currently working on projects for US studios and international co-productions in Ireland, Germany and Turkey.
Ron is also an award winning playwright, whose comedy Moonlight and Magnolias has had over sixty productions worldwide. In 2012 his musical adaptation of Horace McCoy’s They Shoot Horses Don't They opens in London. Ron is an ex Writer in Residence at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, and he has taught a residential screenwriting course for Sony and at the American Film Institute in Los Angeles.
• FULL BIO •
|
SESSION 2:
Sunday, July 1
Arrival and Welcome Dinner
Mondays-Fridays
Seminar Days
Saturday, July 7
Sunday, July 8
Writing Days (no class)
Sat, July 14
Departure by 10am
CLASS DAYS
Each seminar will be about three hours long, with a total of ten seminars during the two week session. Class hours on the first Monday will be in the morning, and thereafter will be decided as a group. The professor will be available at other times on class days to discuss individual issues.
The first Sunday evening we will have a welcome dinner at a local restaurant. Continental breakfasts will be available at Istituto San Lodovico every day, and students will be on their own for other meals.
The professor may modify any of the above, at his discretion. Student preferences will be taken into account.
|
|
