FS2P ONLINE
We are now international! We have filmmakers participating from Canada and Europe as well as all over the United States.
We are now taking teams! The Zoom format has allowed us to accommodate teams and share materials in a much more fluid way.
Guests! Guests! Guests! We are now bringing in many more marvelous guests from the industry to review our materials and provide guidance.
Producers! We have instituted a Producers Panel to review the materials created by each filmmaker and suggest next steps for each project.
Pilots! We are now accepting series pilot scripts into the lab.
Writer’s Boot Camp! We are now offering a boot camp for writers looking to polish their screenplays and pilot scripts before submitting to the lab.
WRITER’S BOOT CAMP
We have noticed that screenplays often need another pass or two before they proceed to development and that sometimes filmmakers find themselves playing catch-up during the lab - doing re-writes when they should be devoting their time to creating the materials necessary to move their projects forward. To help filmmakers, we are starting a Writer’s Boot Camp to run the month before the lab’s final deadline. It will meet four times during the month of October, for two hours on Friday nights or Saturday afternoons depending on writer availability. NOTE: DUE TO POPULAR DEMAND, WE WILL RUN AN ADDITIONAL BOOT CAMP FOR SEVERAL WEEKS FROM THE END OF NOVEMBER THROUGH THE BEGINNING OF JANUARY, DATES TBD BASED ON WRITERS’ AVAILABILITY.
All writers participating will read everyone’s work and provide constructive feedback during the sessions. We will address fundamental issues of structure, character development and theme, giving feedback every session. The cost for these four sessions is $150. If a filmmaker finishes the four sessions, they will be eligible to apply to the lab with no additional application fees.
The Writer’s Boot Camp is also a good choice for writers who just want to polish their scripts. Pilot scripts have now become the preferred sample for writers looking to get staffed so this is a good option for writers looking to get feedback as they do re-writes. Filmmakers who intend to put together a package for a potential series - or intend to make their pilots or series - are eligible for the FS2P Lab.
THE FS2P LAB CURRICULUM
PART ONE - The Words
Part One leans on your skills as a writer to create the materials and presentations you need to share your project in a coherent and inspiring way. It will also give you a much deeper insight into your project, leading to a much better film or pilot.
We also address the problems inherent in this process. It’s not easy to see your own project objectively, to identify themes and core ideas that developed organically. And it may not feel good to “toot your own horn” or to ask for money or consideration or support. This is why we work collaboratively and practice together every week, with every member of the cohort providing informed feedback and support in a safe environment.
At the end of the six weeks, if you complete all the assignments, you will have created multiple versions of your logline, various synopses, and several pitches. You’ll have the materials you need to apply to contests, labs and workshops.
PART TWO - The Pictures
Part Two of the Lab relies upon the work you’ve done in Part One, leaning heavily on the core ideas of your film and its themes, and then inviting you to leave the writer’s head and step into the director’s shoes to create a lookbook for your film or pilot that will demonstrate your visual skills and your ability to tell a story. You will write a director’s statement describing your visual approach. You will draw on your various loglines and synopses to provide story continuity and add a dozen or more images to bring the reader into the mood and world of your film or pilot. You will choose comps and possible actors to represent your vision of your characters. And you will pull the package together with style, selecting fonts, graphics, a color palette and a rhythm for your slides.
The challenge here is that the visuals you imagine don’t exist. This is, of course, why you are making the film or pilot. But the uniqueness of your vision – its strength – is also what makes it particularly difficult to find the right images to represent what you want to do. If you choose to create your images, it’s also challenging – is this the location you’ll ultimately want, are these the actors, the costumes, the props? Here again, our collaborative approach helps. Together we will review all your materials – including your reels and personal websites – to make sure that your vision is consistent and compelling. You will also practice pitching with your lookbook so that you’ll leave the lab ready to make complete presentations.
At the end of five weeks, if you have completed all the assignments, you will have created what we call a “master lookbook” – a polished, designed lookbook with every element you might ever need. As you go forward, you will pick and choose the pages you need to assemble whatever the moment requires, including imagery for websites, pages, teasers and crowdfunding campaigns.
PART THREE – The Numbers
Part Three of the Lab asks you to set a date, develop a schedule and budget your film or pilot – in other words, to face the practical challenges presented by your script. You will put on your producer’s hat and think about the best time of year to shoot your story and how much time you really need. You’ll break down your script for all the elements, develop a schedule and a budget. And yes, these are preliminary estimates. You don’t have real dates yet or a crew or cast or locations. But this sort of effort is necessary to develop a realistic top sheet and a convincing pitch package.
As any producer will tell you, budgeting is a creative exercise. And by that I don’t mean that we make up the numbers. I mean that as independent filmmakers we have to think creatively about how to get everything we need. If one of your scenes takes place in a hospital, can you find a nursing home willing to rent you a vacant room and a bit of the hallway for half a day? If you have scenes that take place in a school, can you schedule your shoot in the summer? Or over a holiday or on a weekend? We work collaboratively to share information and research expenses and brainstorm solutions so that your budget and top sheet are as reliable as possible.
At the end of seven weeks, you will have a preliminary schedule and budget, a solid top sheet and a pitch package. You will be a fully versed ambassador for your project and an attractive partner for producers. Bottom line, knowing how much money and time you need and how to lay out the costs and reasonable expectations for success will help you safeguard your vision.
Session Dates
Saturday afternoons from January 6, 2024 through May 18, 2024 / 2-5 pm ET (11 am-2 pm PT)
Please note: The first assignment will go out December 15th and is demanding - all the participating scripts will need to be read and questions answered and submitted before our first meeting on January 6th, 2024.
Applications
Application Dates
WRITER’S BOOT CAMP Applications: August 18 - Nov 10 NOTE: AS MENTIONED ABOVE, THERE WILL BE AN ADDITIONAL BOOT CAMP IN NOV-EARLY JAN, DATES TBD BASED ON WRITERS’ AVAILABILITY
Early Bird Applications: August 18 - Sept 29
Regular Applications: Sept 30 - Oct 21
Late Applications: Oct 22 - Nov 10
Applications close: Nov 10
Finalists will be contacted after Thanksgiving to set up a zoom conversation in late November/early December about goals for the lab and to determine fit. Final decisions will be made on December 11.
Notification Date
December 10, 2023
Submission Requirements
All we need is your work and your contact info. No essays, no statements, no plans. You’re welcome.
Every applicant must submit a PDF of the narrative feature script or series pilot they will be developing in the lab and a link to a narrative short directed by the intended director of the project. This can be from the writer-director or the director on the team. The short does not have to relate in any way to the feature or pilot. We are asking for the short only to determine that the director has the chops to make a feature or pilot. Finalists will be contacted starting in early December for a Zoom conversation to go over goals for the lab and to determine if they are the right fit.
Cost
For the Writer’s Boot Camp: $150 per script payable in full before the first of four sessions.
For the FS2P Lab: $1,350 per project payable in either three or six installments. Payment in full before the beginning of the lab will be discounted by $50. The first payment is due December 15 so that participation is confirmed and scripts may be released to all participants.
Should more than one team member wish to participate in a given section (for example, perhaps both the director and the producer wish to take “The Numbers”), the “additional” team member may participate at a reduced rate, to be determined on a case by case basis. Please contact us at fs2pnywift@gmail.com.
Please Note: For Part Three, you will also need to subscribe or borrow or purchase EP Scheduling and Budgeting Software if you don’t already own it. You will also need to purchase the textbook, Planning the Low-Budget Film by Robert Latham Brown.