“Underground” Cast Honored & Season 2 Premiers at SCAD

by

Danielle Wilcox

ATLANTA, Georgia — Feb. 4, 2017 — Stars of the critically acclaimed breakout hit, “Underground” took center stage at SCAD’s signature television event, aTV Fest to win the Spotlight Cast Award on February 2^nd.

The hit show created by Misha Green and Jo Polaski, tackles dark days of American slavery. Stars of the show, Aldis Hodge, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Amirah Vann accepted the award along with newcomer Aisha Hinds who will be portraying Harriet Tubman.

Stars of the show gave credit to the directors for their role in the show’s success.

“They do not shy away from honesty or presenting a whole human being. No one is one dimensional”, said Vann regarding Green and Polaski.

Festival attendees were treated to an early cut of the Season 2 premiere which explores the struggle for freedom and what it means to be a citizen vs a soldier within the world of ‘Underground’ which is set in the late 1850s.

Season of Underground airs March 8^th on WGN America at 10 PM.

The 5^th annual aTV Fest runs February 2^nd – 4^th at The Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) and other honorees include Jennifer Morrison and Jenna Elfman.

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This story also appears on Today's Spotlight

American Film Market 2017? Or Have I Gone Bust?

American Film Market 2017? Or Have I Gone Bust?

So...as fall gets ready to roll around yet again, I am once again looking at American Film Market as an event option I so long to attend. The big problem right now is a lack of resources. Yes, I realize the year is only half over so you may be wondering how that is possible, especially since I have neglected my blog since covering aTV Fest this February (I'm going to work my way back to a post a month).

But this year I have:

• Participated in  New Mavericks ( free event for female filmmakers sponsored by the Atlanta Film Society)
• Renewed my WIFTA Membership and attended several events ( I did the 2-year membership for roughly 120 bucks)
• Traveled to Miami for the American Black Film Festival in June ( the Early Bird badge alone was $350)
• Become a member of Bridge17, a writer's room ( monthly membership fees range from $25-$50)
• Attended the Content Creator Awards of Atlanta ( General Admission to the awards was only about $30 dollars)

That being said, the accumulation of these events be their price tags equal great or small amounts, have been a significant investment in my craft. This investment is not only financial but deeply impacts the amount of time and energy I have to allocate to do other things. Time, energy and money are resources in limited supply.

I went to all of these opportunities for one reason though--- I love films & television. I love being part of the process of making films and television and I want to be apart of shaping what appears on television and alternate viewing platforms.


American Film Market in Los Angeles is a great opportunity to be apart of shaping that process as this is where several projects are pitched, purchased and produced programming finds a distribution channel.

There is one thought that I keep coming back to though. These events, including Amercian Film Market. Though they are related to screenwriting, they are actually not... writing, which means they do impact my time to actually push my keyboard to the max as I pound out  a new scene in Final Draft (oh I bought that this year too, add $129 for the student edition if you are running a tab).

While I haven't completely counted out California's monarch pitch & purchase festival, but I have some thinking to do. How do you determine and balance writing time with writing-related event time? I'd love to hear from you on what's working.


Always,

-Danielle W.
#keepwriting

SCAD 2017 aTVfest Has Begun!

Greetings Screenwriting Newbies,


It is that time of year again. Television creators, producers, and actors descend on Atlanta's SCAD campus for aTV Fest. The three-day festival focused on television kicked off Thursday, Feb 2.

I had the pleasure of attending last night's events as a Guest Correspondent with Today's Spotlight.

Thursdays Lineup included "24 Legacy", "Underground", and several industry panels.

The full schedule for the remaining activities can be viewed at  http://www.atvfest.com/ and there are still tickets available.

I highly recommend this event if you based in the Southeast and want to take part in the television making landscape.

#keepwriting

- DW

Blacklist Mixer Review

So The Black List has started a mixer in Atlanta  for the screenwriting community.  I had the pleasure  of attending the first meeting last month.

The informal event let screenwriters  sign up for a script swap partner  in which writers  would switch projects and offer each other feedback.  It's  a great  option  of your  normal circle of readers include your mom, dad and a few select  friends.

The drawback of the mixer was that it was pretty stagnant, meaning  being  forced  to sit at a booth or table to order. This meant that the free flowing  movement  that you expect  at a mixer was not there.

However,  the bonus of this was you got to know  the people at your  table more intimately  as you  were trapped there for at least 20 minutes.

So the second meeting  lhappened this evening and while I had  planned  to attend,  I had to defer due to an extra long day at the Atlanta  Film Festival  ( which  I will cover in my next post).  Though  I did ask a screenwriting  colleage to provides  me feedback after tonight's  event  which  promised  more of a mixer type environment.

More meetings  are scheduled  to occur the first Wednesday  of every  month at Smith's Olde Bar but be sure to check  the  website for new updates.

Headshots... not just for actors part 2

I realized that I never shared any of my amazing headshots with you. I found out my university actually does them for $35 for students, faculty & staff!

So if your on a budget this may be a great option to get some quality work done. It was a super short shoot lasting a grand total of 10 minutes so don't expect a four hour multiple outfit change  session if you go this route. But if you just need one or two good photos for your business cards and bios then this is perfect.

These were taken by an MFA student at Georgia State and I couldn't be happier.

In fact I'm thinking about getting a second set in my work environment - which at this point is anywhere with my laptop & Internet access.

What do you think of my headshots? Do you know of any other great options for headshots you want to share?

Big News...Newbies! More Video Content Coming!

Hi Newbies,

Several of you have asked me for more video content similar to what I was doing at the beginning of my blog. Screenwriting with the Newbie did start out as a video blog, and those first 6 episodes are my special treasures to show me how far I have come as a screenwriter. I am so glad I documented my learning process in that way and was able to share it with all of you.

I've been continuing to share new things as I have come across them here, however, the format of bi-weekly video blog was a little too time-consuming for me alone. Shooting and editing video content was actually cutting into my writing time, and I had to follow my own rules. So I shaved that time back into my life by ditching the video element of my blog...or at least having it much more infrequently.

But recently, I was approached by a colleague who decided to create a show about independent female filmmakers and she asked me to be apart of the project. So the video diary will resume, with her lovely production team to edit all the footage, which means more video content will be coming to the site!

I can't wait to share episodes of show with you. More details coming soon!

My aTV FEST 2016 adventure

Scott Foley. Mindy Kaling. Robin Lord Taylor.

Yes, the Savannah College of Art in Design drew in quite the list panelist at this low-key event. Atlanta's only television conference is hosted by SCAD every winter with only those in the know knowing what an epic treat aTV Fest can be for television fans and aspiring television professionals alike.

This year marks my second year of participating in the wildly informative conference that is the perfect combination of education and entertainment. This year Shondaland had the run of show at the four-day event, which suited me perfectly!

I love Shondaland content from Grey's Anatomy to Scandal.

Meeting Scott Foley was heavenly. He is one of the sweetest human beings on the planet.

Meeting Tom Verica was magical and he even gave me some advice on ways to make it in California.

Meeting and interviewing three cast members and an executive producer of the Walking Dead caused me to nearly crap my pants.  But I made through, pants unscathed with few sound bites and images picked up by Getty no less. I dusted off my microphone and was a guest interviewer at the event for the likes of Josh McDermitt, Christian Serratos, Alanna Masterson  and fellow GSU alum Tom Luse. I enjoyed picking their brains be it only for 5 minutes due to super slim time constraints during the press junket, but nonetheless had an amazing experience.

Robin Lord Taylor and I bonded over our mutual love for Wendy Williams and went on a random tangent love fest. How you doin?

These festival moments are definitely ones that I will treasure, but the pinnacle for me was Saturday's Shondaland Writer's Panel. As a budding screenwriter there was no experience that gave me more pleasure than hearing their stories of breaking in, writer's room etiquette and how they ended up working for the the Goddess of the Golden Age, Shonda Rhimes herself.

Mark Wilding, head writer of Scandal had a particularly interesting journey that started right here in Atlanta!

Mark worked at the local Rich's downtown by day and wrote plays by night. One of his plays got seen by someone at Disney all the way in Vancouver.  Disney flew him out to California to see if he'd want a job writing. He's been out there since the mid-80's and has been in Shondaland for the last 11 years.

Believe it or not one of the other panelist had ties to Atlanta. Zoanna Clark, writer on Grey's Anatomy and medical doctor went to medical school at Emory before becoming a medical consultant on ER.  She made sure all of those potentially life saving surgeries on the small screen were accurate before becoming a writer on Grey's Anatomy where she has been for the last 12 years.

Both of their stories had round about journeys to writer's room and that resonated with me since I've worked in some alternate careers myself while discovering my love for screenwriting.

Their stories as well as the other panelist really helped to give me extra motivation to keep striving towards my goals.

Hopefully, it motivates you too! I encourage you to check out aTV Fest next year but above all else, just keep writing.

#KeepWriting

-DW