As a former Development Executive, Amanda Toye collaborated with celebrated writers to develop numerous projects across film, television, and digital. She has worked for several production companies including, David Friendly Productions (Little Miss Sunshine), Imprint Entertainment (Twilight Series), Sander/Moses Productions (Ghost Whisperer, Reckless), and Little Engine International (Missing, Rush.) As a writer, Amanda is the creator of the award winning web series Technium (Forge Apollo Cynopsis Award/ Winner, Best New Series, Academy of Web TV Awards/ Winner, Best Writing), she has a script deal with Discovery Networks, and her feature film, Mad River Valley (Good Deed Ent.), films in November 2017. Amanda was born on a farm in Vermont and has lived and worked in the U.S., Asia, and Central America, traveling to over 50 countries throughout Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, Central America, and South America, researching international media, storytelling, and local folklore.

Erik Grossman is a writer who's worked with Sunblock Studios on projects ranging from documentaries (Zedd: Moment of Clarity with Vevo), to reality shows and short films (The Sweeter Side, Apartment 4, Grand Theft Auto: Give Me Liberty).

He's worked on projects for companies such as Ultra Records, Publicis, Fifteen Minutes Public Relations, and Brian Graden Media.

He completed a short film starring Edi Gathegi (Twilight franchise, Justified), Max Carver (Desperate Housewives, Teen Wolf), and J.R. Bourne (Stargate SG-1, Revenge).

Erik graduated USC with a bachelor's degree in English, and participated in a six-week film program in Australia. He currently resides in Los Angeles with his two overweight cats.

Spencer Robinson has been in the industry for nearly a decade and is a literary and talent manager at Art/Work Entertainment. Spencer began his career in production and moved into talent management at MBST Entertainment. For the past 6 years Spencer has been with Art/Work and continues managers both writers and actors for television and film.

Art/Work is a management company headed by Cindy Ambers and Julie Bloom. Art/Work merged with Verve in 2010 and represents writers and actors throughout the industry. They represent writers like Eric Heisserer, writer of 2016's Oscar-winning film ARRIVAL which grossed $200 million worldwide.

Joaquin Franco Palma was born and raised in Los Angeles and is a first- generation American. Having started his career as a production assistant, Joaquin has gone on to become an award winning writer and director of both independent features and TV; most notably, as a staff writer on the Emmy nominated HULU series, EAST LOS HIGH. 2016 proved to be a big year. With his fourth feature film as writer/director, Joaquin toured the festival circuit with CRAVE: The Fast Life; winning four BEST PICTURE, three AUDIENCE CHOICE, and three BEST DIRECTOR and WRITER awards along with multiple BEST ACTOR, ACTRESS and ENSEMBLE awards. He was chosen as a fellow in NALIP’s TV DRAMA SERIES INCUBATOR, where he worked closely with both Televisa and Univision to bring Hispanic dramas to American audiences. He later began work on developing a one-hour drama, THE PANIC, about the violent life of Los Angeles hip-hop icon, KID FROST. Aside from working behind the camera, Joaquin is also a published author of prose fiction and a youth filmmaking and writing mentor for various organization’s programs including: THE YOUTH CINEMA PROJECT, NOSOTROS ORGANIZATION and NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND. Recently, Joaquin signed on to direct PROMISE RANCH, starring Natasha Henstridge and shooting in Mississippi early spring. He is also finishing his screen adaption of the novelette, MY REVOLUTION (Mi Revolucion;) a film that is set to shoot in 2018.

DAY 1: SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2017

3:45pm - 5:15pm

Selling TV Scripts in a New World – Writing a Hit Amazon, Netflix, Hulu or Cable Show

Cold Iron Pictures is a boutique film financing company that embodies the spirit of independent film making. Cold Iron Pictures looks for innovative scripts, auteur directors and cast-driven projects.

While at Cold Iron, Rachel Crouch has worked on such films as the Spirit Award-winning The Diary of a Teenage Girl, this summer's Swiss Army Man starring Daniel Radcliffe and Paul Dano, Time out of Mind starring Richard Gere,and Mike Birbiglia's latest Don't Think Twice.

Seth’s management/production company, Jaret Entertainment, has been a robust content generator for 16+ years. Its distinguished roster of writers, directors and authors feeds high-quality material to film, television and publishing. Jaret’s clients have included the A-list writers of The Ugly Truth, The House Bunny and Legally Blonde to the writers of Whip It, Ramona & Beezus and Rounders to the directors of Repo Men, The Wedding Date, and the first season of the AMC series, Hell on Wheels. Its Content Creators include reality showrunners, award-winning documentary filmmakers and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists. His clients often appear on Variety’s “Top Ten Writers to Watch” and Hollywood’s “Black List.”

DAY 2: SUNDAY, MARCH 26, 2017

3pm-4:30pm

What’s Happening in the Market Now – The Manager/Writer Relationship in 2017

Meg LeFauve was raised in Warren, Ohio, and attended Syracuse University. 

After graduation, LeFauve worked as an assistant for ten years for Jodie Foster at Egg Pictures before starting to write screenplays.

She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for co-writing the script for Pixar's Inside Out. She was nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards in 1999 for producing The Baby Dance. She also produced the 2002 film The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys. She also wrote the script for The Good Dinosaur (and also co-wrote the story). LeFauve is currently writing the script for the live-action Captain Marvel movie alongside Nicole Perlman and is attached to co-direct Disney’s Gigantic.

DAY 1: SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2017

9:15am - 9:45am

Opening Keynote Speaker

Tyler Ruggeri is a writer with over a decade of experience on both sides of the entertainment industry. His original screenplay The Making Of Rock Hudson sold to veteran producers Celine Rattray (The Kids Are Alright, Bernie) and Trudie Styler (Moon) of Maven Pictures. He is currently adapting a critically acclaimed non-fiction book and writing an original action drama.

Prior to his writing career, Tyler was a talent manager at Exile Entertainment, where he represented screenwriters and directors while developing the company’s slate of projects. He signed emerging filmmakers including Lee Patterson (Nicholl Fellowship winner for Snatched) and Damien Chazelle, whose film Whiplash was nominated for five Academy Awards (including Best Adapted Screenplay) and won three, as well as the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival. In addition to Whiplash, scripts he developed with clients have sold to A-list producers/financiers, appeared on the annual Black List, and garnered industry attention and assignments from major studios.

Apart from screenwriting, Tyler has written advertising and web content for companies such as Baseline, AwesomenessTV, and Tool of North America. He has also served as a development consultant for independent shorts and features. His expertise ranges from story analysis and adaptation to rights issues and Writers Guild arbitrations, with a focus on shaping both the project itself and the writer's individual voice.

Tyler is a graduate of Emerson College and began his career in the development/acquisitions department of Focus Features, following dual internships at DreamWorks and Warner Bros. Pictures.

DAY 2: SUNDAY, MARCH 26, 2017

3pm-4:30pm

What’s Happening in the Market Now – The Manager/Writer Relationship in 2017

Tiegen Kosiak is an independent film & TV producer living in Los Angeles. She formerly worked for Cinestar Pictures (Zoe Saldana's production company) and Untitled Entertainment.

Tiegen is the former Director of Development for Zoe Saldana's Cinestar Pictures where she navigated the first-look deal with Lionsgate and Televisa. Before Cinestar, she was the Executive Assistant to the President of Production & Literary Management at Untitled Entertainment.

She got her start in the industry working in commercial production in Los Angeles and New York, as well as live show production in Las Vegas. She's a member of Film Independent & the co-founder of the Young Hollywood Mafia, one of the largest networking groups in the entertainment industry.

DAY 2: SUNDAY, MARCH 26, 2017

1:15pm - 2:45pm

How to Get Your Foot in the Door: Networking, Etiquette & Branding Yourself as a Writer

Jaia Thomas is an entertainment attorney with over nine years of legal experience assisting clients with transactional and intellectual property matters. She regularly counsels filmmakers and producers on all aspects of film financing, production and distribution. She also regularly assists content creators with federal copyright registration and licensing.

Ms. Thomas is an adjunct instructor at UCLA, where she teaches a course titled, “Copyright Law in the Entertainment Industries.” The course provides students with an overview of copyright protection and how it affects the television, film, fashion and new media industries. Prior to her appointment at UCLA, Ms. Thomas was an adjunct instructor at American University, where she taught graduate producing students about production company formation. She provided students with the tools necessary to launch and sustain their own television and film production companies.

Ms. Thomas is a regular legal contributor for Entrepreneur Magazine, where she regularly writes about the intersection of entrepreneurship, entertainment and intellectual property law.

Jaia Thomas is a graduate of Colgate University (BA) and The George Washington University Law School (JD). She also holds a Certificate in Television, Film and New Media Production from University of California, Los Angeles.

DAY 2: SUNDAY, MARCH 26, 2017

10:30am-12:00pm

Getting Legal – What You Should Know Before You Dot the “I’s” and cross the “T’s”

Jordan Barel began his career as a short filmmaker before creating his own entertainment company, Loaded Barrel Studios, publishing graphic novels. His work has won numerous international awards, including the Independent Publishing Book Awards (2012, 2013), The LA Book festival, the Geekie Awards ®, and many others. His studio currently tours around the country and sells their graphic novels in several languages around the world.

The company was founded as a way to translate comics to films, leading Jordan to option his books and screenplays with producers such as David Uslan, Brendan Deneen, Jeffrey Erb, and Aaron Berger. He’s developed at studios such as Chatrone, Unique Features, and Leomark Studios in the independent film space. Currently, several of his books are optioned to film companies.

Previously Jordan was an Entertainment Attorney who has worked in Business Affairs for New Line Cinema, Generate, Alloy, and AMC. He switched from legal to creative and served as the Television Coordinator for Verve Talent & Literary Agency working with all of the company’s TV writers on their pitches and presentations for staffing season.

Currently, Jordan works in development for Producer/Actor Paul Scheer and Abominable Pictures in their comedy and TV department.

DAY 2: SUNDAY, MARCH 26, 2017

10:30am-12:00pm

Getting Legal – What You Should Know Before You Dot the “I’s” and cross the “T’s”

Kelly Jo Brick is a television and documentary writer. She wrote the Telly Award-winning film PAUSE and the Frank Lloyd Wright documentary The Jewel In The Woods. She is a Contributing Editor for TVWriter.com where she writes The Write Path, an interview series that highlights how writers got their start in the industry. A Sundance Fellow and member of the WGAW’s Nonfiction Writers Caucus, Kelly Jo is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin where she earned a B.A. with Honors in both Communications and English-Creative Writing. She’s been a panelist at the Austin Film Festival, Wisconsin Writers’ Institute and for Supermentors.

DAY 1: SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2017

2pm - 3:30pm

Writing Compelling Characters

DAY 2: SUNDAY, MARCH 26, 2017

1:15pm - 2:45pm

How to Get Your Foot in the Door: Networking, Etiquette & Branding Yourself as a Writer

Jason Mirch is a feature film, television, branded entertainment, and digital content producer and executive based in Los Angeles, California.

In 2015, Mirch formed Destructo Productions, a feature film, television, branded, and digital content production company, which is actively developing a number of projects, including a feature film based on the New York Times best selling memoir, Odd Man Out.

Prior to forming Destructo, Mirch was the head of feature and television development and production at Image Nation, a finance and production company based in Abu Dhabi, UAE. There, Mirch was directly involved in developing Image Nation’s 5-year strategic plan with the Chairman and CEO.

Mirch also worked closely with producers, Ashok Amritraj (Hyde Park Entertainment), Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald (Parkes+MacDonald), as well as Jonathan King (Participant Media), in the development, financing and production of a slate of international motion pictures and television series, while supervising the content division for Image Nation International. There, he supervised the Image Nation contributions in the development of Flight, The Help, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Contagion, Careful What You Wish For, Ghost Rider 2, Midnight Sun, and 100 Foot Journey.

Locally, Mirch supervised a team of executives to manage a slate of over 20 feature film, television, and branded content projects in development and production. Mirch acted as Executive in Charge of Production for Beyond Borders, a 6-episode series; Djinn a feature film by Tobe Hooper; The Conservationists, a feature length nature documentary among other projects.

Prior to his work at Image Nation, Mirch was Co-Head of Development at Storyline Entertainment (Chicago, Footloose, The Bucket List) where he was actively involved in the development and sale of television series and mini-series to CBS, NBC, Fox, ABC, and Lifetime. He was also actively involved in developing a slate of feature film projects for New Line, Paramount, Summit Ent., and CBS/Paramount.

In addition to his professional work, Mirch continues to mentor aspiring content creators, through web-based seminars, one-on-one consultations, and filmmaking lectures. Mirch has spoken on panels at the Harvard Screenwriting Group, the Producer's Guild of America, as well as several international film festivals and markets.

Mirch graduated Cum Laude from Chapman University’s School of Film and Televison, where he received a B.F.A., in Film Production, with an emphasis in Writing and Directing. He was mentored by Academy Award Winning Writer/Director David S. Ward, in the spring of 2004, and is the winner of Chapman University Student Filmmaker Award, for Best Director for his film Ally.

Sarah Cornelius is a creative development and production executive at Whitewater Films, an independent production company. Whitewater Film's mandate is to discover new writers and produce their projects.

DAY 2: SUNDAY, MARCH 26, 2017

10:30am-12:00pm

Getting Legal – What You Should Know Before You Dot the “I’s” and cross the “T’s”