Mike Brennan  - Program Director (ext. 308)

What drew you to the Entertainment Industry??  

The desire to entertain - and free beer and cute waitresses. I started as a stand-up comic.

What was your first industry job?  

I left newspaper reporting - and a Pulitzer Prize nomination - to go on the road as a stand-up comic. I made a living doing that for 10 years, playing comedy clubs, colleges, cruises and a little TV.

What is your Misbehavior?  

I'm easily distracted, occasionally my work shows a lack of focus and...  what was the question?

What is your favorite WBC tool?  

Hands down, the 3-6-3. If you can't tell a good story in one page, you won't be able to in 120.

Where do you find creative inspiration?  

Coffee shops, airports, the woman or guy next to me in line or in traffic; smaller stories in the newspaper; the things my sons say; really good TV or really bad movies; the things people say in passing when they think no one's listening. That, or a deadline.

Who is your favorite screen Opponent?  

Hannibal Lechter. The old guys in TRADING PLACES. Apollo Creed.

Margaux Froley - Director of Development (ext. 303)

What was your first industry job?  

I was an assistant in Development and Acquisitions at USA Films, working long hours, underpaid, meeting everyone I could, and reading a million bad scripts, and still trying to finish Peer Group with the best script ever.

What is your Misbehavior?  

I’m a Leo that can’t lie. I am blunt and won’t blow smoke up your skirt if your writing needs work.

What is your favorite WBC tool?

The Unity Page…it tells all.

What is your most idiosyncratic character window? 

I’m scared of the dark.

What was your favorite film as a kid? TV show?

As an eight year old I knew every word to the movies in my video library: West Side Story, Mary Poppins, The Big Chill, Three Amigos, Breakfast Club, and The Muppets Take Manhattan (the Muppets are my muse.)

What are your favorite films & TV shows now?

Arrested Development, Alias, South Park, 24. Any Weitz Bros. Film (About a Boy) and School of Rock and Todd Phillips’ stuff.

What do you like to do when not writing, (or working at Boot Camp)?

Hikes with the dog and a Peer Group friend to discuss our writing, Tae Kwon Do (I’m an orange belt thus far) , and read trashy gossip magazines (they are mind-numbingly wonderful.)

Robert Morgan Fisher - Program Coordinator (ext. 310)

What drew you to the Entertainment Industry?  

Massive ego and a crippling sense of insecurity.

What did you start off studying in college?  

Radio-T.V. & Film.

What did you actually study in college?  

Alternative country music & Lone Star Beer.

What has been your most rewarding WBC experience?  

Completion of my first WBC screenplay and subsequent novel adaptation.

What is your most idiosyncratic character window?  

I wake up every morning, without fail, at precisely 5:00 to write - without the help of an alarm clock.

Where do you find creative inspiration?  

Movies, trees and dead trees (books).

Dave Sparling - Program Coordinator (ext. 304)

What was your first industry job?  

Full-time freelance story analyst for the William Morris Agency in Beverly Hills.  Unless you count a several-year stint working at my family’s second-run, single-screen movie theater in Rhode Island back in the early '80s.

Where do you find creative inspiration?  

Not to sound too trite, but literally all around me. 

What is your Misbehavior?  

Traditionally it has been my rather Don Quixote-ish approach to navigating my way through the entertainment industry; fortunately I’m aware of and am ardently trying to evolve beyond it.

What is your earliest movie-related memory?  

Watching the WIZARD OZ on television when I was a young'un and being scared by the flying monkeys.

Where do you like to write?  

Lounged out on this incredibly comfortable sofa in my home office, using my laptop. 

Gloria Hernandez - Program Coordinator (ext. 311)

What was your first industry job?  

Receptionist on a reality TV show.  I quickly got a chance to move on to Production and Casting Coordinating and it was great.  I was paid to go to production school!

What is your most idiosyncratic character window?  

I nick-name perfect strangers for my own reference.

What do you like to do when not writing, (or working at Writers Boot Camp)?  

I like to research character development by Speed Dating one loser after another...and I stalk Gary Sinise.

In what genre aren't there enough films made?  

Film Noir because it's dark AND romantic. And because people really knew how to dress in that era. Imagine if you will, Gary Sinise in a fedora.

Why do you write?  

I write because it's free therapy.

Alis Wang - Operations Assistant (ext. 313)

What did you start off studying in college?
I majored in International Relations/Public Policy and minored in Music Performance and German at Princeton. I didn't take a single English class, but read lots of books and wrote on my own. I was accepted into a Creative Writing class with Joyce Carol Oates, but unfortunately couldn't fit it into my schedule!

What are your favorite films & TV shows now?
APOCALYPSE NOW, BAD EDUCATION, BASIC INSTINCT, BEING JOHN MALKOVITCH, CINEMA PARIDISO, EYES WIDE SHUT, THE HOURS, LA DOLCE VITA, THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI, M, MULHOLLAND DRIVE, PULP FICTION, REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE, SEVEN SAMURAI, SOME LIKE IT HOT, THE TALENTED MR. RIPLEY.
 

Where do you find creative inspiration?
All great works of art whether it be in the form of dance, opera, the visual arts, theatre, etc., Traveling, Observing people, Spending time alone for long periods of time thinking about things.

What was the stupidest nickname you've had?
Alma Jean Jamon the Owl (Yes, "Jamon" as in Spanish for "ham"--inspired by the "Museos del Jamon" of Madrid. So excellent).

Cameron Graham - Program Coordinator (ext. 307)

What is your misbehavior?  

Myopic self-consciousness.

What is your earliest movie related memory?
This isn't my earliest one but it is about a first: When I was 16 I got into my first R-rated movie (you had to be over 18 back then). It was to see DIEHARD which was awesome.
 

What are your 5 favorite Movie Moments?

1. When Giouse (Benigni's Son) sees the huge American Tank approaching him at the end of LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL and he realizes he 'won the game'
2. In AIRPLANE when Lloyd Bridges says 'I picked the wrong week to quit amphetamines'
3. In FIELD OF DREAMS when Kevin Costner says to his Dad 'Dad, do you want to play catch?'
4. When Matt Dillon's character in THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY says, "All I have are these Nepalese coins..."
5. The Fencing Match between Indigo and Wesley in THE PRINCESS BRIDE (that movie probably contains about 25 of my top 100 favorite moments).

What is your favorite WBC tool?
The Unity Page and the 3-6-3 and the Premise Line and the Journey Map and the....

Where do you find creative inspiration?
In the still and quiet of the middle of the night. Whenever I see a great movie or play. In others beauty and through the love I share with friends, lovers, and family.

Christina Fernandez - Program Coordinator (ext 325)

Binh Nguyen - Webmaster (ext. 324)

What did you start off studying in college? 

Biology, I was pre-med for 2 years.  I woke up one day and realized I didn't want to be in school for another 6 or so years!

What is your favorite WBC tool? 

The Premise Line, I'm lost without it.

What was the stupidest nickname you've had? 

Osama Binh Laden.... c'mon now!  How lame is that?

Where do you like to write? 

Any coffee shop with wireless internet access.  

Why do you write? 

We all have stories to tell.  Without writing, this time in my life and its stories would be lost.