All Writers Boot Camp instructors are alumni of the program and are trained specifically to carry out the unique goals and implement the specific tools that are the core of Writers Boot Camp. Jeffrey Gordon, the founder of the program, personally oversees the training process. During sessions instructors work continuously with our Creative Director in Los Angeles Headquarters. Each instructor is sensitive to the needs of each individual writer while playing the role of facilitator in the context of the highest levels of the entertainment industry.
The most important task for instructors is to help writers become authorities of their own work. With this goal in mind, instructors will challenge, rather than validate a writer's work. Because most credited writers tend to bring subjective industry travails into the class room, Writers Boot Camp does not hire instructors based on screen credits. WBC class sessions are focused on objective feed back based on a Socratic method of interaction and implementation of WBC program tools.
Tawnya Bhattacharya
Think Tank, Basic Training, Los Angeles
Tawnya graduated from Cornish College of the Arts Acting Conservatory in Seattle and as part of their Original Works Writer/Director Program, worked with playwrights Maria Irene Fornes and Richard Foreman during a year-long internship at New City Theatre. After performing as an actor in Seattle, Chicago, Vienna and Prague, she took the plunge and came to L.A. where she survived a handful of years in the B movie industry. A graduate of Writers Boot Camp Think Tank Course and Alumni Sample Cycle, Tawnya teaches Think Tank while writing full time. Tawnya has several award winning produced plays to her credit.
David Baugnon
Think Tank, Basic Training, New York
David is a native of New Orleans currently living in New York. A filmmaker and screenwriter, his directing credits include the recently completed feature documentary Art in the Face of War, the short documentary Matisyahu (screened in over 47 film festivals and winner of the Grand Prize at AOL Moviefone Short Film Festival, 2006; the 3rd Prize at the Tribeca Underground Film Festival 2005; and the Special Jury Prize at the God on Film Festival 2004), the short documentary White Bait (screened at the New Orleans Film Festival 2003) and the short comedies Born Slippery and Call Time (premiered at the New York Independent Film & Video Festival 2001). David also wrote and was the Creative Director on a Public Service TV campaign for United Cerebral Palsy Foundation produced by Give a Damn Films in 2002. He has two feature scripts, Code of Ethics and Echo Charlie, currently in development with Producer Jeff Apple (The Recruit, In the Line of Fire) at Emergent Media.
Jason Brown
Think Tank, New York
Jason began his career in show business at the ripe old age of three while starring in a dog food commercial. A little later in life he was a finalist in the Young Playwrights Festival in New York, where his play was produced by Joe Papp at the Public Theater. The play went on to become a primetime special produced by Group W and won a New England Emmy and a Peabody Award. Jason received a degree in Film & Broadcasting from Boston University, and after moving to New York worked at organizations including the Dramatists Guild, MTV, VH1, and as a freelancer with numerous film companies. Jason is a graduate of the Writers Boot Camp Six Week and Think Tank programs.
Jason Graham
Think Tank, Basic Training, Los Angeles
Jason began his career in the entertainment business as a talent representative, working first in an agency mailroom and eventually as a Talent Manager at a Management/Production company. He left representation in order to pursue a career as a screenwriter, and after almost three years as Writers Boot Camp’s Director of Development, he has segued to writing full time while serving as an Instructor for WBC’s career development program.
Johanna Lee
Think Tank, Basic Training, New York
Johanna graduated from Columbia University and received an MFA from NYU’s Film Production Program. She has written and directed a number of short films which have won awards and played at numerous film festivals including "Bed" which stars Sean Gullette and Ben Shenkman from the film "Pi", and "Bitter and Sweet" which is presently playing on Channel 13.
Johanna is the recipient of awards from the Academy of Motion Pictures, New York Foundation for the Arts and the Steven H. Ross Foundation. Her feature screenplay, "Jersey Seoul" has been optioned by the Production Company, Forensic Films (Gummo, Raising Victor Vargas). James Caan and Sandra Oh are attached and Johanna will direct. She is also writing a screenplay for the Producer Jooick Lee (Together, Seven Swords) and she recently directed a documentary which follows the ups and downs in the lives of six commodities traders who work on Wall Street.
Michael Lippman
Think Tank, Basic Training, Los Angeles
Michael has the theater in his veins. A theatrical director since high school, Michael produced Shakespeare plays at Brown University and founded The Hidden Theater in Los Angeles, where he also served as artistic director. Michael wrote the screenplay, FREUD AND JUNG, during Writers Boot Camp's Think Tank. He optioned the script with Richard Dreyfuss playing the role of Freud and Paul Mazursky (DOWN AND OUT IN BEVERLY HILLS) directing. He has several other projects in various stages of development around town.