On April 12, 2003, IFP MSP, in partnership with Mr. Hafed Bouassida, Chair of the Screenwriting Program at Minneapolis Community & Technical College, held the first annual screenwriting conference focused on the art and business of screenwriting geared toward screenwriters in the Upper Midwest region.
The mission of the conference is to concentrate on a singular aspect of the complex process of screenwriting each year and to highlight the business of writing. This year’s conference focused on adaptation for the screen. Guest panelists included Stephen Molton and Fred Mills.
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Science’s Greg Beal also was a featured guest. Greg, who administers the Academy’s Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowships, spoke on the business side of screenwriting. Participants learned about topics such as breaking in, submissions and identifying contacts, agents, managers and production companies, education and schools, contests, the “need” to move to Hollywood, making independent films, writing from the heart vs. writing commercial.
