(Please note: this retreat is not sponsored by Screenwriters Workshop)
The Oberholtzer Foundation and McKnight Screenwriting Fellow Daniel
Laurence seek eight mid-career screenwriters for a week on Rainy
Lake’s Mallard Island from June 16th through June 22nd, 2013. This
is an opportunity for eight screenwriters to be sequestered together,
unfettered by the bustle of civilization, in order to relax, commune
with nature, and consult with one another while working on their most
promising script. Think of it as an “artist colony meets summer camp”
without expectations — other than a bit of productivity!
ABOUT MALLARD ISLAND and the OBERHOLTZER FOUNDATION:
Ernest Oberholtzer was a preservationist, explorer, student of the
Anishinabe, Harvard graduate, artist and, most notably, founding
father of the Boundary Waters. Mallard Island, his home, is a small
piece of rocky land in the middle of Rainy Lake, a stone’s throw from
the Canadian border. It is approximately eleven hundred feet long
and has nine small cabins. The Oberholtzer Foundation’s mission is
“dedicated to the preservation of Ober’s North Woods legacy as a
source of inspiration, renewal, and connection to the natural world.”
The foundation accomplishes this mission by hosting, and partially
funding, eleven annual weeks of creative retreats. In the past, they
have hosted children’s writers, composers and poets. This will be their
first week exclusively for screenwriters.
www.eober.org
THE EXPERIENCE:
Lodging: Each screenwriter will be housed in one of five exquisitely
eccentric cabins. The cabins are charming but rustic. The beds are new
and comfortable, but you will need to bring your own sheets for the
week. Blankets and pillows provided. The toilets are compostable and
bathing is via the lake or a solar shower.
Food: Each screenwriter must provide his/her own food for breakfast
and lunch. Screenwriters will be paired with another screenwriter
to make one dinner for ten people for one night. Dinners are at 6.
Communal and lively conversation around the table is encouraged. The
conversation often spills into the campfire experience after.
Amenities: Precious little. There is no running water at Mallard, cell
phone strength is limited and sometimes the electricity fizzles out.
There is however, purified water for cooking and drinking, ample
canoes and kayaks for excursions, much laughter from people and
loons, and stars like nowhere else.
THE COST:
The cost for the week on Mallard is $200.00. There is also a parking
fee of approximately $30.00 as well as your food — which you bring to
the island. As previously mentioned, this is a sequestered experience.
Other than emergencies, once you drive to the dock, a boat will pick
you up, whisk you away to the island and return you six days later.
If you become a participant, a down payment of $100.00 to Mallard
needs to be completed by April 1.
APPLY BY MARCH 15th
The retreat seeks eight mid-career screenwriters who are eager to
write, share and hobnob with one another. Interested screenwriters,
please submit the following:
•
A recent resume.
•
Evidence of some screenwriting merit, such as a McKnight
winner or finalist, a produced/optioned screenplay, placing in a
national competition such as a “second rounder” at Austin.
•
A one page synopsis of the script, or concept, you will be
working on while at Mallard.
Submit your application to Daniel Laurence, daninuk@hotmail.com.
MORE INFORMATION:
If you are interested in learning more, please contact Daniel Laurence
at 612-722-1087 or daninuk@hotmail.com. Daniel is the individual
who conceived and pitched the idea of a screenwriter’s retreat to the
Oberholtzer Foundation. He is a “Mallardian Fellow,” having worked on
a script the summer of 2011 during an open artist week.
