Workshops
Be guided by an accomplished producer and development executive as you consider how to ready your script and pitch before it goes to agents, studios or investors.
Dates:
Aug 19, 2024 - Aug 23, 2024
Levels:
Intermediate,
Advanced,
Workshop Fee: $1395
Workshop Duration: 1-week (Monday-Friday)
Workshop Location: On-campus
Class Size: 10
To succeed in the highly competitive film and TV marketplace, a project needs to be presented to agents, investors, studios and networks in its best possible shape. This one-week workshop is for writers and filmmakers who have a work-in-progress and are looking for the guidance of a seasoned producer and development executive as they consider how to make their script and pitch the best it can possibly be, regardless of whether they intend to produce it independently or within the studio system.
The workshop will be led by Karen Tenkhoff, an award-winning film producer and executive with numerous feature credits and box office hits to her name. Karen has decades of experience working with major talent, writers and directors with an emphasis on story development and structure, as well as collaborating with creators to optimize and fulfill their overall creative visions.
Over the course of the week, we will consider student projects from the perspective of concept, story, structure, and character development, and where it might live in the marketplace. Projects will be discussed as a group and, as needed, in 1:1 sessions with the instructor. In addition to participating in group sessions, participants will also have time to work on their project’s elements throughout the week, whether that’s addressing story and character notes or sharpening their pitch. The instructor will also discuss relevant case studies from their own work to illuminate models that will be of benefit to the group.
In addition to helping participants consider what they need to do to focus and fulfill their creative vision for the project, the week will offer a real world view of how the industry works in terms of development, packaging and financing. For each project, we will consider the practical next steps for taking it to the next level.
Leave the week with an informed perspective on how to move your project toward becoming something that’s ready to present.
NOTE: Upon registration, participants will be asked to submit a short summary of what their project is, and in what stage of development it’s in (e.g. concept, treatment, outline, finished script). Please submit that statement to [email protected]
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Instructor: Karen Tenkhoff
Karen Tenkhoff is an award-winning film producer in both live action and animation, and has been a reckoning force behind several path-breaking films, which have been Golden Globe and Academy-award winners and nominees, such as THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES and THE HORSE WHISPERER. As a senior development executive at Disney, she was actively involved in building Disney Feature Animation’s development slate, which includes TANGLED, WINNIE THE POOH and the Oscar winning film FROZEN, (which recently surpassed the $1 billion mark at the global box office), Oscar-nominated WRECK-IT RALPH and MOANA, and the Oscar-winning BIG HERO 6 and ZOOTOPIA. She recently Executive Produced MONICA, which premiered in competition at the 2022 Venice Film Festival. She has also served as senior executive and producing partner to the Oscar-winning director Robert Redford at his company, Wildwood, for a decade. She currently works as an independent producer and consults for major studios, including Fox, Warners and Netflix, among others. Her work is global in scope and she has worked extensively in India and throughout Asia.
She specializes in working with major talent, writers and directors with an emphasis on story development and structure, as well as collaborating with creators to optimize and fulfill their overall creative visions. Karen has also led or participated as a mentor in development workshops around the world—helping writers and directors to strengthen their screenplays.
She also uses her producing, development and storytelling expertise in service of her writing career. A member of the Writer’s Guild, she has several film and television projects in active development; including a historically-based episodic drama set on the Indian subcontinent for Aaron Kaplan/Kapital; a Miami-set police procedural for Producers Tim Johnson and Jeff Sagansky and a limited series on the life of Galileo, for Cognito Entertainment.