WILLIAM M AKERS, author of Your Screenplay Sucks!, 100 Ways To Make It Great,  is a Lifetime Member of the WGA and has had three feature films produced from his screenplays. Akers has written for studios, independent producers, and the major television networks. He teaches screenwriting at Vanderbilt University and gives writing seminars around the world.

SHANE BLACK is currently writing Lethal Weapon 5, slated for 2012 release, and is lined up to direct Cold Warrior (2010), about a retired Cold War-era spy who helps a younger agent track down a terrorist.  Considered one of the pioneer screenwriters of the action genre, Black sold his first screenplay Lethal Weapon (1987) at the age of 23 for $250,000 and was paid $125,000 as a co-writer of Lethal Weapon 2 (1989). He received $1.75 million for his screenplay the Last Boyscout (1991), and $1 million for the McTiernan/Schwarzenegger Last Action Hero (1993) script. He contributed to Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) and Lethal Weapon 4 (1998).  Black is one of the highest paid screenwriters in Hollywood movie industry history, making $4 million for penning the Long Kiss Goodnight (1996), which he also produced. Black was the writer and director for Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (2005), the noir comedy, inspired by the Michael Shayne Mystery Series (circa 1941). Shane has also acted in many films, including Predator (1987), Robocop 3 (1993) and as Good as it Gets (I997).  In 2005, Black received the Best Original Screenplay Award from the San Diego Film Critics Association and five Saturn Award nominations for Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. In 2006, Black received the Distinguished Screenwriter Award from the Austin Film Festival, The Filmmaker’s Showcase Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films and a nomination for a London Critics Circle Film Award, also for Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.

ERIK BORK received Emmy and Golden Globe Awards as a writer-producer on the HBO miniseries 'Band Of Brothers' and 'From The Earth to The Moon'.  He has written features on assignment, worked on two series staffs, and written multiple drama series pilots from pitches he sold to NBC and Fox.

PAUL CHITLIK: We didn't find recent credits for Paul on IMDB, but he's listed among the writers on the program because he has so many credits, including  "V.I.P." (1 episode, 1999);...aka "V.I.P. - Die Bodyguards" (Germany); - Raging Val (1999) TV episode (story); Alien Abduction: Incident in Lake County (1998) (TV) (teleplay);...aka Alien Abduction: The McPherson Tape (UK);...aka Incident in Lake County; "Perfect Strangers" (1 episode, 1990); - Here Comes the Judge (1990) TV episode (story); ; "The Twilight Zone" (6 episodes, 1986-1989);...aka "The New Twilight Zone" (Australia); - Father & Son Game (1989) TV episode (written by); - Room 2426 (1989) TV episode (written by); - Stranger in Possum Meadows (1989) TV episode (writer); - The Trunk (1988) TV episode (written by); - The Hunters (1988) TV episode (written by); (1 more); "Small Wonder" (5 episodes, 1988-1989); - Hooray for Hollyweird! (1989) TV episode (written by); - More About L.E.S. (1989) TV episode (written by); - Riches to Rags (1989) TV episode (written by); - The Sheik (1988) TV episode (written by); - Love at First Byte (1988) TV episode (written by); "Who's the Boss?" (1 episode, 1987); - Car and Driver (1987) TV episode (story); "Amen" (1986) TV series (unknown episodes); "Brothers" (1 episode, 1986); - Goodbye, Cliffie (1986) TV episode (written by).

JAMES DALESSANDRO is a 23-year veteran of the WGA whose novel and screenplay "1906", an epic of the great San Francisco Earthquake, is being directed by The Incredibles’ Brad Bird and will be Pixar’s first live-action release. He is also author and screenwriter of "Citizen Jane" for Wolper Productions/Warner Brothers Television, the story of a Marin County woman who has solved 20 cold case murders, and writer/director/producer of the documentary film, "The Damnedest, Finest Ruins." Lew Hunter, co-Dean of the UCLA Screenwriting program, calls him one of the best screenwriting lecturers in the world. He lives in San Francisco.

BRIAN HERSKOWITZ has many features currently in development. Among his TV credits: Blossom  Hercules  Dream On  Tour of Duty  and punch up on Listen Up. Brian heads Boston University's prestigious Hollywood Internship program for Screenwriters.  He teaches screenwriting online for UCLA Extension and was the sitcom instructor for Writer's Boot Camp. His DVD on Crafting the Outline is available through Creative Screenwriting and his text book Process to Product is soon to be published by Halcyon Press.

KAREY KIRKPATRICK has a string of major-studio animation and live-action movies under his belt.  He is the co-writer/director of the hit 2006 animated film Over the Hedge. He has also written or co-written the screenplays to Chicken Run, The darkly visionary 2008 Spiderwick Chronicles, the 2006 Charlotte’s Web, and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Kirkpatrick got his start at Walt Disney’s Touchstone Pictures, where he was credited with co-writing the 1990 hit The Rescuers Down Under.  He next penned the screenplay for the critically acclaimed James and The Giant Peach.  He made his live action writing debut with 1997’s Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves. 2010 saw the release of Kirkpatrick’s live-action directorial debut, the Eddie Murphy family comedy Imagine That.  He has credits as a producer on The Spiderwick Chronicles and on the 2007comedy, Flakes, starring Zooey Deschanel, which he co-wrote with Chris Poche.  Small world that it is, Guest of Honor John Cleese played the role of The Sheep in his adaptation of Charlotte’s Web. 

BILL LUNDY is a working screenwriter and Chairman Emeritus of the Scriptwriters Network. Has written two movies for the Sci-Fi Channel and currently has three projects being packaged for production.

BILL MARSILII co-wrote (with Terry Rossio) the romantic time-travel thriller DEJA VU, which sold to Jerry Bruckheimer and Touchstone Pictures in June 2004 for $5 million in a pre-emptive bid. Starring Denzel Washington and directed by Tony Scott, the film opened Thanksgiving 2006 and went on to gross over $180 million worldwide.  An accomplished comedy writer/performer, Bill was in the original Off-Broadway cast of Tony 'N Tina's Wedding, and has been featured at Caroline's on Broadway, Catch a Rising Star and numerous other theatrical venues.  His television work includes writing and starring in two comedy pilots for the Hallmark Channel, as well as several episodes of the Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss and Courage the Cowardly Dog, all of which give lazy Internet dweebs ammo to talk smack about him.  He has also written feature scripts for The Samuel Goldwyn Company, TriStar, Warner Bros., and Paramount Pictures.  Bill's next feature is 20,000 Leagues under the Sea: Captain Nemo, which he sold on a pitch to Walt Disney Pictures in Spring 2007.  Directed by McG, the movie is now in pre-production and slated for release in 2011.  Bill is also currently writing another sci-fi spec with Terry Rossio.

CATHY MCCARTHY's screenplay 'Oh Brother' was optioned by Gold Circle Productions in 2008 and is currently in development and is slated for production in 2010. She is represented by the Safran Company in LA and currently resides in Phoenix,  Ariz.

GREG ROACH is a patent-holding inventor, new-media designer and writer. He wrote, designed and directed, The X-Files Game, Quantum Gate, The Vortex and The Madness of Roland. Most recently he was writer and design consultant for Lars von Trier’s interactive 'The Kingdom Within' and Ubsisoft’s upcoming AAA Wii game 'Red Steel 2.'

ROBERT N. SKIR has written a variety of animation series, ranging from action-adventure (X-Men, Batman, Superman) to wacky comedies (Beetlejuice, Sam & Max, Jim Henson's Dog City) since 1991. He has served as Story Editor on such shows as Extreme Ghostbusters Godzilla, and The Mask, developed X-Men: Evolution, and served as Head Writer on Transformers: Beast Machines and Action Man. He also teaches Animation Writing at UCLA School of Film, Television, & Digiital Arts.

CHRIS SOTH sold his USC thesis screenplay for $750,000.  He received sole credit on the film, Firestorm and has gone on to make the movie Outrage.  This year he will direct his own screenplay, Dead Man's Hand.  He teaches his own proprietary structure and story method through MillionDollarScreenwriting.com and via teleseminar at ScreenplayByPhone.com.  Chris is the author of the Internet Best-Seller:  Million-Dollar Screenwriting:  The Mini-Movie Method as well as the star of Sold!  How I Set Up Three Pitches in Hollywood, the Writer's Store pitching best-selling DVD.  He has taught at USC and UCLA and mentors screenwriters throughout the world at YourScreenplayMentor.com


GARY WHITTA sold his original screenplay "The Book of Eli" to Warner Bros in 2007. Produced by Joel Silver, the $80m sci-fi thriller will be released in January and stars Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis and Michael Gambon. Gary has since worked on several A-list studio assignments, including the live-action adaptations of the classic Japanese graphic novel "Akira" for Warner Bros and the blockbuster game franchise "Warcraft" for Legendary Pictures.  He is currently writing the sci-fi adventure "The Defenders" for DreamWorks with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci producing. His most recent film,  the supernatural thriller "Undying" (based on his original spec) goes into production later this year for release in 2010.



ANTHONY E. ZUIKER is one of the most creative and multifaceted individuals working in Hollywood today.  He is the creator of television's successful CSI franchise, which now includes CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami and CSI: New York.  With its tenth season debuting this September, the original CSI has received widespread critical acclaim and has earned distinction as the highest rated drama on television reaching 75 million viewers per week.  CSI accumulated an astounding 28 Emmy Award Nominations, four Emmy Awards, one Screen Actors Guild Award, and three Golden Globe nominations for Best Television Series (Drama).  Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer Productions, Zuiker serves as Executive Producer of the CSI franchise.  Zuiker also created and executive produces CSI: Miami starring David Caruso.  With an eighth season lined up for September, CSI: Miami continues to dominate in its timeslot in the United States and around the world.  He is also an Executive Producer for the series third installment CSI: New York, which premiered in the fall of 2004 and stars Gary Sinise and Melina Kanakaredes.  He was the showrunner for five seasons.  In addition to expanding on his film and television efforts, Zuiker continues to delve into the worlds of gaming, publishing and cross-platform storytelling with the formation of his Dare to Pass production company.  Regarding publishing, he has created the industry redefining multi-platform media property coined a 'Digi-Novel.' Published by Dutton, the first 'Digi-Novel' in this crime series is titled 'Level 26-Dark Orgins' which, is the first in a series of crime novels to be published by Dutton, will revolutionize modern storytelling by allowing readers to move seamlessly from books to film to the Web, an unprecedented undertaking in the publishing industry.  It will be in stores on September 8, 2010.  All Cyberbridges were written, produced and directed by Zuiker.  Zuiker also closed a deal with publisher HarperCollins for his memoir tentatively titled "Mr.  CSI".  In the book, Zuiker maps out his journey as an aspiring writer working as a tram driver at Las Vegas' famed Mirage Hotel to becoming one of the most coveted screen and television writers in the business.

IAN ABRAMS : Since 1998 Professor Ian Abrams has been head of the Screenwriting & Playwriting Program at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Prior to that he worked in Hollywood for twenty years, ten of them writing and producing film and TV. He wrote the 1993 MGM film Undercover Blues starring Kathleen Turner, Dennis Quaid and Stanley Tucci, and was co-creator of the long-running CBS show Early Edition. Ian has written for or sold screenplays to Warner Bros./CBS, TriStar, Universal, DeLaurentis Entertainment Group, Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount, and Spelling Films.

JOHN AUGUST : is the acclaimed writer of Tim Burton's Big Fish and the indie hit Go. August has also collaborated with Burton on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the animated film Corpse Bride, and the 2011 Disney release Frankenweenie. August has also delved into action screenwriting by having a hand in both Charlie's Angels films. His last project was the lauded film The Nines, on which he made his directorial debut.  He also has producer credits, including Executive Producer of Prince of Persia.

BOB DEROSA'S : success is a tribute to that great combination of talents -- writing ability and perseverance. He just broke into the big time as the writer of the $75 million Lionsgate action/comedy KILLERS starring Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl. He was the winner of our 2004 CS Open, the on-site predecessor to the Cyberspace Open.

GARY WHITTA : is the writer of "The Book of Eli". Starring Denzel Washington and produced by Joel Silver, the controversial post-apocalyptic thriller, made from Whitta's original spec script, earned more than $150m at the box office, was nominated for three Saturn Awards including Best Science-Fiction Film, and is one of the biggest-selling DVDs of the year so far. Gary has since worked on several A-list studio assignments, including the live-action adaptations of the classic Japanese manga "Akira" for Warner Bros and the blockbuster game franchise "Warcraft" for Legendary Pictures. His most recent project, the supernatural thriller "Undying", starring Kurt Russell and directed by Jon Amiel, goes into production this Fall for release in 2011.

PETER BLAKE : is a former lawyer and management consultant who now writes for television. He has written for TV's HOUSE for six years, where he is now a co-executive producer. Before that, he wrote for ABC´s THE PRACTICE for four years. He has also written feature screenplays for Universal, Paramount and Focus.

STEPHEN SUSCO´s : time in Hollywood has been a horror – in a good way. His first produced film, The Grudge, produced by Sam Raimi, cost under $10 million to make and grossed almost $200 million worldwide in its theatrical release. Stephen wrote and co-produced Red, starring Brian Cox, a drama which premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film festival, and was distributed theatrically by Magnolia Pictures. In 2010 he returned to Sundance to premiere High School, starring Michael Chiklis and Adrian Brody, a comedy he co-wrote and produced with director John Stalberg, Jr. But it´s been all horror lately: The Freshman for Sam Raimi, The Butcherhouse Chronicles for Paramount, Hack/Slash for Relativity, and Leatherface for Twisted Pictures/Lionsgate. Currently he´s producing his script Zero Dark Thirty with producer Michael Douglas, developing a television series with director Gore Verbinski, and adapting a high-action graphic novel for McG and Taylor Lautner. In all, over the past fourteen years, Stephen has penned and sold over 40 scripts and pitches to major studios, and has written for a variety of acclaimed directors and producers.

MICHAEL ELLIOT : has spent a lifetime beating the odds. Twenty-five years ago, he was a high school dropout, surviving on the streets of Philadelphia as one of the city´s homeless. Today, 43-year-old Elliot is one of the most accomplished African-American screenwriters in Hollywood. Elliot´s foray into writing movies began in 1997, after he relocated to Los Angeles and found himself unemployed. With no job prospects, Elliot had a tough decision to make: return to the East Coast and work for someone else again, or stay in Los Angeles and pursue a career in the world he had always loved: the movie business. Staring at the computer purchased by his former employer – hip-hop and fashion mogul Sean ´Diddy´ Combs – Elliot saw an opportunity to create his entrée into the film industry. Armed with Combs´ computer, a book on screenwriting, and a Blockbuster Card, Elliot began teaching himself to write screenplays. Approximately 13 months later – without the help of an agent or manager – Elliot sold his first screenplay to a major movie studio. He was now a working writer. Over the next 12 years, Elliot´s writing credits would include the films MTV´s Hip-Hopera: Carmen (MTV), which launched the film career of Beyonce Knowles; Like Mike (20th Century Fox), which starred Lil´ Bow Wow; Brown Sugar (Fox Searchlight Pictures), which starred Taye Diggs, Sanaa Lathan, Mos Def and Queen Latifah; and Just Wright (Fox Searchlight Pictures), which stars Queen Latifah, Common and Paula Patton –in theaters now. When not writing screenplays, Elliot devotes his time to helping aspiring screenwriters launch their careers through his website WritersLittleBlackBook.com, his facebook group The Ladder: Produced Screenwriters Helping Aspiring Screenwriters, and the ´A Conversation with Michael Elliot´ Live Webinar Series.

JON JAMES MILLER´S : screenplay "Garbo´s Last Stand" won Grand Prize, AAA Screenplay Contest, and Golden Brad Award for Drama. That script is now a novel with an agent. Jon earned a B.S. in Cinematography and worked in cable documentaries for A&E, Lifetime and The History Channel, with three screenplays optioned. CHARLOTTE COOK, MFA, has extensive experience as a publisher and story editor, bringing six award-winning novels to publication (Writers Digest, February 2008). She´s a popular conference presenter and successful teacher and workshop facilitator. With award-winning screenwriter Jon James Miller, she´s developed "Adapting Sideways" for screenwriters to write publishable novels.

CHAD GERVICH : has written, produced, and developed shows—scripted and reality—for many of Hollywood´s top companies, including ABC, CBS, Warner Brothers, Endemol, and FOX. He´s the best-selling author of Small Screen, Big Picture: A Writers Guide to the TV Business, and currently has a comedy development deal with 20th Century Fox.

COREY MANDELL : is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter who has written projects for Ridley Scott, Wolfgang Petersen, Harrison Ford, John Travolta, Warner Brothers, Universal, 20th Century Fox, Fox 2000, Fox Family, Working Title, Paramount, Live Planet, Beacon Films, Touchstone, Trilogy, Radiant and Walt Disney Pictures. Corey teaches screenwriting at UCLA, where he earned my MFA. His students have gone on to sell or option scripts to Warner Brothers, Paramount, Sony Pictures, Disney, Fox, Fox 2000, MGM, Universal, USA Network and Lifetime.

WILLIAM C MARTELL : has written 19 films that were carelessly slapped onto celluloid: 3 for HBO, 2 for Showtime, 2 for USA Net, and a whole bunch of CineMax Originals and has been on several film festival juries, including Raindance in London (once with Mike Figgis and Saffron Burrows, once with Lennie James and Edgar Wright). Roger Ebert discussed my work with Gene Siskel on his 1997 If We Picked The Winners" Oscar show. I´m quoted a few times in Bordwell´s great book "The Way Hollywood tells It". He has written one of those 80s remakes."

DAVID MILCH : In 1982, David Milch, a lecturer in English literature at Yale University and neophyte screenwriter, wrote a script for HILL STREET BLUES. The episode, "Trial By Fury," premiered HILL STREET´S third season and won the Emmy, the Writers Guild Award, and the Humanitas Prize for that season. Milch´s academic years were distinguished by achievements and honors, in some ways foreshadowing his future success in television. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude from Yale, where he won the Tinker Prize for highest achievement in English. He then earned an MFA, with distinction, from the Writer´s Workshop at Iowa University. During his nine-year teaching career at Yale, he assisted Robert Penn Warren and Cleanth Brooks in the preparation of several college textbooks on literature. In addition, Milch´s poetry and fiction have been published in various journals, including The Atlantic Monthly and Southern Review. The success of his first script, however, marked the end of his academic career and the beginning of a career in dramatic television. He spent five seasons with HILL STREET BLUES, first as Executive Story Editor and subsequently as Executive Producer. During that time, Milch earned two more Writers Guild Awards, a second Humanitas prize, and another Emmy. Milch´s career gained momentum throughout the 1980´s with the addition of two other series to his credits. In 1987, he created and Executive Produced the HILL STREET BLUES spin-off BEVERLY HILLS BUNTZ, which featured NYPD BLUE co-star Dennis Franz, and, in 1989, Milch served as Executive Producer of the ABC series CAPITAL NEWS, starring Lloyd Bridges. In 1992, Milch co-created the history-making police drama NYPD BLUE. The highly-rated series set a record by garnering 26 Emmy Nominations its premier season, winning the award for Best Drama Series in 1994-1995. Milch took home Emmys for Best Writing in a Drama for the 1996-1997 and 1997-1998 seasons. The first season of NYPD BLUE also earned Milch a Humanitas Prize and an Edgar Award for his screenwriting. While still at the helm of NYPD BLUE, Milch created another police drama, BROOKLYN SOUTH, co-authored, along with NYPD Blue producer Bill Clark, TRUE BLUE: The Real Stories Behind NYPD Blue, and served as creative consultant for Steven Bochco´s MURDER ONE and TOTAL SECURITY. Since forming Redboard Productions, Milch co-created BIG APPLE, a one-hour drama set in New York City´s FBI field office and DEADWOOD for HBO. The hit series based on actual events in Deadwood, South Dakota, during the 1870´s, has received 6 Emmy Awards, a Peabody and a Best Actor Golden Globe for actor Ian McShane. He is currently in production on the new drama LUCK, also for HBO, about the horse racing world. Milch was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1945. His father was a prominent surgeon and his mother was head of the Board of Education. His brother, Dr. Robert Milch, also a surgeon, still resides in their hometown and is Medical Director of Hospice Buffalo. Milch is married to Emmy-award winning documentarian Rita Stern. They have two daughters, Elizabeth and Olivia, and a son, Benjamin.

MICHAEL TABB : is performing a director´s supervised draft of his original script ´The Unchatchable Cowgirl Bandits of Nottingham, Texas´ with Producers Paul Schiff, Katherine Brown and Intrepid Pictures, and Amber Heard. Recently, he finished feature film scripts ´Vultures´ based on a Robert E. Howard short story for Paradox Entertainment and adapted best-selling Russian sci-fi adventure novel ´Knights Of The Forty Islands´ by Sergey Lukyanenko for Run Entertainment, Ltd. Before that, Michael developed projects for Disney Feature Animation, The Canton Company at Warner Brothers, Producer Lawrence Bender, comic book icon Stan Lee, Director Mike Newell and Dustin Hoffman. Michael guest lectures on screenwriting, is a member of the WGAw, serves on WGA´s Writer´s Education Committee, and also originated the column in Ingénue Magazine about the business of screenwriting entitled "Script Notes".

ETHAN WILEY´S : writing and directing credits include the horror-comedy HOUSE, HOUSE 2 (New World) and CHILDREN OF THE CORN 5 (Dimension). Since 2006, Wiley has written, directed and produced several movies for his own Wiseacre Films, including BLACKWATER VALLEY EXORCISM, BRUTAL (Lionsgate), BLACK OPS (First Look), BEAR and THE BUTTERFLY ROOM.

JENNIFER SALT : the screenwriter of ´Eat Pray Love´ and many episodes of ´Nip/Tuck,´ had a long acting career, followed by great success as a screenwriter, achieving the distinctions of both having a two-part career and following in the footsteps of both parents, her actor mother and Academy-Award-winning screenwriter father. Currently, Salt is developing a script based on the Rachel DeWoskin book Foreign Babes in Beijing, which focuses on contemporary ex-pat life in Beijing. She wrote and produced eight seasons of the Golden Globe Award winning series ´Nip/Tuck,´ which earned her a Writers Guild Nomination for her episode, ´Rhea Reynolds.´ Before finding her way as a writer, Salt was an actress on the stage, screen and television. She made her Broadway debut in Oliver Hailey´s Father´s Day and began her film career with a featured role in Midnight Cowboy, then starred in Robert Altman´s Brewster McCloud, Brian DePalma´s ´Hi Mom´ and ´Sisters,´ Paul Williams´ ´The Revolutionary,´ and Woody Allen´s ´Play It Again Sam.´ After her key role as Eunice Tate in the groundbreaking series ´Soap,´ As a writer, her first series job was with ´Sins of the City´ for USA network, followed by ´Nero Wolfe Mysteries´ for A&E. Her father, Waldo Salt, survived the Hollywood blacklist and went on to win two Academy Awards for his screenplays ´Midnight Cowboy´ and ´Coming Home,´ as well as an Oscar nomination for ´Serpico.´ She inherited the love of the stage from her mother, actress Mary Davenport who was a member of the well-respected Actor´s Lab in Hollywood.

NEO EDMUND : has worked in the industry for 10 years as a Development Executive, Story Consultant, and Screenwriter. He is a co-writer on the action Thrillers ´Serpent Rising´ and ´Blacksands,´ and is currently co-writing a feature adaptation of the Fox Reality series ´Solitary.´