Panel Discussion “Creative Writing: From the Book to the Script”

Mark Haskell Smith, Tom Lutz, John Shea, Kenneth Kokin

As part of the II Dominican Global Film Festival that has brought so many well-known film professionals to our country, the FUNGLODE auditorium was the scene of a magnificent panel discussion on Thursday, “Creative Writing: From the Book to the Script.” The goal of the panel was to give film students and young professionals the tools to successfully embark on new screen-writing projects.

The panel included Mark Haskell Smith, filmmaker, writer and member of the University of Nebraska; Kenneth Kokin, producer with more than 10 years experience in Hollywood; Tom Lutz, professor of writing and film studies at the University of California Riverside; and John Shea, author of “Rat Bastards,” his best-selling autobiography.

John Shea, Kenneth Kokin, Mark Haskell Smith, Tom Lutz

These international film industry specialists gave their audience important information about adaptation, structuring a script, authors´ rights and investment. They all agreed that in the Dominican Republic there are numerous literary works that can be adapted into screenplays. They also encouraged the Dominican writers in the audience to not be intimidated to write and publish their own stories.

This panel was part of a series of master classes and program workshops that comprise the “Let´s Talk about Film” program, underway as part of the Film Festival.