Whether you’re a beginner screenwriter looking for representation, or an emerging professional seeking to build career momentum, navigating the industry can feel overwhelming – even demoralizing.

We’re excited to welcome to Film Independent screenwriter Ellen Shanman (Gallagher Girls, Voltron) for a conversation on establishing yourself as a professional writer for film and television. She’ll offer advice on building a network, getting noticed early on, getting meetings (and prepping for them), the realities of getting representation and what day jobs, if any, might help you achieve your goals. As always, there will be time for questions from attendees at the end of the session.
 
About the Speaker

Ellen Shanman is a screenwriter whose favorite projects include adaptations of bestselling spy-girl book series Gallagher Girls for Paramount; Japanese cult anime series Tiger & Bunny for Imagine Entertainment; and Tom Clancy’s The Division video game for Netflix. She has written assassins, superheroes, soldiers and psychopaths for most of the major studios and is the author of two novels from Random House/Bantam Dell: Right Before Your Eyes and Everything Nice – the latter of which she adapted for Charlize Theron’s Denver & Delilah Productions.

Shanman is a graduate of Northwestern University and has been happily involved with selections and mentoring for Film Independent’s Artist Development programs for the last decade. She is currently at work on Crave, a paranormal YA romance adaptation for Universal; Bandette, a graphic novel adaptation for Dreamworks Animation; and Voltron, with director Rawson Marshall Thurber for Amazon Studios.
 
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Accessibility

Film Independent is committed to hosting events that are accessible. For inquiries regarding accessibility, or to request an accommodation, please contact us at accessibility@filmindependent.org or 323 556 9305.