Clint Milby
Adams talks career and shares what studios are looking for from hopeful screenwriters and directors
If you’ve written a spec screenplay or directed a short or even a feature independently, you’ve obviously wondered what goes on behind the gates and walls of a major studio.
How do those decision makers get their positions of power? Are they born to them? What do they expect from a writer or director, and do you have what it takes to not only get in the door but stay there and flourish?
Recently at the “Holly Would Talk: Celebrating Women in Hollywood” seminar, attendees were able to see something most rarely ever see — a real development executive from a major motion picture studio in the wild. Warner Bros. Pictures Vice President, Cate Adams breaks down how she got in the business, what she does and dispells some of the most common misconceptions about what a development executive does.
Moderated by Ivanna Massetti, founder of Women Occupy Hollywood, Adams speaks at length about what she looks for in a writer and in a script as well as what impresses executives about directors.
Obviously, if you’re a writer or director, you won’t want to miss this opportunity to find out if you’re ready to pitch to a studio, not from rumor or what someone “thinks” but from an actual decision maker from behind the studio’s walls.
“Holly Would Talk: Celebrating Women in Hollywood” was presented by Erman Baradi, who continues to produce some of the best seminars and mixers in Los Angeles. Baradi’s next major event, Hollywood Chills summit: Film, TV, & Music panel and party, promises to be his best yet with panelists that include:
- Viviana Zarragoitia, VP of Three Point Capital (funding behind projects like “Mudbound,” “Manchester by the Sea,” The Killing of a Sacred Deer,” The Girlfriend Experience”)
- Kim Ray, executive producer, Netflix’s “Gaga: Five Foot Two”
- Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, producer, CEO/Founder of Gotham Group (“Maze Runner” franchise, upcoming “The Black Hand”)
- Sally Jo Effenson, producer, “Mudbound”
- Annie Lukowski, Vanishing Point Media (VR)
- Gina Atwater, writer, “Westworld” (season 2)
- Jennifer Haley, writer, “Mindhunter,” “Hemlock Grove”
- And man, many more!
Hollywood Chills Summit is a two-day event held Friday & Saturday, April 13 & 14.
To find out more about the Hollywood Chills Summit and to register go to hollywoodchillssummit.
To find out more about Women Occupy Hollywood, go to their website at womenoccupyhollywood.com
