I introduce and teach students to the elements of screenwriting: good stories and good screenwriting technique including structure, format,and character. I also teach pitching & stand up skills, namely how to sell your screenplay or idea to producers and talent. A pitch is what your screenplay summarized in twenty five words or less. One of the most famous pitches in movie history is the one for "Alien" "'Jaws' in space." I also teach and coach giving and receiving feedback, I teach my students critical thinking, and the business of film and film production.

EDUCATION | I studied film at San Francisco State University. There I decided to focus on screenwriting, so I studied most of the "structural theorists" including Truby, Robert Mckee, Miklos Csaklos, Kitchen, Seger, etc, and read literature voraciously.

HOW TO GET STARTED | Well, there about as many ways to enter this industry as there are places to work. But it's competitive. Many schools want an MFA, and work experience. That means that you should have a masters of Fine Arts in Film or Screenwriting, and more often than not, have had one of your screenplays either optioned or produced. It's not just the opinionated armchair film criticism stuff people might imagine. I was lucky enough to know someone and get "in" because I was at the right place at the right time. My advice would be to take as many screenwriting classes as possible, you will see many of the same people along the way. This is the best opportunity to network. And there are many other ways to network. Starting screenwriting groups, film clubs, volunteering on film shoots; if an independent/student filmmaker produces a short film that you have written, that is a HUGE leg up. But networking is the most important: something may open up someplace, and if you know people, your resume will be a the top of the stack. But there are many other ways to get in as well. My advice is to call or email or visit screenwriters/screenwriting teachers for informational interviews...you never know, that could lead to a gig!

MUST HAVE TRAITS | You have to be creative, analytical, flexible, knowledgeable, caring, and organized. You must possess empathy, flexibility, you have to love the craft, you have to love learning and growing, that's the most important part, because if you don't your students won't get too much out of you, they can always just read the art of screenwriting out of a book.

how I got started | One of my first jobs was working at Pixar Animation Studios as a Story Analyst. I am also a founding member of "the San Francisco Screenwriters." This organization gets together periodically and we do alot of networking, but the main focus is which regularly pitching my own work and discussing the scripts of the members. One of my writing mentors was a teacher at the Academy of Art University here in San Francisco and needed to go on a sabbatical. I took his place temporarily, and then people at the Academy got to know me. Later, when they needed a teacher, I was available.

why this job?| Originally, it was a convenient day job. I could have a decent amount of time to work on my own projects. The more I did it however, the more meaningful it became to me because I wanted to be good at it. I have had to study. Not the subject so much though I am always studying, but the craft of teaching. I'm always trying to improve, and improving, because I want to reach all the students. I want to give more of what I know and give it in better and more effective ways.

why I love this job!| Teaching is really about love. Students make it hard to love them sometimes, but they don't mean to. Teaching is the vehicle to make them smarter about themselves and their world. I like sharing my perspective, and I like it when they perceive the patterns of technique they can observe and when I can move them.

my typical day| I have to get to school by 6:30 in order to park. Class begins at 830 and I prep before. Mostly the day before, but...(please fill in more of this part).

what they are | For me, grading. Assessment interferes with the momentum of creative growth. I have to grade, so I do. But I remain unsatisfied with how far I can help my students explore and grow because of the educational institutional constraints. Money is another challenge. I am paid by the teaching hour and not paid for prep or grading. There is always this strange reality that the more I give my students there is always the possibility I am reducing my hourly wage. I wish that wasn't such a concern.

all about growth | There is competition for this job and I'm really very lucky and I know it. The growth is mainly on the inside; the more I teach, the better I get at screenwriting, which ideally what my students and I want. I doubt there is that much growth.

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