Jerusalem school for screenwriters

The fourth of its kind in the world, an international film lab in Jerusalem helps aspiring scriptwriters hone their craft.

By HANNAH BROWN
Jerusalem 311 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Jerusalem 311
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
There are a lot of eager, aspiring screenwriters out there, but their problem is how to write truly high-quality scripts. The Sam Spiegel School for Film and Television in Jerusalem will help a select group of screenwriters by offering an International Film Lab for Screenwriters, which will give $80,000 worth of grants to outstanding young screenwriters from Israel and around the globe.
This program, the fourth of its kind in the world, is modeled on successful film labs that have been run at Sundance, the Torino Film Festival and the Binger Institute in Amsterdam.
The Jerusalem program, created by Sam Spiegel School founder and director Renen Schorr, will have an annual budget of $350,000. Schorr will run the lab with Avishay Kahana, a recent Sam Spiegel graduate.
The lab will work each year over a seven-month period. Twelve directors who are writing their scripts either with a partner or alone will receive instruction from worldclass film script editors.
Eight of these directors will be from abroad and four will be from Israel. The aspiring directors will develop their scripts with this assistance, and eventually several scripts will receive production grants and other support.
The members of the international advisory committee include Olivier Pere (Locarno Film Festival), Georges Goldenstern (Cinéfondation, Cannes Film Festival), Sonja Heinen (director of Co-Production Market, Berlinale World Cinema Fund), Alesia Weston (Sundance Institute- Feature Film Program, International), Savina Neirotti (Torino Film Lab), Anthony Bergman (producer, New York) and Katriel Schory (Israel Film Fund).
The Israeli committee will be chaired by Schorr and will include Kahana, Yoram Honig (Jerusalem Film Fund) and Dolin Melnik (Israel State Lottery-Mifal Hapayis).
For information on how to apply for the program, go to the Sam Spiegel website at http://jsfs.co.il/english/articles.asp?ArticleId=60