Esther Luttrell

Moving to Los Angeles, she joined the CBS Script Department then MGM Studios, rising from the Executive offices back into production. Her credits include movies-of-the- week, feature films, episodic television, sitcoms and TV specials, the experiences ranging from Comedy Development, Assistant to the Vice President of MGM-TV, Assistant to the Music Editor (5 films), and Production Coordinator (‘Chips”, “The
Master”), to Script Consultant. Her first original feature story was sold to Dick Clark Cinema Productions.

For nearly a decade she produced screenwriting workshops across the country with friends in the film industry: Donald Gold (producer “Chips”, “Miami Vice”, “Diagnosis Murder”), Anne Marie Gillen (Executive Producer “Fried Green Tomatoes”, Chief Operating Officer Morgan Freeman’s production company Revelations Entertainment), Mark Schulman (top executive DreamWorks), Paul Rabwin (producer “The X Files”) and Jack Allen (producer of 12 television movies and mini-series). In 2005, she received an award at the Appalachian Film Festival for her part in nurturing and encouraging new screenwriters.

Producing and co-writing “Lithium Spring” brought her back to her native state (Florida) and reunited her with old friend and Executive Producer, Carter Lord, whose previous film, “The Enchanted”, is still among her favorite independent movies.

To learn more about Esther Luttrell visit www.estherluttrell.net.

Coming in August 2010 – this 6-weeks series for screenwriters and aspiring screenwriters!
Tools of the ScreenWriting Trade: the Business of Being a Screenwriter

Listen to This 2-part Interview with Esther Luttrell to find out more about this series:

Part 1:

Part 2:

NOTE: These 6 teleclasses are each 90-minutes long and take place on Monday nights from 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. CDT.

Monday, August 2, 2010 – Session #1
Monday, August 9, 2010 – Session #2
Monday, August 16, 2010 – Session #3
Monday, August 23, 2010 – Session #4
Monday, August 30, 2010 – Session #5
Monday, September 6, 2010 – Session #6

“These 6 sessions are dedicated to those bright, wonderful students who come to my workshops on their journey to Somewhere. I knew when you arrived that you were already There, for the Journey and the Goal are One, and sometimes the sigh of uncertainty needs no more than a pat of encouragement to become the roar of confidence.”
 
Session #1 (All sessions contain an interactive writing exercise)
To Agent or Not to Agent: Why it may not be in your best interest to look for an agent at the beginning of your screenwriting career.
How Long is a Screenplay: The reason why some people want scripts that run only 90 pages, how you can break the rules.
Assembling the Writer’s Toolbox: What to do when you first get the idea to write a screenplay.
Story Treatments: Understanding and writing a treatment; step-by-step on how to get those first words on paper, with examples and a check list – and why they aren’t always a good idea.
Finding a Producer: How to find your target audience, and a producer who might be interested in producing your work.
Creating a Rough Draft: The step between a treatment and a polished script, a step that allows you to “see” your movie from beginning to end.
Creating the Screenplay: Forget story arcs. What you need to know in order to get your script read by those in a position to buy it. Insider information.
 
Session #2
The Format, the Language, the Profession: If you understand who you’re talking to when you write a script, your chances for success are greatly improved.
30 Mistakes Most New Writers Make – and How to Avoid Them
Slug Lines: Their importance and who needs their information. How to proof yourself so that you’ll never again write an inaccurate one.
Slug Lines Within a Scene (Interior): How to move from one room to another, and indicate it in your Slug Line.
Slug Lines Within a Scene (Exterior): How to move from one location to another.
Night and Day, Which is the One?: The Lighting Tech needs certain information from you. More than that is not only overkill, it exposes you as a novice writer.
 
Session #3:
Opening Narratives: The entire crew reads this vitally important first paragraph, which always appears under a Slug Line.
Caps in Dialogue: When they are appropriate and why.
Directing the Director: It’s difficult to know when you’re telling the story in a clear, visual manner, and when you’re flat out directing the director. This chapter will help you detect the subtle differences.
Setting the Scene: Another take on when to tell a little and when to tell a lot, and how to tell the difference.
Mysterious Strangers & Unseen Characters: A shadow is lurking…you know who it is, but you don’t want the audience to know. How do you indicate that in your script?
Mysterious Mutterings & Other Background Conversation: Nothing gets said on-screen if you, the Writer, don’t write it. How do you write what people mutter in the background? How does it look on your script page?
Dialogue The Writer Doesn’t Write: More about dialogue heard in the background, this time unscripted. Do you know about the Loop Group?
 
Session #4
Ah! The Sight of Your Sound: How to properly write sound into your script.
Back On Scene: What is meant by the term, and how to use it correctly.
The Abbrev. Version: Why it’s wise not to use abbreviations in writing your script. Another insider tip.
Using and Abusing Quotation Marks: There’s a proper way to use them.
Repetitious Words Repeated: It’s easy to use the same words over and over, but it certainly bores your reader. How to overcome this irritating habit.
Flashbacks, Montages, Quick Cuts, and Series of Shots: When to use them, the differences between them, and how they look on the written page.
Character Names & Naming Characters: What happens when a character changes names in the middle of your story, plus another little-known tip that will keep you from looking a novice writer.
 
Session #5
O.C., O.S., V.O.: The differences between speaking off-camera, off-screen and voice over.
Name Calling: All dialogue has to have a name over it. Want to understand why?
Dialogue (CONT’D): What to do when dialogue is interrupted by narrative or when dialogue continues onto the following page.
(Dialogue Direction): There’s a reason for the space under the character’s name and over their dialogue.
Phone Conversations: What the reader needs you to tell them about phone calls.
Intercutting Phone Scenes: How to set up the scenes and move from one of them to the other. The meaning of the word Intercut. Did you know that most new screenwriters really don’t understand the term?
Dialogue, Talking the Talk: One of the most difficult challenges for a new writers to master is the art of ‘natural’ dialogue. Tips that will help you achieve the most believable dialogue possible.
The True Story of Dots and Dashes: Three dots mean one thing on a script page and a dash means something else entirely. When and where they are to be used.
Exposing Exposition: How to get characters in your screenplay to believably convey to an audience something everyone on-screen already knows.
Just Put It On The Tab: The reason why tabs are set the way they are, and why you should care.
Ending Your Script Page: Even something as simple as ending your script page tells industry professionals how much you do, or do not, know about your craft.
 
Session #6:
Writing For, and Selling to, Television: It’s a difference ballpark altogether from writing screenplays. We will talk about reality shows and how to package them for TV consideration. We’ll also discuss how to get your story idea in front of a network, whether it’s for a movie or for episodic TV.
Understanding How TV Shows are Created and Who Runs Programming: That line pretty says it all.
Cable vs Networks, Internet viewing, & the DVD market: There’s a huge difference and you need to understand them.
A Release Form: When a production company wants you to submit your screenplay, they’ll ask you to sign one of these. You need to be fully educated about its risk and protection.
The One Page: This will go to a production company when you return their signed Release Form.
Contests, Pitch Sessions, Where are the cons and How to Spot Them: Need I say more?
What Rejection REALLY means: I have some inspirational stories about some very famous people.

Register for the entire series here: