workshops

02.21.2010 - Renegade Filmmaking with Director/Producer Steve Balderson

12:00 PM - 01:30 PM - 110 McCorkle Music Building @ Mercer

02.20.2010 - Screenwriting 101 with Michael Buchanan & Jason Winn

10:00 AM - 11:30 AM -

110 McCorkle Music Building @ Mercer

Michael Buchanan’s latest co-authored novel, The Fat Boy Chronicles, was adapted into a screenplay by Buchanan in 2008/2009. The movie began filming this past July and is scheduled for release in 2010. The novel is being used by schools around the nation to address current teen issues. His screenplay, Treasure of the Four Lions, is in pre-production with Riverwood Studios and Tin Roof Films. Other screenplays by Buchanan include Bait and Tackle along with Ryan’s Heart. His short film, Last Bullet (premiered at MAGA 2009) won several awards during its film festival tour in 2009. Novels by Buchanan include Micah’s Child (2006) and Cry of the Quetzal, an epic tale set in the deep South that examines the saga of Anna and Jacob, two Quakers caught between the Korean War and their religious convictions. Michael and fellow special guest Jason Winn are partners in Tin Roof Films. 

Jason Winn is the director of The Fat Boy Chronicles, a movie adapted from a teen novel now in bookstores. The story is a heartwarming, funny, and sometimes heartbreaking realistic view of high school life as told through the eyes of an overweight and bullied 9^th grader named Jimmy Winterpock. Other recent credits for Winn as a director include Last Bullet, a narrative short depicting two Vietnam soldiers caught in a life or death situation where an anguished decision decides which friend will live.  Accepted into many festivals (Atlanta, Macon, Washington D.C., and others), Winn’s efforts won accolades for the movie and for himself (Finalist awards, Winner of Best Short, and Best Director). After release of The Fat Boy Chronicles, Winn looks forward to moving into pre-production for The Treasure of the Four Lions, the story of three kids helped by Civil War ghosts to find the lost Confederate Gold. Winn and fellow special guest Michael Buchanan are partners in Tin Roof Films. 

02.20.2010 - Acting for Stage and Screen with Actress Illeana Douglas

12:00 PM - 01:30 PM -

110 McCorkle Music Building @ Mercer

Illeana Douglas is an actress familiar to film buffs with numerous memorable roles in films including Message in a Bottle, Cape Fear, Goodfellas, To Die For, Grace of My Heart, Stir of Echoes, The Perfect Woman, and Happy, Texas; and recurring roles on television series including Ugly Betty, Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Action, and Six Feet Under, for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award. In addition to acting, she has written, directed and produced for film. Ms. Douglas and producer Dominik Rausch will screen their innovative web-based series, Easy to Assemble, at the 2009 Macon Film Festival.  Ms. Douglas stars in, writes, and produces the comedy about an actress who “quits Hollywood” and goes to work at Ikea. The series co-stars Justine Bateman and a list of special guests that reads like a who’s who in Hollywood independent film, including Jane Lynch, Jeff Goldblum and Robert Patrick. 

In addition to being a MaGa Special Guest in her own right, Ms. Douglas will represent her family as we dedicate the award given for Best In Show to her grandfather, actor and Macon native Melvyn Douglas. 

02.20.2010 - TV Comedy Writing with Rob Fried

02:00 PM - 03:30 PM -

110 McCorkle Music Building @ Mercer

R.J. Fried co-created, executive produced, and wrote for the sketch show
POPZILLA (MTV), executive produced and wrote for BOB & DOUG (Fox pilot,
Global TV), and was a creative consultant for ROB & BIG (MTV).  Along with
his lovely wife Rachael, R.J. resides in New York City where he is a
contributing writer for the Huffington Post and teaches writing at the
Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre.  Before becoming a TV writer, he was a
professional hockey player and NHL Draft pick of the Florida Panthers.  He
is a 2004 cum laude graduate of Harvard University with a degree in
Government.  His parents, Jeffrey and Linda, and sister, Susie, resides in Macon.

02.19.2010 - Branded Entertainment & New Media with Producer Dominik Rausch & Actress/Producer Illeana Douglas

10:00 AM - 11:30 AM -

Room 221, Hardman Hall @ Mercer

Dominik Rausch was born and raised in Stuttgart, Germany. He began to write and produce short films in 1999. He began as a documentary filmmaker but discovered a passion for narrative and commercial filmmaking that inspired him to move to Los Angeles, where he earned a BA in Film/TV Production from Columbia College and began to work professionally. An internship as assistant to the producers of the critically acclaimed indie feature April Showers led to many more assistant directing jobs on film, TV, and commercial sets, including Comedy Central. Taking on all positions of assistant directing, Rausch refined his knowledge about film and TV production and decided to set his main focus on becoming a producer. 

Dominik met actress/writer Illeana Douglas on the set of April Showers, and they formed a friendship and work partnership on her innovative and successful web series Easy to Assemble. Coordinating production and relations with IKEA, he came on as a producer to season 2. He also composes for feature and short films and his work includes Junction, an award winning feature film that has played several domestic and international film festivals.  His work on April Showers won Best Score at the California Independent Film Festival. 

02.19.2010 - Documenting Disaster with Tom McPhee

01:30 PM - 02:45 PM - At the Cox Capitol Theatre, following the screening of his award
winning documentary, "An American Opera," about the rescuing of animals after Hurricane Katrina.