CineStory Screenwriting Retreat
Here's what past attendees have to say:
"I came up the mountain a cynic, I went down the mountain a CineStory zealot. The most important 72 hours of my screenwriting career based on the feedback, encouragement, contacts and new friendships."
—Gary Sherwood, writer, Retreat 2005
"CineStory offers the best prize: access to the minds of brilliant industry professionals. This is Hollywood at its very best."
—Greg Daubenspeck, writer, Retreat 2004
"You can't buy this kind of quality one-on-one time for three days with industry pros."
—Michael North, writer, Retreat 2001
"You've created something truly special, an opportunity that jillions of writers would give their eyeteeth for--if they only knew about it."
—Tim Smith, writer, Retreat 2000
"Eye-opening. It feels like the mentors are giving you secrets on how to navigate the business."
—Jeremy Lerman, writer, Retreat 2004
"I repeatedly asked mentors for their opinions on future script ideas. In the normal course of film business, they would say "yes" or "no"; at CineStory, they tell you how you should walk into their offices--their offices--and turn a "no" to a "yes.""
—Jeremy Lerman, writer, Retreat 2004
"(CineStory) filled in a lot of the silent spaces between festival submissions and Oscar acceptance speeches, and with the mystery and glamour and fear stripped away, writing emerged as a profession that could actually be pursued instead of dreamed about."
—Frank Reilly, writer, Retreat 2004
"Having been to festivals with panel discussions in the past, that format now seems hopelessly useless. Sitting down with someone who has read your work and is prepared to be engaged about it is a powerful motivator."
—Frank Reilly, writer, Retreat 2004
"The one-on-one sessions were incredible. The fact that these talented professionals are willing to take the time to offer specific feedback is tremendously inspiring in itself."
—Troy DeRego, writer, Retreat 2004
"Bruce McKenna brought a genuine excitement to the meeting which will inspire me through the next draft and probably forever."
—Troy DeRego, writer, Retreat 2004
"I began to understand the importance of relationships, not so that you have contacts so much, but so that you have support. So that you know what other folks are struggling with or need, and if you have a project or idea that can serve them, you then know who to take it to."
—Jeff Forester, writer, Retreat 2004
"It was like I went on vacation and just so happened to find eight industry professionals who WANTED to help me!"
—Steve Rosen, writer, Retreat 2007
"The retreat was, simply put, one of the most valuable and rewarding experiences I have had in my 15 years as a writer/director. The one-on-one sessions were extremely helpful and very encouraging. The mentors were very impressive in not only pointing out the strengths and weaknesses but also coming up with great ideas for solutions."
—William Garcia, writer, Retreat 2003
"To be able to spend an hour and a half completely focused on your script and your career was simply invaluable."
—William Garcia, writer, Retreat 2003
"Exceptional bang for the buck —though I hate to reduce the retreat to a dollar and cents equation."
—Daniel Weitzman, writer, Retreat 2003
"Fantastic, intense, very helpful. This is the best deal going. I feel recharged as a writer."
—Siddhath Kara, writer, Retreat 2003
"The CineStory retreat was one of the single most powerful events of my writing career."
—Steve La Montagne, writer, Retreat 2003
"Great environment for nurturing new writers. Promotes confidence, encouragement, info and inspiration. Makes us FEEL like pro writers."
—Phil Yuhas, writer, Retreat 2007
"An experience well worth the time and effort needed to ratchet up one's career."
—Charles McBee, writer, Retreat 2007
"Having a mentor go through your scripts is invaluable. Whether you agree with every little thing is beside the point…the process of taking notes, working out ideas and shaping the script is invaluable."
—Mike McGreever, writer, Retreat 2007
"If you're not interested in screenwriting as a career, then you won't be interested in this program. But, if you want to make that giant leap in your screenwriting career then go to www.cinestory.com."
—Marc Calderwood, writer, Retreat 2007
"I've been a semi-finalist in many big competitions, but only CineStory offers an intensive writers' retreat as a prize. Armed with the invaluable feedback from my industry mentors, I rewrote my script and got it made into a Lifetime movie-of-the-week. My first produced credit!"
—Lisanne Sartor, writer, Retreat 2002
