Very Exciting News! We made through nearly 8'000 scripts into The Academy Nicholls Fellowship Final

POSTED ON THE ACADEMY WEBSITE:  www.oscars.org 

Posted: 

Tuesday, September 8, 2015 - 17:45

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Congratulations to our new Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting finalists! See the full list below. Keep checking back to Oscars.org to find out the winners and get more information about the upcoming awards ceremony.

Ghazi Albuliwi, "Arafat"

Jennifer Bailey and Max Lance, "Best Funeral Ever"

Elizabeth Chomko, "What They Had"

Ryan Covington,  "The Secrets We Keep"

Andrew Friedhof, "Great Falls" 

Lynn Esta Goldman, "Angel on the Wall"

Anthony Grieco, "Best Sellers"

Murat Izmirli, "Grimwood"

Suzanne Kelman and Susannah Rose Woods, "Held"

Samuel Regnier, "Free Agent"

Augustus Rose, "Far From Cool"

Amy Tofte, "Addis Abeka"

So excited to be one of them, it's huge honor! 

Here is an article written by Katie Woodzick for Whidbey Life Magazine

We’d Like to Thank the Academy: Susannah Rose Woods and Suzanne Kelman Advance to the Final Round of the Nicholl Fellowships

Posted in Feature, Literary, Spotlight

BY KATIE WOODZICKWhidbey Life Magazine contributor
Sept. 9, 2015

Susannah Rose Woods and Suzanne Kelman first met through creative endeavors at Whidbey Children’s Theater. Kelman had just finished work on Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Woods was about to begin directing productions of Into the Woods.

Kelman asked Woods to read some of her screenplays. Soon after, the pair started writing screenplays together, co-founding Goody 2 Productions.

Suzanne and Susannah at the CA Film awards 2013.

They’ve developed a unique routine for writing together: Woods will type while Kelman suggests ideas. If they ever hit a creative wall, they’ll play Harry Belafonte’s Jump in the Line and dance around Kelman’s writing studio. In conversation, the two writers seem to share a brain, often finishing each other’s sentences.

“I’ve been a writing partner with other people, but nothing like this,” Woods said.

“We have a really unique way of writing together,” Kelman explained. “We have this ability to not only pick up the other person’s thought but add on to it.”

(You can read the rest of this article in the Whidbey Life Magazine at http://www.whidbeylifemagazine.org

Memoirs from the Ledge of ‘How in the Heck Did I Get Here’

Many of us who are 'creatives' know the challenge it can be to make a living art "habit." I take on mulitple writing and film producing assignments in the hope that one of my ship will come happily home.  

Let.me repeat that…in the HOPE that ONE of my ships would come sailing home. And. after working at this writing habit for five years, often doing 12 hour days, what happened this summer was the arrival of the equivalent of a writing Armada.

Read the rest of this blog post at Whidbey Life Magazine (link below)

http://www.whidbeylifemagazine.org/sue-the-screenwriter-memoirs-from-the-ledge-of-oh-how-in-the-heck-did-i-get-here/

Had a Great Interview with Andrea Hurst & Associates

AUTHORNOMICS Interview with screenwriter Suzanne Kelman

 Cherise HensleyAugust 6, 2015Uncategorized

With a publishing industry that is ever in flux, it can be hard for an aspiring author to figure out what information is relevant and what she needs to do to be successful. Recognizing this, literary agent Andrea Hurst and writer/blogger Cherise Hensley present a series of weekly interviews with publishing industry specialists. The AUTHORNOMICS Series features literary agents, editors, authors, marketing experts and more talking about their opinions on the publishing industry, writing, and what a writer needs to know.

AUTHORNOMICS Interview with Suzanne Kelman

Suzanne Kelman is a screenwriter and author of The Rejected Writers Book Club. Her writing voice has been described as a perfect blend of Janet Evanovich and Debbie Macomber. Some of her accolades include best comedy feature screenplay at the 2011 LA International Film Festival, a Gold Award at the 2012 CA Film Awards and a Van Gogh Award at the 2012 Amsterdam Film Festival. She can also sing Puff the Magic Dragon backwards! To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website at www.suzannekelmanauthor.com.

How did you first get into writing? What does your process look like when you’re working on a project?

Firstly, thank you for your interest in my work. I have been writing on and off most of my adult life; my background is in theatre and there was often a need to write short plays or edit a script, but I feel I really became serious about it as a craft in my 40’s. That is when I wrote my first full-length screenplay “Maggie the Brave.”

As far as my process goes, I always work on more than one project at a time. This keeps me from getting writer’s block and also keeps everything I’m doing fresh. If I am struggling on a project the very act of letting it go and thinking about another one is often the key I need to find the answers. I’m also pretty disciplined about my schedule and try to spend at least 4 hours a day actually “writing” and even more when I have deadlines. I tend to write first draft work in the morning when I’m at my most creative.

Read the rest of this interview on Andrea Hurst's Blog page 

http://www.andreahurst.com/authornomics-interview-with-screenwriter-suzanne-kelman/

It's not everyday you get an email From The Academy...

It's not everyday that you get an email from the Academy, but I did yesterday. This is what it said:

For any of you unaware what this is, it means our script HELD is doing AWESOME!!!  This would be a grand event in itself if we hadn't just recieved word from another very prestigious screenwriting competition, PAGE Internationl Screening Awards, just the day before.

This is just unbelievable, It has made its way through nearly 8'000 scripts to make it to the quarter-finals of this one, too. Our "little script that could" has just beat out 16'000 other scripts to fight its way up this creative ladder. I couldn't be more excited and it makes me so happy, not because I am patting myself on the back, but out of all the movies I've written this is the one the world needs to see. 

Here is the backstory to how it became a screenplay.

This script has a journey of it's own that started 15 years ago. 

My writing partner on this project, Susannah, found the seed of this story on a tiny card on the wall of a Holocaust survivors museum 15 years ago. She wrote it down on the back of an envelope (which she eventually lost) but never forgot the story. She relayed it to me one evening in 2010, and I couldn't sleep that night I was so stirred by it. I called her the next day and said,

"We have to write this; this story needs to be out in the world."

We then sat down and outlined the whole thing, creating a bigger, more compelling story around that seed idea and wrote the whole thing in ONE week. I know people say this, but it is true, this story wrote itself. It is one of those stories that has a magic of its own, another worldliness, that makes you sit back and say, "I don't think we wrote that on our own." 

I have written seven screenplays but this is the one that always tugs at my heartstrings. 

And even though it has been on a five-year journey so far, we know, without a shadow of a doubt, IT WILL GET MADE ONE DAY because it needs to be in the world to inspire us. It is just a matter of time, when. 

Behind the Scenes from the movie Half and Half

So excited that one of my latest film project - "Half and Half" is shooting this weekend in Ireland. I have the honor of being the Executive Producer and also a member of the writing team on this film that was produced and directed by Soldier Monkeys Productions. Here is a behind the scene shot from yesterdays shoot.

In this shot Declan Reynolds is playing Mark Dunbar and Anarose De Elizaguirre-Butler is playing Holly Barnes. 

“Always remember to get out of the way of the magic”

“Always remember to get out of the way of the magic”

Todays guest is a Brummie Lass, for the benefit of my international readers that means a lady from Birmingham (England not Alabama). She is an award winning screenwriter/author (Best Comedy Feature Screenplay Award- L.A International Film Festival 2011, The Gold Award- California Film Awards 2012, The Van Gogh Award- Amsterdam Film Festival 2012). She is also an author who’s debut novel, The Rejected Writer’s Book Club is winning people over with it’s wit and charm. Her laugh is something to hear as it is very infectious and her accent is awesome. Recently returned from the Cannes film Festival, she is working on a number of exciting things and I get to have her to myself for a few minutes. Suzanne Kelman is the lady I’m referring to and we’re having tea (she likes hers with milk, no sugar) whilst we discuss her latest book and everything else that this spark of energy has achieved. 

Read the rest of the interview here:

http://thebreakuprecipe.com/suzanne-kelman-interview/

Interview with Whidbey Air

So excited to be interviewed by local radio. 

We talked about my book, my film career and also my experiences at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

https://kwparadio.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/wair-s-ioa_suzzanne-kelman-2015_06.mp3

Kelman on the Red Carpet in Canne

Kelman on The Carpet 

BY SUZANNE KELMAN

So I had the incredible opportunity to attend the 68th Cannes Film Festival last month to support the film “Our Father,” of which I am an associate producer. But my experience wasn’t quite what I had expected, or what I had seen on “E!”

First of all, Cannes—during the festival—is an experience that is difficult to put into words! “It’s like Miami on Crack,” one producer joked with me, which is an excellent way to describe the electric vibe that exudes from every pore of this famous Riviera town for ten days.

Suzanne in all her finery, readying herself for the WALK! (photo courtesy of the author)

I arrived late on a Sunday night, expecting the world to be asleep, and drove straight into a street party—music, flashing lights and wall-to-wall people. As we crawled through the mayhem to my hotel that was, thankfully, a mile out of town, I felt like singing, “Put your shoes on Lucy—don’t you know you’re in the city.”

I have to admit, though, it didn’t take me long to get into the Cannes buzz; my days became a whirlwind of meeting people, cocktail parties, listening to celebrities, producers and directors talk about their films, more parties, and movies—lots and lots of movies. There are special movie editions of the Hollywood Reporter and Variety, movies on posters, movies on flags, movies on the beach and movies playing in theatres—all day and night. Meanwhile, millions of dollars are trading hands as movies are being bought and sold all around town.

And, of course, there are the red carpet events. To score a red carpet ticket was actually potluck. Every day, an email informed me if I’d managed to make the cut for the following day. It was on day three that I got the golden email and an invitation to the Lumiere Theatre to see Emily Blunt’s new film “Sicario” at the 3 p.m. showing.

Read the rest of this article at this link - 

http://www.whidbeylifemagazine.org/sue-the-screenwriter-kelman-on-the-carpet-at-cannes/

Humour | Books Go Social

Looking for something funny to read on your vacation - check out the humour section on Books Go Social there is lots to choose from. Have a great weekend! Happy Reading!



Humour | Books Go Social

Theatrical Mustang Podcast

Wow I made Blonde in the Waters Spotlight Author of the week! Whoohooo!

Wow KJ Waters featured me for her Author Spotlight for the week thank you so much KJ  Read the rest of the article on her blog... http://kjwatersauthor.blogspot.com/2015/03/suzanne-kelman-author-spotlight.html?spref=fb#.VRCC9ks1-bA

Suzanne Kelman Author Spotlight -- Blondie's Books from Friends

BLONDIE IN THE

WATER BOOKS FROM FRIENDS (BFF) AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT ON SUZANNE KELMAN

Please help me welcome Suzanne Kelman, one of my social media besties and a true class act. I've worked with Suzanne on the book cover for her latest novel, The Rejected Writers' Book Club last spring and I was blown away by her creative spark, her sense of humor, and her bursting with joy personality. Her book is a spitting image of these qualities and I hope you give it a whirl. 

I was also a beta reader for the novel and it is a really good read. It made me laugh, it made me cry and the character development is so good that still, after nearly a year, I find myself wondering what they're all up to. Thank goodness Suzanne is writing a whole series on these crazy characters because I could not get enough of them.

Suzanne Kelman

Aside from being super fun, talented and smart, Suzanne is a multi-award winning screenwriter who’s accolades include Best Comedy Feature Screenplay – LA International Film Festival (2011) Gold Award – California Film Awards (2012) and Winner - Van Gogh Award – The Amsterdam Film Festival (2012).

Did I mention she has a really cool accent? She was born in the UK and now lives in Washington State. But it's her laugh that gets me -- some would call that infectious, I call it heaven. 

Her writing voice has been described as a perfect blend of Janet Evanovich and Debbie Macomber. Born in the U.K. she now resides in Washington State. 

Buy your copy here

The Rejected Writers' Book Club

Here is the overview from the back cover. It really is a delightful book, I hope you take a few minutes to download the ebook or paperback. It is totally worth your time.

When small-town librarian Janet Johnson is persuaded to attend a gathering of local eccentric lady writers known as "The Rejected Writers Book Club," she gets pulled into a kaleidoscope of craziness she never knew existed.

Collecting publishers' rejection letters like trophies this quirky society cares nothing for being in print and instead meets to celebrate in style it's members' mutually spurned manuscripts.

However, when disaster strikes, the group's survival hangs in the balance, and Janet is coerced by their formidable team leader, Doris Newberry, onto a crazy cross-country dash with a band of merry writers to save the club.

As the intrepid adventurers race to complete their quest, the women's lives are irreversibly changed as they bond together through landslides, haunted houses, false labor, and first love.

Here is a little watery story she wrote that fits nicely into the Blondie in the Water blog theme and an excellent description on what it feels like to be a writer.

http://kjwatersauthor.blogspot.com/2015/03/suzanne-kelman-author-spotlight.html?spref=fb#.VRCC9ks1-bA