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From Hollywood back to brats and beer
AllWriters’ Workplace & Workshop welcomes screenwriter
Night class starts June 19

By JODY L. MAYERS - Special to TimeOut

June 3, 2008


WAUKESHA - Bill Vought has rubbed shoulders with Hollywood’s elite and had a taste of working with major production studios and even directorial legend Steven Spielberg. Now he is trying on a different hat as the newest faculty member of Allwriters’ Workplace & Workshop.

"I’ve always enjoyed the process of teaching," Vought said. "Allwriters appealed to me because they had opposite opinions of college; all of their teachers are writers and all of them are still are working in their line of work. If you’re going to teach people writing, that’s the way to do it."

Vought is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and spent his first 15 years out of school in Hollywood trying to break in the business with screenwriting.

"I didn’t earn a dime any of those years," he said.

Vought said he eventually got his break in 1997 when he met Spielberg to discuss Vought’s script entitled "When Trumpets Fade." One year later Vought’s script became an HBO original movie.

"My true strength is really war stories," he said.

Since Vought’s meeting with Spielberg, he has worked for numerous studios including DreamWorks, Fox, Warner Brothers, Sony, Disney and Universal Studios.

"My wife and I decided to move back to Wisconsin because both of our mothers are getting up there in age and we wanted to be closer to them," he said.

Vought will be teaching a building series of four classes on screenwriting. The classes will be offered on site and online.

"Teaching becomes exciting to me when it becomes exciting for the student," he said. "I think my students will realize after taking my class that it may not be as hard as they think it is."

Kathie Giorgio, director of AllWriters’ Workplace & Workshop, said Vought is a wonderful addition to the faculty.

"He’s experienced all there is to experience as a screenwriter. He had many years of failure before success. So he knows what it takes to break into this often difficult business," she said. "He will provide our students with solid experience. That’s what AllWriters insists upon in their faculty, the knowledge and the experience."

AT A GLANCE

The first class, "Basic Screenwriting," will run from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays, June 19 to Aug. 14 (no class July 3). Students will learn the importance of the opening scene, protagonist and antagonist, supporting characters, subject matter, plot points, research, conflict and the chemistry of characters. Students will develop ideas for scripts, and will complete character examinations of the protagonist, antagonist and key supporting characters. By the end of the session, students will have a detailed treatment of their story, and will begin the first draft of their script. The cost of the class is $125. You can register by calling (262) 446-0284 or going to www.allwriters.org.