Category: PastEvent15

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Reading your own writing: How to make it count

Seminar:
Reading your own writing: How to make it count

Presented by Lisa-Catherine Cohen and Annie Korzen

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Reading your work aloud is a powerful marketing tool for the writer, if done right. If you lack performance skills, however, a great piece of writing can sound like sour mud. Many writers are reclusive, but sometimes you just have to get out there and present your work by reading to an audience. Some people are inherently gifted in this discipline, but most of us need the simple tips, tricks, and pointers that are offered in this workshop — which include microphone technique, dealing with stage fright, vocal strength, and communicating the emotional meaning of language. We will aim to give individual time to each student.

In keeping with this year’s theme of exploring the writing process, this seminar will tell you what to expect and how to make it happen.

Our Two Presenters:

LISA-CATHERINE COHEN: As a lyricist, Lisa-Catherine has garnered two entire platinum CDs, three number-one hit songs, several Top 5s and 10s, and many film and TV song placements, worldwide. She performs her work as spoken word with live music all around Los Angeles.

Currently, Lisa-Catherine is polishing her forthcoming book, “The Loaded Cufflink.” An oft-published editor, with clients across the U.S., Canada, and Europe, she writes and/or edits everything to do with words.

Under the umbrella of Write Now!, she helps people, especially seniors, write their books and memoirs. Her book on Media Training is called “On Camera, On Stage, On Mic.” Lisa-Catherine is a dynamic speaker, teacher/coach, and performer.

You can learn more about her at her own website, Lisa-Catherine.com.

ANNIE KORZEN is proud to be a Moth Mainstage storyteller. She was the recurring Doris Klompus on “Seinfeld,” and has performed her solo shows on three continents. Annie has now created a full evening of her stories called “Tales from the Mouth: Comedies of Errors,” and has been commissioned to create a solo show for Jewish Women’s Theater of Los Angeles.

Annie is the author of “Bargain Junkie: Living the Good Life on the Cheap,” which was covered by Tavis Smiley, Morning Edition, Patt Morrison, CBS Moneywatch, and others. She has done humorous essays for NPR’s Morning Edition, The NY Times, LA Times, and many more. Annie offers private coaching and group classes on writing and performing the personal essay.

For more info and videos, go to AnnieKorzen.com.

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Erika Fabian’s “The Secret to Storytelling Photography”

Seminar
Erika Fabian’s “The Secret to Storytelling Photography”

Saturday, February 21, 2015 

Everyone takes pictures these days, with cellphones, tablets, and cameras of all sizes and capabilities. But are they pictures or snapshots? If you hope to illustrate your story with photos, or sell photos from your travels, the three simple principles of professional photography that you will learn during Erika Fabian’s presentation will help you to do so. Based on years of worldwide assignments using the techniques of National Geographic photography, Erika Fabian will show and tell:

  • How to clearly define why you are taking the picture
  • How to define the “real” subject of your picture,
  • How to compose it in the lens (not on the computer),
  • How to use available light to best affect, and
  • How to take people pictures that look “un-posed.”

Every story has a structure, and the same goes for pictures. Every picture should tell a story. And the right pictures together can make a “picture story.” You can create a saleable picture story in five or twenty-five photos, provided you know how. Erika’s presentation will show you how it’s done.

Our Presenter:
ERIKA FABIAN—WRITER/PHOTOGRAPHER

A versatile writer/photographer, Erika Fabian has had twenty-three books and nearly two hundred photo-illustrated articles published. Her varied career includes many years of travel on assignment for National Geographic Magazine and other publishers. When not on the road, Erika Fabian taught photography at UCLA Extension for over 20 years. She was awarded “Best Instructor of the Year” from the Visual Arts Department at UCLA.

Erika’s early career was in theater, with a BA from Northwestern U. and an MFA from UCLA. She received a Best Director of the Year award from Northwestern University, had her own acting studio, The Actors Lab, in San Francisco, taught acting and directing at the University of San Francisco, and at the Universidad de San Marcos in Mexico City. Her comedy, The Man in Her Closet, was produced in LA with great success.

Currently, she is at work on a novel and a play, as well as editing a book for a client.

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Erika Fabian’s “The Secret to Storytelling Photography”

Seminar
Erika Fabian’s “The Secret to Storytelling Photography”

Saturday, February 21, 2015 

Everyone takes pictures these days, with cellphones, tablets, and cameras of all sizes and capabilities. But are they pictures or snapshots? If you hope to illustrate your story with photos, or sell photos from your travels, the three simple principles of professional photography that you will learn during Erika Fabian’s presentation will help you to do so. Based on years of worldwide assignments using the techniques of National Geographic photography, Erika Fabian will show and tell:

  • How to clearly define why you are taking the picture
  • How to define the “real” subject of your picture,
  • How to compose it in the lens (not on the computer),
  • How to use available light to best affect, and
  • How to take people pictures that look “un-posed.”

Every story has a structure, and the same goes for pictures. Every picture should tell a story. And the right pictures together can make a “picture story.” You can create a saleable picture story in five or twenty-five photos, provided you know how. Erika’s presentation will show you how it’s done.

Our Presenter:
ERIKA FABIAN—WRITER/PHOTOGRAPHER

A versatile writer/photographer, Erika Fabian has had twenty-three books and nearly two hundred photo-illustrated articles published. Her varied career includes many years of travel on assignment for National Geographic Magazine and other publishers. When not on the road, Erika Fabian taught photography at UCLA Extension for over 20 years. She was awarded “Best Instructor of the Year” from the Visual Arts Department at UCLA.

Erika’s early career was in theater, with a BA from Northwestern U. and an MFA from UCLA. She received a Best Director of the Year award from Northwestern University, had her own acting studio, The Actors Lab, in San Francisco, taught acting and directing at the University of San Francisco, and at the Universidad de San Marcos in Mexico City. Her comedy, The Man in Her Closet, was produced in LA with great success.

Currently, she is at work on a novel and a play, as well as editing a book for a client.

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IWOSC Reads Its Own – February 2015

IWOSC Reads Its Own

Another spellbinding afternoon of eclectic, eccentric, and exemplary works — from poems to true stories to hilarious monologues and beyond, read aloud by distinguished IWOSC scribes. Some of IWOSC’s talented member writers read short excerpts from their work. Their selections may be published, unpublished, or works in progress. We’ll be regaled with their wit, have our emotions stirred, or be plunged into deep thought.

Sunday, February 8, 2015
2 to 4 p.m.

Our selected readers:

  • Joe Pasquale
  • Eleanor Brownn
  • Gerald Jones
  • Margaret York
  • Steve Charnow
  • Bo Kim
  • Dan Lavery
  • Jane Neff Rollin
  • Marvin J. Wolf
  • Vibiana Chamberlin
  • Dan Boyle
  • Michele Wolfe
  • G.L. Helm
  • Lisa-Catherine Cohen
  • Pamela Lane

Free to all

Location:
Vroman’s Bookstore
695 E. Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, California 91101
626-449-5320

There is plenty of parking on Colorado and neighboring streets.

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Jasmine Powers’ Twitter 101 Workshop

Seminar:
Jasmine Powers’ Twitter 101 Workshop

Saturday, January 17, 2015

In this short, interactive program, Jasmine Powers, multimedia marketing expert, will teach how to:

  • Set up or optimize your Twitter account
  • Build strategic relationships on Twitter
  • Define a Twitter strategy
  • Connect with potential clients and friends with shared interests.

Bring your smart phones or tablets so you can try some of the tactics live and engage in real-time Twitter practice. Visit Jasmine’s Twitter page at Twitter.com/JasminePowers before the event.

About our Presenter, Jasmine Powers

JASMINE POWERS is the marketing and creative director and founder of Ambitious Diva Company, a women’s business community and marketing agency. Her company is responsible for producing experiential PR events, developing cohesive marketing and ad campaigns, orchestrating profitable strategic partnerships and providing marketing consulting for entertainers, major corporations and newly launched businesses.
Her website is: AmbitiousDiva.com.

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Jasmine Powers’ Twitter 101 Workshop

Seminar:
Jasmine Powers’ Twitter 101 Workshop

Saturday, January 17, 2015

In this short, interactive program, Jasmine Powers, multimedia marketing expert, will teach how to:

  • Set up or optimize your Twitter account
  • Build strategic relationships on Twitter
  • Define a Twitter strategy
  • Connect with potential clients and friends with shared interests.

Bring your smart phones or tablets so you can try some of the tactics live and engage in real-time Twitter practice. Visit Jasmine’s Twitter page at Twitter.com/JasminePowers before the event.

About our Presenter, Jasmine Powers

JASMINE POWERS is the marketing and creative director and founder of Ambitious Diva Company, a women’s business community and marketing agency. Her company is responsible for producing experiential PR events, developing cohesive marketing and ad campaigns, orchestrating profitable strategic partnerships and providing marketing consulting for entertainers, major corporations and newly launched businesses.
Her website is: AmbitiousDiva.com.

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Don’t Get Scammed: A “Self Defense” Legal Clinic For Writers

Panel
Don’t Get Scammed: A “Self Defense” Legal Clinic For Writers

Monday, January 26, 2015

Contracts! Intellectual Property! Collaborations! (Oh my!) As that past California attorney Richard Nixon might have said, “What do writers need to know — and when do they need to know it?” How can we avoid the pitfalls of intellectual property theft, frivolous libel and plagiarism lawsuits, scam literary agents, too-good-to-be-true offers, contract loopholes, and avoid being cheated out of OUR money when we write a book, screenplay/play, or TV format? What are some of the biggest stumbling blocks that writers fall over — in both traditional and agented mainstream publishing, and in self-publishing and small-press publishing? And what new traps are out there in cyberspace and online writing that we need to be aware of?

These questions — and MANY more — will be answered by a small group of top LA and Orange County area experts, who bring decades of experience in their fields to our stage this January 26th. And they will be taking direct Q&A from the audience (however, questions from the floor MUST be respectful — no ad hominem attacks, diatribes, fight-picking, etc. — remember, these people are on OUR side, and they’re here to help). While IWOSC cannot and will not be held directly liable for legal advice here, as this is primarily an educational venue, if you have an in-depth case or cause of concern, a top LA lawyer will be present on the program. And above all, this is a “preventive medicine” workshop, to find out what problems are lurking out there — so that we can hopefully STOP them before they start!

Our Panel:

MICHAEL S. KLEIN, Esq., has been IWOSC’s own chief legal eagle for roughly three decades. A founding partner of Klein & Weisz in West Los Angeles, Michael has a broad range of transactional experience in entertainment law and publishing business transactions.

Mr. Klein is the long-term chair of the First Amendment Committee of the ACLU of Southern California, and has spoken frequently on civil liberties issues and legal topics. He has been a featured commentator on CNN and on programs such as “Saving the American Dream.” He has spoken before the Los Angeles County and Beverly Hills Bar Associations, the State Bar of California, and has lectured at UCLA, USC, Pepperdine, Loyola, Southwestern, and other colleges.

He has helped numerous IWOSC members since our inception with free initial telephone conversations and reduced rates for IWOSC members. Mr. Klein graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Indiana University, and obtained his Juris Doctorate from Yale Law School, with graduate studies in Economics.

A recognized book-industry authority (and IWOSC favorite), CLAUDIA SUZANNE has ghostwritten and/or edited over 130 nonfiction and fiction titles. Her books have been published by both major houses, independent publishers, and university presses. Her client titles have made bestseller lists, won literary awards and received critical acclaim, and have been optioned for film.

Claudia is the Founder and Chair of Ghostwriters Unite!, a nonprofit dedicated to professionalism, education, and community in the ghostwriting world; is the founder and Creative Partner of Wambtac Communications, the West Coast’s premiere ghostwriting service; the creator of Ayandar.com, a unique author self-help tool; the Founder/Instructor of Ghostwriting Professional Designation Program (CCPE/CSULB), the first official ghostwriter training program of its kind in the world; and the author of “Secrets of a Ghostwriter,” the seminal textbook on ghostwriting.

Telly Davidson, Author
Telly Davidson, Author

Moderator TELLY DAVIDSON is author of the acclaimed media tie-in book “TV’s Grooviest Variety Shows,” cited as a Book of the Year by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, and the forthcoming agented nonfiction book, “What Didn’t You Like About It?,” on the pop culture and politics of the 1990s.

He has been a columnist on TV, feature films, and music for over a dozen commercial publications and websites including “FrumForum,” “AllAboutJazz,” “FilmStew,” “Yahoo Movies,” the LA Daily News, Entertainment Today, and has worked on the TV specials “Pioneers of Television,” “Most Outrageous Game Show Moments,” and as associate producer for the educational interview series, “The WRITE Environment.”

Currently Telly is working with veteran film producers’ services rep Jeff Porter at Porter Pictures in acquisitions and research, and with the launch of a major charitable and artistic literary foundation. Telly is a proud and active member of IWOSC and PEN, and has had the honor of hosting or producing several IWOSC panels in the past.