Creative jobs, exposure to the international film business and attention from Hollywood -- those are some of the benefits of the
American Screenwriters Association's decision to make Cincinnati its new center of operations, relocating from Los Angeles. The nonprofit association, with more than 40,000 members in 42 countries, will also be something of a community resource, as it plans to launch several new programs from Cincinnati. They include a day for high school students to learn how to write quality screenplays and communicate more effectively through the written word, and the Family Friendly TV Pilot Project, where anyone can submit a family-friendly TV script for Cincinnati-based production and possible sale to a major network. One major event is its annual international screenwriters conference, where writers learn the craft of screenwriting and how to market their TV and film scripts to producers. That conference also includes one-on-one pitch meetings with Hollywood producers looking for scripts. A college internship program is also in the works.
New York City, Indianapolis, Nashville and Chicago were in the running, but the group says Cincinnati won because of the city’s economic and cultural diversity, support of the arts, accessibility and affordability. "After years of developing very strong partnerships with multiple entertainment industry professionals in and outside of Hollywood, ASA is now in a position to centralize more of its operations to better serve writers," says Executive Director John E. Johnson. "By bringing in so many Hollywood folks, we look to collaborate with the Cincinnati Film Commission and State of Ohio Film Office to maximize opportunities for bringing more film and TV production to the state."
Writer: David Holthaus
Source: Jill Isaacs, American Screenwriters Association
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