Praxis Centre for Screenwriters presents a FREE Public Event "CRACKING LA: A Canadian and American Perspective" with Simon Barry (The Art of War, Deep Blue Sea) and Michael Miner (Robocop, Deadly Weapon)
November 24, 2009 8pm
SFU Harbour Centre Rm 1700
515 West Hastings St., Vancouver BC
PLEASE RSVP TO THIS FREE EVENT by emailing praxis@sfu.ca
SEATING IS LIMITED -- Please note our attendance policy:
Space is limited for this free event. As with all of our free events, we overbook to ensure capacity. By RSVPing in advance and arriving at least fifteen minutes early, you will be given seating preference, but please note that we cannot guarantee any seats. Individuals who have RSVPd but who arrive less than fifteen minutes prior to the event will be seated depending on availability. If you arrive at our event and have not RSVPd at least 48 hours in advance, we will do our best to seat you just before the beginning of the lecture depending on availability.
More on Simon Barry and Michael Miner:
Simon Barry:
Simon is a British born Canadian who graduated with a B.A. from the University of British Columbia Film program. He recently returned to Vancouver after 12 successful years living in Los Angeles and now commutes between cities, enjoying a balance of Hollywood Studio and Network projects with independent Canadian fare.
His debut screenplay ‘Morton Orwell’ was optioned by both Phoenix Pictures and Spyglass Entertainment and ultimately picked up by Seven Arts. This lead to his first studio deal at Warner Bros. which was soon followed by contracts with Columbia Pictures, 20th Century Fox, TNT, Working Title Films, CBS Television, Spelling Television, Fox Television, USA Network, A&E Network, Alliance Films, Paramount Television, Screen Sirens, Universal Pictures, Brightlight Pictures, DreamWorks Studios and FX Network on a variety of Film and Television projects encompassing all genres.
His credited and un-credited work includes ‘The Art of War’, ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer 3’, ‘Formula 51’, ‘Shake Hands with the Devil’ and ‘Deep Blue Sea’.
Michael Miner:
Mr. Miner received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature and Theater, and a Master of Fine Arts degree at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he wrote and directed LABYRINTHS, which won a Focus and Cine Eagle Award, ALIAS JANE DOE, which was exhibited at Deauville and Bilbao, and COSMOGRAPHIA, which was exhibited at Filmex. While at UCLA he was also a cinematographer of ten student films including SCARRED, which was exhibited commercially and FOOL'S DANCE, which was produced by public television.
Mr. Miner's professional career includes time as a director of photography and director/cameraman of twenty music videos. As co-writer of ROBOCOP, the very successful action story about the part man/part machine law enforcer of the future, Mr. Miner received the SATURN AWARD for Best Science Fiction Screenplay and a nomination for Best Screenplay by the Mystery Writers of America. He is also the co-writer of the pilot for ROBOCOP: THE TELEVISION SHOW, and writer of LAWNMOWERMAN II, the science fiction sequel to the virtual reality story about an idiot savant trapped in a computer program. Mr. Miner made his debut as a writer/director with DEADLY WEAPON, a drama about a teenager who finds a prototype Star Wars weapon and uses it to take a desert town hostage. Most recently, he directed THE BOOK OF STARS, magic realism about the troubled relationship between two sisters and the memory book one of them keeps that has the power to anticipate future events. Mr. Miner discovered the script while teaching a writing class at the Maine Photographic Workshops.
Mr. Miner has written screenplays for Oliver Stone, Sylvester Stallone and Michael Douglas. He is currently developing a feature film based on the true story of a friendship between a Franciscan priest and a gangster living in a ghetto in Kingston, Jamaica, a documentary on the history of juvenile justice in America, an action/thriller about a robbery during the Los Angeles Marathon and a futuristic thriller about the true implications of digital information. He has taught writing seminars at the Maine Photographic Workshop, the University of Hawaii, the Southeastern Media Institute, the Praxis Centre for Screenwriting, the University of California at Santa Barbara, California State University at Los Angeles and a mentoring program for incarcerated juveniles at Central Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles. In January of 2010, Mr. Miner will accept an artist-in-residence grant from the National Park Service and spend a month at the south rim of the Grand Canyon, lecturing and capturing large format landscape images.