From Spark to Screen: Bringing Your Idea to Life

There are great stories across the Pitt and Pittsburgh community.

But what does it take for them to be realized onscreen? How does a magazine article become a major motion picture? If you have a compelling story, how can you start to develop it into a screenplay or documentary?

Pitt’s Center for Creativity is hosting a virtual panel discussion with creators who will share their experiences making Pittsburgh-inspired movies on Wednesday, Nov. 11, from 7-8 p.m.

The movies represented are:

• “Concussion,” based on a GQ article written by Jeanne Marie Laskas, distinguished professor of English at Pitt and founding director of the Center for Creativity, and discovered by development executive Dave Wolthoff, starring Will Smith as Dr. Bennet Omalu, who changed the way society looks at sports injury. Wolthoff will share how he found Laskas’ article as they describe the journey which led to the film.
• “Pride,” a Lionsgate film with a screenplay by Pitt alum and lecturer Kevin Michael Smith, starring Terrence Howard as Jim Ellis, Westinghouse grad and coach of a Black swim team in Philadelphia. Learn how Smith optioned the life rights and turned it into a screenplay.
• “Dear Zoe,” an upcoming coming-of-age film based on a book by Pitt writing alum Philip Beard and identified by Asher Garfinkel, whose Readers Unlimited serves major studios and network. It is set to star Sadie Sink of “Stranger Things.” Garfinkel and Beard will discuss how a book becomes an independent film, and Garfinkel will explain how projects are given coverage and evaluated.
   

Please register in advance for your ticket.