Howard Allen (thedoc@scriptdoctor.com) has worked for years as a professional actor, playwright, director, screenwriter and literary manager/dramaturg — as well as a reporter, reviewer and editor in his journalistic career. Because of his skills at ScriptDoctor.com (Rated No. 1 “Cream of the Crop” in a national Survey of Analysts/ Consultants by Creative Screenwriting magazine) and his CoyoteMoon Films (.com), a new production company, his latest work aims to honor and aid the storyteller. Two short films have been produced, Se Habla Espanol and The 3 O’Clock, a comedy by well-known Phoenix playwright Michael Grady. Also look in IMDb for his acting in films Red 71 and The Decoy and as Script Consultant on films The Good Boy and the recent Lions Gate release, The Graves. He continues to do Screenwriting Workshops including 2 for IFP Phoenix.
As a member of Actor’s Equity and the Screen Actor’s Guild, he has performed in LORT B theatres and in movies directed by Michael Landon and others. He won awards for editing, reporting and for reviewing film and theatre at theTucson Weekly. He won a scholarship to attend the Critics Institute at the prestigious O’Neill Theatre Conference. He has benefited from workshops with August Wilson, Eric Overmyer, Horton Foote, Edit Villareal and others. With an MFA in Playwriting and Screenwriting, he teaches college level courses and workshops in Writing for Film and Television, Film Acting, Art Of Cinema, Theatre History — as well as Humanities. His adaptation of “Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde” was given a professional theatre production. Credits: co-writer on screenplays “Renaissance,” top 10% at Heart of Austin Film Festival and “Line In the Sand” was optioned; His latest theatre events: directing “I Hate Hamlet,” Pinter’s “The Birthday Party,” London hit “Humble Boy,” and “Mesmeric Mozart,” “and “A Beautiful Deception” for Chamber Music PLUS with Robert Picardo and Armin Shimerman.
SCRIPT DOCTOR EXPERT ADVISORS
Chris Haughom (Contest of Contest Winners Judge) has been in the film business for over 30 years, starting out as the Executive Assistant to the President of Filmways Pictures, reading and approving scripts for pick-up and distribution, making the rounds at the Cannes Film Festival, and then moving on to foreign film distribution with Bobby Meyers, who was a co-founder and the first president of the American Film Market. Also a highly sought-out script consultant, Chris has also been a judge for major contests for 20 years.
Victoria Lucas (Contest of Contest Winners Judge) has almost 20 years of experience as a development and production executive at both major studios and independent film companies. She is also a highly sought-out consultant.
She began her career as Dialogue Coach on “Through the Magic Pyramid,” a television movie directed by Ron Howard. After the film wrapped, she continued with Howard’s Major H Productions (which later became Imagine Films), first as a reader, then Story Editor and finally Creative Executive. Among the films she worked on at Imagine were “Clean and Sober”, “Backdraft”, and “Far and Away”.
Later, she joined with Academy Award-nominated producer Rudy Cohen to develop and produce the acclaimed coming of age film “The Island on Bird Street,” which was awarded a Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival and later won three daytime Emmy awards.
As Director of Development and Associate Producer at Signature Pictures and April Productions, Lucas helped develop scripts as diverse as the religious thriller “The Body,” starring Antonio Banderas, the horror film “Fear.com,” the action-adventure “Extreme Ops,” the mystery “The I Inside,” starring Ryan Phillippe and Sarah Polley and “The Black Dahlia,” based on the James Ellroy novel, directed by Brian de Palma and starring Scarlett Johansson and Hilary Swank. Her most recent film with Rudy Cohen was “The Contractor” for Sony Pictures, starring Wesley Snipes, Lena Headey and Charles Dance.
Erik Yeager holds an MBA from Liberty University and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism and Technical Communication from Colorado State University. Erik has experience working as a video producer, director, editor, writer, and cinematographer of short-form video and television productions, narrative short films, corporate training videos, and documentary films. Over the years, Erik has established many relationships within the film industry ranging from A-list producers and VPs at major production and distribution companies to marketing teams that specialize in selling to Christian audiences. In addition to THE NARROW ROAD, Erik is currently producing and directing a feature-length documentary about legendary artist Ettore “Ted” DeGrazia. Erik also consults other filmmakers regarding the business aspects of film production and distribution.
Lesley Cessna-Kontowicz Shortly after graduating New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts Cinema Studies program, Lesley served as script-supervisor on the 1993 Oscar-nominated film The Lady in Waiting before being lured away from NYC with the draw of a regular paycheck. That led to a successful 20-year career in advertising and publishing with two thriving Tucson publishers—Tucson Weekly and Madden Media. In 2010, Lesley left her executive position to return to her roots in filmmaking. She is an alumnus of the ScreenwritingU ProSeries program and Lesley has achieved recognition in the StoryPros International Screenplay Contest and the Beverly Hills Film Festival. When she’s not writing scripts, she works as a script supervisor, script analyst, Contest of Contest Winners manager and judge, Prescott Film Festival judge, freelance content provider, editor, proof-reader, and marketer. She is a member of the respected Tucscreen Writers Group and Independent Film Arizona.
TRANSMEDIA ASSISTANTS
Mitchell Gingras is an up-and-coming screenwriter. A native Michigander, he studied Fine Arts at Rochester Institute of Technology (NY) and Economics at The University of Arizona. His comics series “Dibbs” was published in the Arizona Daily Wildcat from 2008 through 2010. He has won several awards for works in fine arts, writing, and photography. Mitch has Usher’s Syndrome, a rare genetic deafblindness. He recently published his first full comedy screenplay, “Escaping Arizona” and is currently developing more comedy and drama screenplays.