December 09-January - Washtenaw Jewish News

ICommunityJewish Community Center to host Harvey Ovshinsky’s“How to Complete Your First Movie Script in Six Months”Sharlan Douglas, special to the WJNHave you ever dreamed about writingyour own screenplay? Do yousee yourself as the next Larry Kasdan(Raiders of the Lost Ark), Bruce Joel Rubin(Ghost) or Nora Ephron (Julie and Julia)? Howdo you start? Where do you go to learn how towrite your first movie script?The answer is the Jewish Community Centerof Greater Ann Arbor where, starting in January,local awarding-winning screenwriter anddocumentary producer Harvey Ovshinsky willhost his popular screenwriters support group,“How to Complete Your First Movie Script inSix Months,” co-sponsored by the MichiganProduction Alliance.Ovshinsky’s group has been created specificallyfor aspiring screenwriters who feel the needfor extra direction, motivation, and personal attention.“Although we teach the nuts and bolts,learning how to write a movie isn’t that difficult,”Ovshinsky said, “The real challenge for new orfrustrated writers is what do you do, where doyou go for support while you’re actually writingyour first screenplay? That’s the hard part andthat’s where we come in.”In the past, Ovshinsky has presented hispopular “How to Complete Your First MovieScript in Six Months” screenwriters group atCranbrook, the Community House in Birminghamand The Grosse Pointe War Memorial.The JCC is Ovshinsky’s first Ann Arborvenue.“’Every writer needs an address’,” saidOvshinsky, quoting Isaac Bashevis Singer. “Sodo writing teachers, which is why I’m delightedthe JCC of Greater Ann Arbor is our group’s addressin Washtenaw county.”The Detroit News has described Ovshinskyas “one of the country’s finest storytellers.” Hewrote the award-winning script, The Keyman.His Movie-of-the-Week script, PJ and the Dragon,was represented by Creative Artists AgencyCo-founders of Hand in Hand Schools to speak December 9Eileen Freed, special to the WJNLee Gordon and AminKhalaf, co-founders ofHand in Hand Schools inIsrael will speak on Wednesday,December 9, at 7:30 p.m. at BethIsrael Congregation. While thereis no cost for the program, preregistrationis required.Hand in Hand Schools,founded in 1998, has grown to anetwork of elementary and middleschools in four locations inIsrael. The schools educate Jewishand Arab children and offer a bilingual,bi-cultural curriculum.The talk, sponsored by the JewishFederation of Greater Ann Arbor,will explore the state of integratedJewish/Arab education in Israeland its future prospects as theproject enters its second decade.Khalaf currently serves as president of Handin Hand. Born in the Israeli Arab village ofMuqeble in the Galilee, he earned his bachelorof art and masters degrees at Hebrew Universityin Jerusalem. He has taught in both Arab and(CAA) and optioned by LongbowProductions (A League ofTheir Own).Harvey Ovshinsky and hisAnn Arbor-based video productionand story consultingcompany, HKO Media, havebeen awarded broadcasting’shighest honors including anational Emmy, a Peabody, aduPont-Columbia UniversityAward and the American FilmInstitute’s Robert M. BennettAward for Excellence.Ovshinsky has won awardsat both the Toronto and SanFrancisco Jewish Film Festivals.His film about Franklinartist Arthur Schneider washonored at the Detroit Film Theatre at theDetroit Institute of Arts and the Lenore MarwilJewish Film Festival. HKO Media has producedvideos for the Jewish Vocational Society(JVS), the Jewish Community Council of MetropolitanDetroit, and the Jewish Federation ofWashtenaw County.“Harvey’s gift,” recalls Jeanette Keramedjian,former director of the Cranbrook PM programwhich first introduced Ovshinsky’s screenwritingworkshops and groups, “is that he combineshis real world knowledge of the industry with ahands-on teaching style that is as nurturing andsupportive as I have seen in any classroom.”“For me, this work is deeply personal as wellas professional,” Ovshinsky said. “I believe eachone of us has the power to light up the worldwith our stories. The trick is to find a way tofan the flames of our creativity so that otherscan see the light that shines inside.”Ovshinsky taught screenwriting and documentaryfilmmaking at Wayne State University.He has been a guest lecturer at the University ofHarvey OvshinskyJewish and Arab school children at Hand in Handschool in the Galilee.Jewish public schools in Jerusalem and lectureson education at the David Yellin College ofEducation in Jerusalem.Originally from the United States, Gordonlived in Israel for two decades, duringMichigan, Michigan State University,Eastern Michigan University,Oakland University,Madonna University, SchoolcraftCollege and MacombCounty Community College.His series of videotaped lectures,Letters to a Young Filmmaker,is fast becoming a viralsensation on YouTube and apopular teaching tool in manyfilm schools.“We’re very excited thatthe Jewish CommunityCenter can bring Harvey’sscreenwriters’ group to ourcommunity,” said LeslieBash, JCC executive director.“With so much interestin the state’s film incentives, more and morepeople are looking for ways to tell their storiesin the form of movie scripts. We may be the‘people of the book,’” Bash adds with a smile,“but I believe history has shown that Jews canalso be very adept at putting pen to paper.”Harvey Ovshinsky’s screenwriting group,“How to Complete Your First Movie Script inSix Months,” will meet at the JCC from 7–10p.m. on the first Monday of every month,starting on January 4, 2010, and ending onJune 7, 2010. Participants will receive a samplescript, a complete bibliography of screenwritingbooks, publications, and contests, plus informationabout helpful computer formattingsoftware. Also included is the latest version ofOvshinsky’s popular, The Ten Most ImportantFirst Rules of Storytelling.The cost for all six group sessions is $300 forstudents, and members of the Michigan ProductionAlliance. General admission is $325. Toregister call Leslie Bash at 971-0990. For moreinformation, call 996-8011. nwhich he was actively involved inJewish-Arab dialogue and partnershipprojects. Gordon earnedan masters degree in social workfrom the Hebrew University andgraduated from the Mandel Institute’sprestigious School forEducational Leadership. He currentlyserves as executive directorof American Friends of Hand inHand which works to raise supportand awareness of the schoolsthroughout the United States.The Federation has madeannual allocations to Hand inHand since 2005, and has madeseveral visits to its schools in theGalilee and Kafr Kana. The 2009allocation provides funding toimplement a leadership andsocial justice program for sixthgraders in the Galilee school.To RSVP, contact Cindy Adams at cindy@jewishannarbor.org or 677-0100. For moreinformation, email Eileen Freed at eileenfreed@jewishannarbor.org.nWashtenaw Jewish News A December 2009/January 20103