Early April 2027
Aragonese Castle,
Ischia, Naples
Italy
Dan Zeff
4 spots left
Chris Deckard
4 spots left
Have you dreamed of writing a screenplay and seeing it come to life on the silver screen?
Or written a TV show or play that you long to see produced?
Or maybe you’ve published a book and are wondering about how to turn it into a film script?
Seems impossible, right?
Well, the answer, is, NO! Nothing is impossible, and on this one-of-a-kind writers’ retreat, at the beautiful 16th century Aragonese Castle set on a rock off the coast of the island of Ischia (where The Talented Mr Ripley was shot), we’ll show you just how your words, your vision—let’s face it, your baby—can make it all the way to the big screen!
Mentors
Dan Zeff
Dan Zeff is a director and screenwriter based in the UK. He works across drama and comedy, and especially loves projects that combine the two. Whether dark noir thriller or playful romantic comedy, the key elements for him are always character and emotion – storylines that powerfully move their audience to tears or laughter - and often both. His work has won three BAFTA awards and gained a further seven BAFTA and EMMY nominations.
He is currently writing the screenplay adaptation of Ian McEwan’s novel NUTSHELL for Snapper Films/Streetcar Productions. His previous original screenplay PROJECT MUSTARD won the Tribeca Sloan Development award and was showcased at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Dan’s TV movies as director include CONSUMING PASSION starring Olivia Colman and Jodie Whittaker, THE QUEEN AND I starring Samantha Bond and Frances Barber, HATTIE - still BBC4’s highest ever rating drama, and the BAFTA winning thriller WHEN WILL THERE BE GOOD NEWS starring Jason Isaacs and adapted from the bestselling novel by Kate Atkinson.
Other notable TV work includes the hugely popular mini-series LOST IN AUSTEN starring Gemma Arterton as Elizabeth Bennett, Amazon Prime’s period drama THE COLLECTION starring Mamie Gummer, and the Emmy-nominated ADOLF HITLER : THE ARTIST starring Rupert Grint, as well as episodes of celebrated British series INSIDE No9 and DR WHO.
His early short films as writer-director won awards worldwide, most notably SWEETNIGHTGOODHEART starring David Tennant, DUAL BALLS and THAT SUNDAY which were both BAFTA nominated, the latter (starring Alan Cumming and Minnie Driver), also won awards at the Chicago and San Diego Film Festivals, and was screened by the BFI across their cinemas as their number one Valentine’s Day short.
Dan mentors in film schools regularly, and has spent six years on the board of Directors UK, the professional association for the UK’s screen directors. He is also a trustee of the Directors Charitable Foundation, a charity that seeks to support and inspire people from all backgrounds to consider a career in the industry.
Chris Deckard
Prior to co-founding the management/production company Fictional Entity in January 2017, Chris Deckard spent over seven years working with and representing talent at major agencies such as ICM Partners and WME. He has worked closely with traditional and new media buyers to find and develop content for domestic and international audiences. In addition to helping cast and package numerous features and series, he has evaluated thousands of scripts for actors and directors. Chris graduated from Cornell University and earned his J.D. from Notre Dame Law School.
Fictional Entity’s clients have been named to The Black List, The Hit List, The Young & Hungry List, The Blood List and been lauded by the PAGE Awards, the International Emmys and placed as finalists in The Heath Ledger Scholarship and the Academy Nicholl Fellowship The Academy Nicholl Screenwriting Awards, the AWG, ADG, SPA, and AACTA. Clients have written, directed, starred, and produced in numerous formats, including features, TV, virtual reality, and podcasts, independently and for companies like Netflix, NBCUniversal, AMC, Legendary, Meta, Marvel, Fremantle, SyFy, the CW, Warner Bros., Amazon, Blumhouse, Comedy Central, BBC, the ABC Australia, Foxtel, TruTV, Super Deluxe, Hallmark, CBS, Lifetime, E!, and MSNBC.
Chris has advised clients through multiple successful series pilot and pitch sales. He and his business partner were non-writing Executive Producers on a series pilot that sold to a major US network in 2021. In 2024, Fictional Entity client highlights include: a book-to-series pitch sale to Netflix, a first-time writer/director’s feature film entering production, the release of three series from first-time writing Executive Producers, and a feature film release.
The Retreat includes...
Partners
PAGE Awards
MWP
