The Rocaberti Writers' Retreat
Rocaberti Virtual
Saturday, January 9th 2021, 8:30am to 1:30pm PDT
Welcome to Rocaberti Virtual, the Rocaberti Writers’ Retreat online!
Rocaberti Virtual is a 5-hour mini-retreat which will give you a taste of a retreat itself by combining some of the ingredients which go towards creating the unique and unforgettable experience that is Rocaberti.
Includes
Live Presentations from Industry Professionals
Academy Award-winning writer (WITNESS) Pamela Wallace and British Film Director Niall Johnson will both be giving live presentations on to be announced topics.
In addition, each attendee will receive a pre-recorded presentation by Former Disney and Touchstone Exec Kathie Fong Yoneda and by Senior Vice President of Talent Development for WarnerMedia Entertainment Kelly Edwards.
Live Feedback
Eight writers will be specially selected for each online event and then individually matched with one of the Rocaberti Virtual mentors.
These writers will be invited to submit a 2-page synopsis of their project, and will then receive live feedback from their mentor.
Live Pitching Sessions
At each Rocaberti Virtual - just like at the retreats themselves - four writers will be selected to pitch their project to all four mentors, receiving valuable insights into not only the pitching process, but also into how the industry will respond to their project... and who knows what might happen as a result?! (We're delighted to say that 12 Rocaberti writers from the 2019 retreats now have their projects in development with a mentor!)
Live Q&A with Industry Professionals
Your chance to ask and receive feedback from the Rocaberti mentors on their presentations or on any other aspect of the industry! (You'll have the chance to send in as many questions as you like during Rocaberti Virtual itself.)
Schedule
Saturday, January 9th 2021, 8:30am to 1:30pm West Coast time
11.30am to 4.30pm East Coast time
4.30pm to 9.30pm UK time
Please note all times below are U.S. West Coast time:
Break
Pitching sessions: Four writers will pitch their projects to all four mentors, receiving valuable insights into both the pitching process and how the industry will respond to their projects.
Break
Q&A: Your chance to ask and receive feedback from the Rocaberti mentors on their presentations or on any other aspect of the industry!
Karin Maxey (Canada)
Rocaberti Virtual is one of the best online writing seminars I've been a part of. The impressive roster of mentors, coupled with the amazing community atmosphere Claire has created leaves you feeling inspired and ready to write.
Sally Averill (United Kingdom)
I was so amazed that 5 hours in front of my laptop just flew by - thanks to the fabulous mentor stories/comments/contributions and the wonderful pitching and storytelling from everyone. I felt so inspired! I can’t deny that I felt a little sceptical that an online retreat would work so well but it way surpassed my expectations. Thank you for including me Claire and the really seamless & professional organisation between timezones which made it seem effortless... Best thing so far in my 5 weeks of lockdown. Thank you!
Level 1
€ 199.50 / session
Early Bird Registration (by midnight, PDT, December 27th, 2020): € 149.50
Level 2
(Personalised Feedback)
€ 399.50 / session
Early Bird Registration (by midnight, PDT, December 27th, 2020): € 349.50
To apply for Level 2, please write to [email protected] in order to set up an interview to begin the selection process.
Level 3
(Personalised Feedback + Pitching)
€ 499.50 / session
Early Bird Registration (by midnight, PDT, December 27th, 2020): € 459.50
To apply for Level 3, please write to [email protected] in order to set up an interview to begin the selection process.
Your Rocaberti Virtual Mentors
Kelly Edwards
Former executive and current producer, TV writer, and author Kelly Edwards has developed shows like LIVING SINGLE, GIRLFRIENDS, THE PARKERS, CLUELESS, TWO GUYS AND A GIRL, as well as a one-hour drama series, a Hallmark movie, and multiple award-winning shorts for HBO.
For seven years, she served as the head of Talent Development for HBO, launching the careers of emerging artists before herself becoming a Sundance Episodic Lab fellow, releasing her Amazon bestselling book THE EXECUTIVE CHAIR: A WRITER’S GUIDE TO TV SERIES DEVELOPMENT, and staffing on OUR KIND OF PEOPLE.
Edwards holds a B.A. in Theater from Vassar and an MFA in Writing for TV and Film from Emerson College. She has been a member of the Annenberg Inclusion Board, the ATAS Diversity Committee, the United Negro College Fund Leadership Council, and a NALIP trustee.
For the past 23 years she has served as President of her non-profit, Colour Entertainment, which has provided mentorship and leadership opportunities to creative executives.
She recently optioned a feature film, sold two television pilots, was a 2023 Sundance Advisor in Residence, and is working with Apple Studios and PBS to build the next generation of talented artists.
Pamela Wallace
Pamela Wallace is a screenwriter/producer. She won an Academy Award, Writers Guild of America Award, and Mystery Writers of America Award for Best Original Screenplay for co-writing the movie Witness. She won a CAMIE (Character and Morality in Entertainment Award) for writing the Hallmark Cable Channel film Love’s Unending Legacy.
Pamela has written several other produced films, including a dozen movies for television. She has published more than twenty-five novels, several of which have been optioned or produced as television movies or mini-series. As a screenwriter, she has adapted some of her own novels to film, as well as adapting books by other authors.
Pamela has taught screenwriting classes on the university level and at seminars throughout the U.S. and around the world, including France, Australia, Germany, Canada and Singapore. She has judged several screenwriting competitions, including the prestigious Nicholls Fellowship competition sponsored by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Kathie Fong Yoneda
With 35+ years experience, Kathie Fong Yoneda has worked for Paramount, Universal, Fox, and Disney, focusing on analysis and development of live action and animated film, television, novels, adaptations, and web series projects. Her career includes exec posts with Disney, Touchstone, Island Pictures and Disney TV Animation.
Kathie has given workshops in North America, Europe, Australia and Asia, and wrote a column on screenwriting which became her book, The Script-Selling Game. Some of her clients include RAI-TV Roma, National Film School of Denmark, Bournemouth University, ScreenTraining Ireland, South Carolina Writers, Singapore Media Academy, Romance Writers of America, ScriptFest, Roma Webfest, Writers Institute, Hawaii International Film Festival, and Melbourne Webfest. She was a guest of The Soviet Peace Committee for a 10-day media symposium in Moscow and was Keynote Speaker for Asian-Pacific Heritage Month at The Smithsonian. Kathie received the Mayor’s medal from the City of Marseille for her work in Cultural Arts and was honored as a Catalyst SuperStar for her work by the BronzeLens Film Festival.
Kathie is a mentor for the Rocaberti Writers Retreat and also team-teaches with author/consultant, Linda Seger, Pamela Wallace (writer-producer, co-writer of Oscar- winning WITNESS), Carole Kirschner (author, CBS TV exec) and Pamela Jaye Smith (author, writer-producer, creator of MYTHWORKS).
Her clientele includes several award-winning writers and her book, The Script Selling Game (2nd edition), is used in screenwriting curricula in universities worldwide. She was Co-Exec-Producer on the series Beyond the Break, Associate Producer on the web series drama The Big O, Executive Producer on the upcoming short film Thirty Minutes and is on the Advisory Board for IMAGO (French Production Company) and LAWEBFEST.
Niall Johnson
Niall Johnson has been writing and directing movies for over 30 years.
He came to Hollywood’s notice in 2003 with his spec supernatural script WHITE NOISE, starring Michael Keaton, which opened in January 2005 at #1 in the UK and #2 in the US, where it broke the box-office record at the time for the biggest January opening for a non-sequel.
In that same year, 2005, Niall wrote and directed the black comedy classic KEEPING MUM, starring Rowan Atkinson, Maggie Smith, Kristin Scott Thomas (winning the London Film Critics 2006 Best Actress Award award), and Patrick Swayze. Niall adapted the script from an original by Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Russo (Nobody’s Fool, Empire Falls)—winning them the 2006 HBO Comedy Festival Best Screenplay Award.
Niall’s other credits include: wife-swapping comedy-drama THE BIG SWAP (1996); traditional haunted house TV-Movie THE GHOST OF GREVILLE LODGE (1999), starring Prunella Scales and George Cole; MUM’S LIST (2016) the critically-acclaimed true story weepie romance based on St John Greene’s best-selling memoir, starring Rafe Spall and Emilia Fox; and the Western-styled adventure story THE STOLEN (2017) set in New Zealand’s 1860s Gold Rush, starring Alice Eve, Jack Davenport, Graham McTavish and Richard O’Brien.
Niall was a writer on the visually-striking animated drama-documentary feature ANOTHER DAY OF LIFE, based on the memoir by Ryszard Kapuscinski about the Angolan civil war of the mid-1970s. It received its World Premiere at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival and was voted Best Animated Film at the European Film Awards.
His most recent work is the Family Fantasy Adventure movie LEGEND HAS IT, starring Rupert Everett, Tamsin Grieg and Emilia Fox and an array of up-and-coming British acting talent. Niall has also been lead director on the new comfy-crime British-Greek TV show THE SUNSHINE MURDERS for Paramount+, debuting on the UK’s Channel 5 in Summer 2025.
Born and raised in Sutton Coldfield, near Birmingham, Niall’s passion for movies is a result of a childhood spent producing epic remakes of the likes of PLANET OF THE APES, STAR TREK, DOCTOR WHO and BATMAN with his brother and a silent Kodak 8mm film camera—the most notable recurring feature of these being his mother’s laundry hanging on the washing line in the back-yard!
Niall has been a Rocaberti mentor since 2019.