CHICAGO -- — Chicago Screenwriters Network (“CSN”) kicks off its twentieth anniversary year on Sunday, January 11, 2015, with a meeting topic appropriate for the New Year: the featured speaker is actress & life coach Courtney Rioux, whose presentation is entitled Achieve Your Screenwriting Goals in 2015: How to Set Goals and Stay Focused.
The meeting will take place from 6:00-8:00pm at Mrs. Murphy & Sons Irish Bistro (2nd fl.), 3905 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, IL; the group meets the 2nd Sunday of each month at this location. Unlike standard CSN meetings, admission to this 2015 kick-off meeting is free.
The meeting is the group’s first since late summer 2014 when CSN went on hiatus; since then, a new board of directors has been seated and has planned and implemented a re-launch of the organization.
The January 11 meeting will commence with the introduction of the organization’s new board, an overview of the educational programming that CSN will present at its monthly meetings throughout the year, and announcements regarding the reinvention of CSN’s screenplay contest and its plans for a special event later in the year to commemorate the group’s 20th anniversary. Ms. Rioux will follow with her presentation on screenwriting resolutions for the new year (and how to stick with them).
Attendees will have a chance at winning prizes valued at hundreds of dollars which CSN will give away in a raffle drawing at the end of the evening.
RSVPs are appreciated at https://csnfreemeeting.eventbrite.com so that bar and wait staff can be adequately provided.
CSN is dedicated to educating members in the craft and business of screenwriting — via guest presentations at meetings, special events, online resources, peer script reviews, and industry networking opportunities — and to promoting fellowship among area screenwriters. Over the past two decades, CSN has grown from a handful of enthusiasts into a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with hundreds of members and a large (and growing) social media presence on Facebook and Twitter. Many of its members have won awards for their screenplays or have had their work produced for film or television.
Former Chicago police officer Ed Bernero co-founded CSN in 1995 as an online discussion group, which soon gave way to in-person meetings. Bernero relocated to Los Angeles in the late 1990s, where he went on to become showrunner for NBC’s Third Watch and executive producer of CBS’s Criminal Minds. Bernero's co-founders Christiana King-Miller and Kenneth Mader also achieved notable industry success: Christina proceeded to write for ABC’s General Hospital and Kenneth is featured in Del Weston’s digital book The Top 100 Indie Filmmakers in the World (to be published via iTunes in January 2015). Kenneth is currently directing Displacement—which he also wrote—starring Sarah Douglas (Ursa from Superman and Superman II).
Questions re: Chicago Screenwriters Network can be directed to Dante A. Bacani (president & CEO) via email to info@chicagoscreenwriters.org or by phone at (312) 798-9775. The CSN website is at http://chicagoscreenwriters.org
Contact
Dante A. Bacani
312-798-9775
