writer of TOY STORY screenplay to teach advanced screewriting in the fall
English 130.402
Advanced Screenwriting
Alec Sokolow
Fall 2006
meets Fridays 2-5 PM and at other times (see below)
I am very pleased to announce that the Creative Writing Program in the
Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing (CPCW) and the Cinema Studies
Program are co-sponsoring a fall 2006 advanced screenwriting workshop to be
taught by ALEC SOKOLOW.
Sokolow has written 47 screenplays, including TOY STORY (1995), GOODBYE,
LOVER (1999), and CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN (2003). For TOY STORY he received an
Academy Award nomination. He was also a staff writer and segment producer
for several television shows, including The Arsenio Hall Show. He has
written a musical play, a children's book and numerous TV pilots.
Sokolow lives and works in Los Angeles. He will make three extended visits
to Penn. Students must be available for meetings on Thursday evening, all
day Friday, and Saturday morning during these three periods:
- September 14-16
- October 26-28
- December 7-9
In addition, the class will meet Fridays with teaching assistant Blake
Martin and will confer with Alec Sokolow by phone/conference call. Mr.
Sokolow will also work individually with each student by email and phone.
Students will be admitted to this course by permission of the instructor.
Applications should be sent to
Applications should include: a short note describing your interest and
relevant experience (coursework and otherwise) and a brief (8 pages max.)
sample of your writing. Those with resumes can send one also, but it's not
required.
This is the second in a series of advanced screenwriting courses offered by
eminent working screenwriters through a collaboration of Cinema Studies and
Creative Writing. Generous funding for this project has been provided by Jon
Avnet (C'71).
Below is a biographical profile of Alec Sokolow.
This course is one of THREE screenwriting courses being offered this fall.
For more, see http://writing.upenn.edu/cw/courses06c.html.
Al Filreis
Kelly Professor of English
Faculty Director, the Kelly Writers House
Director, the Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing
http://writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis
http://writing.upenn.edu
biographical profile of Alec Sokolow
------------------------------------
Alec Sokolow
born in New York City. Okay, 1963
Penn B.A. In Communications 1985
4 year varsity squash team player
Career as a writer:
1st paying writing job: contributing to National Lampoon Magazine
Staff writer and segment producer on:
The Late Show - 1987
The Wilton North Report - 1988
The Arsenio Hall Show - 1988-89
Author or co-author of:
47 screenplays (won't bother naming them all, but I have rewritten Tom
Stoppard and have been rewritten by Horton Foote)
5 TV pilot teleplays
Co-wrote and co-directed 1 low budget monster musical:
Frankenstein Sings! - 1994
some films:
Toy Story - 1995 (Academy Award Nomination for screenwriting)
Money Talks - 1997
Goodbye, Lover - 1999
Cheaper By the Dozen - 2003
Garfield - 2004
Garfield: A Tale Of Two Kitties - 2006
1 musical play:
Monkey Love - 2005
1 children's book:
The Outcastics - 2006
I live in Santa Monica with my wife Leslie and my two children, two hermit
crabs and one sickly goldfish that won't die no matter how hard we try to
kill it.