JESSICA SHARZER
YOUR MENTOR
Jessica Sharzer has developed feature films and television pilots for numerous studios. Produced features include 2016’s Nerve and 2018’s A Simple Favor (A Simple Favor 2 is currently in pre-production in Italy). Sharzer also adapted The Girls I’ve Been (Netflix), the cult classic The Hunger (Warner Bros.) and To Catch a Thief (Paramount); more recently, she adapted Kate Flannery’s American Apparel memoir Strip Tees (Amazon) and the Icelandic movie The Oath (Film Nation). She co-executive produced FX’s American Horror Story (2011-2015), Fox’s Star (2017), Apple’s Amazing Stories (2020) and Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers (2021). Sharzer is also an adjunct professor of screenwriting and script analysis at the USC Stark Producing Program.
Take Your Script to a Whole New Level with the Writer of A Simple Favor 1 & 2 and American Horror Story.
PITCH COACHING | ONE-ON-ONE SESSION
Pitching is an art form and a skill set that is challenging for most writers, who are generally introverts. It’s a form of writing meant to be heard and not read, a performance of sorts. Jessica has over twenty years of experience pitching both TV shows and feature films. She’s also been in writers’ rooms where ideas are pitched all day long. Let Jessica help you organize your pitch and make it more user-friendly, digestible and entertaining. A great pitch can make the difference between getting and losing the job.
CAREER COUNSELING | ONE-ON-ONE SESSION
Whether you are a newcomer to the entertainment industry or a seasoned pro looking to pivot, Jessica can help you strategize your next move and determine the best path forward. She can also help you identify what it is you really want to be doing, if that’s the problem. Having written, produced, directed and worked with nearly every studio in town on television and film projects, she would love to share what she has learned to help you.
STORY BREAKING | ONE-ON-ONE SESSION
Are you stuck on a plot point and can’t seem to get past it? A short session can help you solve the problem and keep moving forward. Because Jessica has been a writer and writing professor for many years, she’s good at identifying a block and helping a writer move past it. And she can do it just by asking a few targeted questions and brainstorming solutions with you, without even reading your script.
PITCH LIKE A PRO | Group Session
No matter what phase of your career you are in, you will always be pitching — whether that means the proverbial 30-second elevator pitch or the full 15- to 20-minute boardroom pitch with all the bells and whistles. Either way, you need to not only know your story inside out but also be able to communicate it clearly and in an entertaining way. You need to give the listener great sound bites to pitch to their boss. Let Jessica help you develop or hone a pitch and teach you some of the tricks she’s picked up from 20-plus years of experience.
Limit: 10 participants
$150/ 1 1/2 hours
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EXPERT SCRIPT ANALYSIS
Jessica Sharzer is often called in to rewrite scripts that are broken in some way. She also teaches script analysis to graduate students at USC. Jessica will read your script, generate written notes, and hold a 30-minute Zoom session with you to review the notes and discuss possible solutions once you’ve had time to review everything. When you send out a script, you need to make sure it’s in the best possible shape as producers and executives will only read it once before forming an opinion about the material and you as a writer. Take Jessica’s advice and take the time and energy to get it as close as you can to production-ready.
$1,995/includes written notes and 30-minute Zoom session
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