It's spooky season, which means it's time to grab some marshmallows and graham crackers and gather around the fire to tell our favorite scary stories. We all have our favorites, but what are the components of a successful horror? What's the correct balance of scares, tension, character development and twists?
Tune in for this Spooky Season Panel to find out!
This 90 Minute Panel Will Cover:
- The conventions of a horror film
- How to build and maintain tension
- Crafting characters we'll root for
- Live Q&A
Roadmap Writers is a talent training and discovery platform for screenwriters ready for a guided path to success. Our programs are hosted by working industry executives and are designed to empower writers with actionable tools and insights to elevate your craft and cultivate relationships with industry professionals. Since 2016, we have helped hundreds of writers from all over the world sign to representation, staff on series, and option and produce their projects. Our writers have been staffed on BRIDGERTON, THE FLASH, CHICAGO PD, THE FIRST LADY, NIGHT COURT, THE GOOD DOCTOR, THE RESIDENT, REACHER, SUBJECT TO CHANGE, MAYANS and POKERFACE. Writers have sold, set up and been produced by Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, MGM, American High, New Republic Pictures, Maven Screen Media, Lifetime, Will Packer Studios and Roku.
Born in suburban South Jersey to two mostly normal people who love a good drive-in B-movie, Kelly Gallagher attended Boston University, where she studied Film/TV and English, primarily focusing on Film Studies, Screenwriting, and Physical Production. After graduating, she got her start in the business at management company Industry Entertainment working in the Television Literary Department, and as a Script Reader for the Paradigm Agency. She then joined the film and television development arm of indie comic book company Oni Press, where she worked on book-to-film projects such as David Leitch's ATOMIC BLONDE and Co-Produced the Chris Hemsworth hit EXTRACTION, Netflix's most-watched original film. Since joining the rebooted Dark Castle, Kelly has been able to fulfill her blood-and-guts dreams working with the iconic horror brand. She recently Co-Produced Simon Barrett's directorial debut SEANCE starring Suki Waterhouse and Inanna Sarkis (RLJE/Shudder), Mary Harron's THE EXPECTING starring AnnaSophia Robb and Rory Culkin (Quibi/Roku), and Dark Castle's upcoming prequel to 2009's cult hit ORPHAN, ORPHAN:FIRST KILL, which stars Julia Stiles and Isabelle Fuhrman reprising her iconic role.
Joe Russo is a three-time BloodList screenwriter whose feature film credits include the Peyton List and Bob Gunton starring horror film, THE INHERITANCE (#3 movie on Hulu, Christmas 2024), the Bruce Willis-starring HARD KILL (#2 movie on Netflix, Thanksgiving 2020), the Ryan Phillippe, Ving Rhames and Kate Bosworth-starring THE LOCKSMITH, the Neal McDonough-starring SOUL MATES and the Lifetime thriller THE AU PAIR NIGHTMARE.
As a producer, Russo’s feature credits include the Mickey Rourke-starring horror anthology NIGHTMARE CINEMA (#2 movie on Shudder, 2019) and the Zac Efron and Russell Crowe-starring THE GREATEST BEER RUN EVER for Apple TV+, which premiered at The Toronto International Film Festival. In the podcast space, Russo produced seven seasons of the award-winning horror series POST MORTEM WITH MICK GARRIS.
Questions?
If you have any questions or any trouble accessing the recording, email our Director of Education Alexandra Davies at alex@roadmapwriters.com!