Work one-on-one with an executive at mutually agreed upon times around your schedule. To start, you'll have a 15-minute strategy call with your executive to get the lay of the land for the month. Then, you’ll have email access to your executive throughout, plus four one-hour story notes sessions. Work on a single screenplay or multiple scripts plus get additional notes on your pitch, brand strategy, and career advice - work your mentorship to its fullest potential!
Thriller, Horror, Drama & Sci-Fi, in both Features and TV
Paul Kowalski is a filmmaker and educator committed to applying his award-winning writing and directing into his teaching practice. For the last decade he has been a professor at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, teaching undergraduate and graduate filmmaking. He leads a screenwriting retreat with Nostos in Tuscany every summer, and runs a weekly development workshop which has included Oscar- and Emmy-winners, and winners of major grants, representation and scriptwriting contests.
In 2021 Paul was named one of “25 Screenwriters to Watch” by Austin Film Festival, and invited to the Shore Scripts' Directors Roster. His screenplay THE HOUSEMASTER was selected by The Dead List among 2024's top horror scripts in Hollywood. Kowalski received an Honors magna cum laude BA from Brown University, studying filmmaking and publishing a collection of short stories — then went on to get his MFA in directing from AFI on scholarship.
His own films tend to center around identity, exile and obsession, often featuring dark psychologies and the supernatural. In 2024 he won the Best Director Grand Prize at the Oscar- and BAFTA-qualifying Flickers Rhode Island film festival for his film SARDINIA, about a serious man trying to avoid a laughing plague. Produced by Kowalski's production company PKINO Films, the film was Executive Produced by Patton Oswalt, who called it "an effortlessly original piece of work" and "beyond timely"; it stars Philip Ettinger (FIRST REFORMED) and Emmy-winner Martha Plimpton (THE REGIME, THE GOONIES), and was recently long-listed for the 2025 Academy Awards.
Paul's feature PAPER TIGER won the Audience Award and a Jury Prize at Austin Film Festival, was sold by Gersh in 2021, and had a special screening at the Canadian Cinematheque. His other films have won international recognition from the ASC, Beijing Film Academy and CINE, as well as the Aesthetica, Raindance, deadCenter, Cinequest and Indy Shorts film festivals, among others.
Kowalski is a Polish, British and US citizen. Based in LA, Paul grew up in England, the Middle East, Poland, Africa, Southeast Asia and across America – sparking a natural impulse to reconcile contrasting views of the world — and feels particularly at home with international and diverse students.
Private Month Mentorship
Each month mentorship kicks off with a preliminary 15-min. call to set expectations and lay out strategy for the month. Writer will have email access to the executive plus 4x one-hour consultations with the exec. Exec will read up to 4 scripts in one month (different drafts of the same script or 4 different scripts) and conduct 4x one-hour story notes calls. Calls can also include feedback on your pitch, branding, or career strategy.
If you pay with the deposit/payment plan, your second half will be due the 2nd week of the Mentorship. If you need a different type of payment plan, email dorian@roadmapwriters.com.
**Please note feature screenplays are limited to 120 pages maximum. Please contact terra@roadmapwriters.com for pricing on a Month Mentorship on screenplays exceeding 120 pages.
What To Expect
After registering, you will receive an automatic Order Confirmation email. Then Roadmap's Director of Consultations, Terra Joy, will get your mentor looped in with you! If you do not hear from Terra or the exec within 3 days of registering, feel free to email terra@roadmapwriters.com for an update.
Before starting your Month Mentorship, please ensure you are familiar with our Code of Conduct.