WRITE! SHOOT! EDIT!: The Complete Guide for Teen Filmmakers

Today’s digital technology allows teens to produce short films with enviable accessibility. But there is a darker side to today’s technology, too: the expectation to live and share your life online, to become an instant success with your first creations. Imagine being free to experiment and play with the medi-um, with a mentor beside you helping you craft solid, professional work that never looks like a home movie. Industry pro Deborah Patz is that mentor. Much like writers pen journals they don’t publish (aka “writing practice,” as taught by Natalie Gold-berg), Write! Shoot! Edit! mentors teens in “first film­making” ― crafting complete, scripted movies in a safe place free from public exhibition and scrutiny, experimenting with the medium, and discovering one’s own visual storytelling voice. You want to direct and edit, but your friend wants to write? Not a problem. Don’t read the book in order! Just follow the path. Write! Shoot! Edit! is written in three distinct and intertwining paths, so you can experience the book as you want to: as a writer, director / DOP, or editor. Start making scripted films today so that you can be the overnight success of tomorrow!

Deborah Patz has been a professional in the film industry since the mid-1980s, with a filmography that spans family and children’s programming, science-fiction extravaganzas, and feature films of various budget sizes. She started making movies when she was 9 years old, pioneered a filmmaking course at her high school (because it didn’t have one), and even taught the teacher how to process film (so he would include it in the course). After receiving a BFA in Film Production from York University, and years of working on productions for Disney, Lucasfilm, Alliance / Atlantis, Nelvana, MCA / Universal, and the IMAX space team, Deb penned her first books: Surviving Production and Film Production Manage-ment 101 (known as the “Swiss Army knife” of production management), both published worldwide by MWP. Based on her books, Deb has designed and instructed numerous courses, seminars, and workshops in Canada, the USA, and the UK, and has worked with young teens to help them make elaborate, scripted home movies. She is now an MFA candidate in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia (with a specialty in Children’s and YA), and continues to work in film finance and teach filmmaking work-shops for teens.