Greetings,
One of the best ways to learn the nuts and bolts of
film making and meet the working film makers that can help to
advance your career in a creative capacity is to learn to
be the on set script supervisor/continuity director.
We sit next to the director all day and make sure the technical side
of the scenes we shoot are done correctly.
I have been working as a script supervisor since 1977.
Have been a member of Local 871, the crew union in LA, for fifteen years.Have been working on a number of great independent films recently.
"THE CITIZEN", was filmed in my hometown of Detroit.
It is the story of a young man from Syria who wins the green card
lottery and moves to America to realize his dream of becoming
a U.S. citizen. He arrives in New York two days before 9/11.
He is arrested as a terror suspect.It takes him years to clear his name.
A really great group of people came together to make this film.
"THE CITIZEN", will premiere this September at the Toronto Film Festival.
I have worked in a number of the rebate states in recent years.
I have worked in Georgia, North Carolina,Oregon, and now Michigan.
Part of what I offer my students are the insights regarding how to
obtain work in these areas.There is a great deal of film production
in these areas and a need for good script supervisors.
One does not have to move there full time.Rather spending three to five
months a year there allows one to become an active part of that
production community.
I offer a ten session intensive course. Eight of the classes are
in lecture format.In the final two sessions we learn by doing.
I stage a mock up of a day of filming several times.
Here, the students actually do script and continuity on a scene that I direct with live actors in class.I plant numerous hard to spot technical mistakes
in the scene.Catching those mistakes and learning how and when to point
them out sharpens the skills of all involved.As the director, I pretend
not to know the technical side of how films are made.This way the students learn how to point out these mistakes to a novice director.
Everyone that I have trained raves about the ability to get hands on experience actually doing script before they step on a real set.
I also teach a very detailed class on how to interview for and find
leads on independent films.I recently completed the first season of a Nickelodeon series, a teen comedy, "FRED:THE SHOW".
A Nick TV movie that I worked on ,"CAMP FRED" ,aired on July 28th.It will be released on DVD thru Lionsgate in October. I was able
to have several of my students train under me on both projects.
I teach in Los Angeles, Georgia,Michigan,North Carolina, and Texas.
Please email me with questions.
Or call (310) 453-1700
learnscriptsupervising@earthlink.net
Mark S. Thomas
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