Writing Workshop Speakers

David Garrett

David Garrett (with writing partner Jason Ward) has sold feature film pitches to Dreamworks, Disney, Paramount , Sony, Universal and Revolution Studios. With Ward, he recently completed the feature screenplay ‘Foreign Exchange’ for MTV Films. In 2004, he co-wrote ‘Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo’ starring Rob Schneider and produced by Adam Sandler. In 2005, David wrote the musical comedy ‘Do That To Me One More Time’ for Touchstone Pictures, with Jack Black attached to star and produce. In addition to co-writing ‘First Pet’ and ‘Corky Romano’ for Disney, Garrett has authored screenplays for directors Ivan Reitman, Tom Shadyac and Peter Segal.

David has written and produced pilots/series/specials for ABC, NBC, CBS, WB, UPN, Comedy Central, Showtime and Fox. In 2001 he co-wrote and produced ‘The Kronenberg Chronicles’ for FX with director John Landis. In 2002 he co-created ‘Missing Link’ and ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ for ABC & Touchstone Television. In 2003, he co-wrote “The Hatfields & McCoys”, a dramatic mini-series for the USA Network. He also co-created the sit-com ‘Living with Fran’ starring Fran Drescher, which ran for two years on the WB Network. In 2005, Garrett produced the short film ‘Model Family’ starring Jamie Kennedy, which was recently acquired by Twentieth Century Fox Television. David recently completed the pilot ‘The Dysfunctionals’ for NBC & Touchstone Television and has a development deal with Joe Roth through Paramount Television.

David Garrett is an attorney, a member of the California State Bar and graduate of UCLA Law School . He was previously Editor-in-Chief of National Lampoon Magazine.

His complete credits can be found at:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0308099/

Gregg Rossen & Brian Sawyer

Gregg Rossen and Brian Sawyer are both graduates of USC’s School of Cinema-TV . In the summer of 2002, they sold their comedy screenplay “Nascar Girl” to New Line Cinema. In 2003, their comedy script “Guida” was sold to Revolution Studios as a vehicle for Jennifer Lopez. Prior to this, they sold the dance-spoof pitch “Save the Last Dirty Flashdance for Footloose Billy Elliott” to Tapestry Entertainment. Gregg and Brian are currently developing “Model Family”, a TV sit-com pilot starring Jamie Kennedy, for Twentieth Century Fox Television based on the short film they wrote, directed and produced. They recently co-wrote “Pixar’s 20th Anniversary Special” for ABC and are presently producing a film about automaker John Delorean.

Brian grew up in Santa Barbara and attended U.C. Berkeley where he was the Editor of the University’s 97-yr-old humor magazine “The California Pelican” and he has also contributed to the “National Lampoon Magazine.” At USC, he received his MFA degree from the School of Cinema-TV and directed “Fuzzy Logic,” which won best short documentary in the Melbourne Film Festival. Brian’s most recent short “ Tex , the Passive-Aggressive Gunslinger,” an offbeat comedy starring Bob Balaban, was sold to the Independent Film Channel where it has played for two years. “ Tex ” has been well-received at festivals such as Hamptons , Deauville , Mill Valley , and South-by-Southwest, as well as the Palm Springs Short Film Festival where it took the Special Jury Prize. In 2003 his script "The Hatfields and McCoys" (Co-authored with Dave Garrett and Jason Ward) was acquired by the USA Network as a forthcoming TV miniseries.

Gregg is from the San Francisco Bay Area and received his BA from U.C. Berkeley. While working towards his Masters degree at USC’s School of Cinema-TV, he won the local and national Student Emmy Award for Best Comedy for his short comedy film “The Grail Guy.” In addition, while at USC he also received the Oakie Comedy Writing Award. Gregg’s most recent short film “The Revenge of the Red Balloon” debuted at Slamdance in Park City, and has won several awards playing at other prominent festivals such as the Taos Talking Picture Festival, Montreal Just for Laughs Festival, Mill Valley, Brussels, Dublin, and others. Gregg is a regular contributor to "MovieMaker Magazine" and helped edit the screenwriting book “Story Sense” by Paul Lucey. In the past, he has worked at the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour in New York and for “Good Morning Britain” in London .