DATE: FEBRUARY 10TH, 2018 from 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
LOCATION: THE LIGHT BOX @ GOLDMAN WAREHOUSE @ 404 NW 26TH ST, MIAMI, FL 33127. Map here
COST: ALWAYS FREE. Donations appreciated. Donate here.
April Dobbins is writer, photographer, filmmaker, and Sundance Institute Knight Fellow who believes that discovering great characters are actually closer than you think. They just need to be developed. Workshop participants will join Ms. Dobbins in experimental exercises, and film and literature studies–with an emphasis on queer/and or characters of color. These activities will illuminate writers to intensely develop their own characters into distinct three dimensional personas with complex and diverse voices that ooze off the page, or dance! This community driven–open to the public–workshop invites writers of all skill levels with an acclaimed attentive professional so inspiring that one will leave more observant of the world and their craft. Join Reading Queer and April Dobbins for an afternoon of character development. RSVP below.
DESCRIPTION: When writing diverse characters, how do you stay true to their authentic voices? Oftentimes, stereotypes and one-dimensional representations can taint your own creative well. This workshop is for writers and aspiring writers who are grappling with a character and could benefit from existing and performing in that character’s skin. RSVP HERE:
WHAT TO BRING: Come in character! Bring a 1-4 page draft of a monologue written in your character’s voice. You will read as your character for the group, and we will do a number of creative exercises to help you build a fully realized, fictitious being. This exercise will help creatives jump into the minds of their creations, which will aid in developing dynamic and more complex voices. We will examine character development in film and literature and experiment with ways to build developed personas with a focus on characters who are queer and/or of color.
APRIL DOBBINS is a photographer, writer, and filmmaker. She was one of four filmmakers selected to screen her work at Sundance’s 2016 Documentary Film Rough Cuts Lab in Miami, and she is also a 2017 Sundance Institute Knight Fellow. Her films have screened at festivals across the U.S. An alumna of the prestigious Rittenhouse Writers Group, she did a TED talk on her work as a photographer and filmmaker for TEDxGrinnell in 2015, and she has been tapped to do a second TED talk for TEDxUMiami in 2017. Her documentary film project, Alabamaland, is an ongoing exploration of African-American culture in the rural South. She is a recipient of the S. J. Weiler Fund Award, which is made in recognition of exemplary artistic achievement and creativity in the visual arts as well as significant contributions to the arts community, and Cannonball Miami’s 2016 WaveMaker Grant.