Smile and say

CHEESE!

Left: Jack Epps Jr: 'Movies are really
about people's lives in crisis."

Below: "Probably my most popular
character would be Maverick (Tom
Cruise) in "Top Gun," says Epps.

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a film about the Attica prison
uprising shown on cable television.
Both discussion leaders will talk about
their films during the workshop.
"Probably my most popular character
wo uld be Maverick in Top Gun because
people can relate to him easily," says
Epps, who has two daughters still in
school. "He embodies the side of myself
as someone who is going against the
grain. Becoming a screenwriter was a
Maverick thing to do since I don't think
it's what my parents had in mind for
me."
Epps, whose family belonged to
Temple Beth El, has not written Jewish
characters into his scripts. He tries to
keep his fictional populations more uni-
versal to appeal to widespread audiences.
As he interacts with the limited audi-
ences in his workshops, Epps likes to get
acquainted with each participant.
"These are very small classes, and they're
very intense and personal," says Epps.
"We get a lot of interaction because of
the emphasis on a question-and-answer
format. We also talk about marketing
because it's not easy It's become more
difficult as more people want to sell their
screenplays. ,111

976000

N111(4

writing partners with his late college
professor Jim Cash, who stayed in
Michigan. The two, communicating by
computer to bridge their distance, have
worked on dialogue for Tom Hanks,
Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, Robert
Redford, Debra Winger, Tom Cruise,
Kelly IvIcGillis and Michael J. Fox.
"With each movie, our careers gained
a lot of momentum, and I was offered a
position on the permanent staff at
USC," recalls Epps, who also was asked
to edit scripts written by others.
"The hardest thing in writing is the
blank page. Therefore, when somebody
starts with that and has to create a
world, a situation, a story and characters,
then the process is very hard. Usually,
when I do some script doctoring, it's
because a script is in trouble and often
the writer has lost focus of what the
story is about. I basically come in and
do some refocusing."
Epps and Garvin focused on the
Michigan seminar long after meeting
through a mutual friend and becoming
friends themselves. Garvin, a Detroit
Wayne State University graduate, most
recently wrote and produced The Killing

Screenplay Writing Weekend
Workshop runs 9:30 a.m.-5:30
p.m. Saturday-Sunday, June 11-
12, at the Birmingham
Community House, 380 South
Bates Street. $375.
(248) 644-5832.

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977420

5/26

2005

47