2024 Austin Film Festival & Writers Conference

Laura Sydell

Screenwriter/journalist

SF/LA

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About me

Laura Sydell is NPR’s former Digital Culture Correspondent. She now writes screenplays and fiction by regularly asking he self the same question she did covering technology, "What could possibly go wrong." She recently turned to pickleball to stop thinking this way. It hasn't worked.

11:30am CDT

Opening Remarks Austin Club

1:00pm CDT

How to Work the Writers Conference Austin Club On Rewriting: Handling Notes & Avoiding the First Draft Trap St. David's Episcopal Church Bethel Hall The Future of Storytelling presented by TooFar Media The Stephen F Austin Royal Sonesta Hotel Assembly Room

2:45pm CDT

Hartchart: True Detective: Night Country The Stephen F Austin Royal Sonesta Hotel Assembly Room Second Rounders and Above: A Producer's Perspective from the Inside Out with Lauren Shuler Donner St. David's Episcopal Church Sanctuary

5:00pm CDT

Opening Night Reception (Producers Badge required) Voodoo Room

9:00am CDT

Fiction Podcasting: Industry Insiders Omni Austin Hotel Downtown Lamar Room Your Next Act: Breaking in at 40 and Beyond Austin Club

1:30pm CDT

A Conversation with Meg LeFauve The Stephen F Austin Royal Sonesta Hotel Capital Ballroom

3:15pm CDT

On Shōgun: A Conversation with Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo Austin Club

4:45pm CDT

Film Texas BBQ Supper Presented by Texas Association of Film Commissions (Producers Badge required) Pease Park

9:00am CDT

Navigating the Great Contraction St. David's Episcopal Church Sanctuary Pitching Your Personal Story Omni Austin Hotel Downtown Mansfield Room

10:45am CDT

Second Rounders and Above Roundtable: The Art, Craft, and Business of Film and Television St. David's Episcopal Church Sumners Hall

12:15pm CDT

Awards Luncheon presented by Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation Austin Club

12:30pm CDT

Writing Across Mediums: Film, TV, and Video Games The Stephen F Austin Royal Sonesta Hotel Assembly Room

3:00pm CDT

A Conversation with Marissa Jo Cerar St. David's Episcopal Church Bethel Hall On The Last Of Us: A Conversation with Craig Mazin The Stephen F Austin Royal Sonesta Hotel Capital Ballroom The Art of Research The Stephen F Austin Royal Sonesta Hotel Assembly Room Wearing Multiple Hats: Writing and Producing Omni Austin Hotel Downtown Mansfield Room Second Rounder and Above: From Competition to Career St. David's Episcopal Church Sanctuary

4:45pm CDT

The Screenwriting Life, Live! The Stephen F Austin Royal Sonesta Hotel Capital Ballroom Pitch Competition #12 St. David's Episcopal Church Vestry Room

7:30pm CDT

Pitch Finale Party (Producers, Conference, Weekend, Lone Star, or Press Badge required) Austin Club

10:00am CDT

"Hair of the Dog" Brunch (Producers Badge required) Ranch 616

11:30am CDT

Anatomy of a Crime Austin Club What Managers Want Omni Austin Hotel Downtown Pennybacker Room

1:15pm CDT

Script to Screen: Battlestar Galactica Omni Austin Hotel Downtown Pennybacker Room

3:00pm CDT

Closing Remarks The Stephen F Austin Royal Sonesta Hotel Capital Ballroom