theOffice

“You get yourself a pack of 3x5 cards. You write a scene on each card and when you have 70 cards, you have a feature film.”—David Lynch

Lynch is full of great advice for all creatives. Be sure to check out his one-of-a-kind book on creativity “Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity,” for a glimpse into the mind behind Twin Peaks, Eraserhead, Mulholland Drive, Blue Velvet, and more.

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Our space will be closed Wednesday, June 19th, to celebrate JUNETEENTH. Happy holiday, everyone! ✊🏿✊🏾✊🏽✊🏼✊🏻❤️

Kudos to member Andrea Shawcross on her movie “Billion Dollar Bluff” written right here at theOffice. And with a shiny new plaque on our wall of fame to prove it. Congrats Andrea! 👏🎉

Kudos to our longtime member Patrick Burleigh on adapting this beloved book. Excited to see this!

Hot Package: ‘Ant-Man And The Wasp’ Scribe Patrick Burleigh Adapts Beloved Hannah Gold Children’s Book ‘The Last Bear’ ‘Eternals/Ant-Man And The Wasp’ Scribe Patrick Burleigh Adapts Beloved Hannah Gold Children’s Book ‘The Last Bear’

We're looking for part-time help at our quiet, shared workspace here in Santa Monica. We've been a haven for writers and other creatives since 2004. This position is part receptionist, part social media strategist for approximately 12 hours per week (8 hours here at theOffice and 4 hours remote).

You'll also get 24/7 access to the space to work on your own projects whenever you'd like.

See our craigslist posting for all the details and please share with your local friends!

https://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/wri/d/santa-monica-receptionist-social-media/7753387979.html

A wonderful essay by our member Sam Lubell on OJ Simpson and the fundamental character of Los Angeles.

O.J. and L.A. What the iconic car chase revealed about Southern California’s landscape.

Kudos to member Jenn Salcido on this short essay published by Back Patio Press:

The F*cking Birds by Jenn Salcido Oprah Winfrey can tell you about the great bowerbird; the queen of all media seems impressed, for what it’s worth.I once had this nature documentary on DVD, is how she was talking to me. I heard he…

We’ve giving away a free month at our quiet workspace here in Santa Monica. Head over to Instagram to enter and tell us what you’re working on. Super easy. Deadline is tomorrow! Good luck!

We’re 20! That’s right, Aleks opened the doors to theOffice in our old space on 26th Street (see last slide) twenty years ago. We had a little happy hour with members old and new last week to celebrate. So many amazing projects and friendships got their start right here! Thanks for being a part of the magic, friends. We’re gonna do a flash giveaway soon so stay close. Happy 20th anniversary to theOffice! 🥂🙌

Back in November of 2023, Warner Brothers announced they would not release “Coyote vs. Acme”, a hybrid live-action/animation Loony Tunes feature. Despite the fact that the film is complete and has tested well with audiences, Warner Brothers feels they will make more money from shelving it for a tax write-off than they would at the box office. Our blogger (and assistant manager) Trish untangles the public backlash to this as well as the real world implications for creative workers over on the blog. Check it out, friends!

Kudos to all of these winners! So much goes into this - the years of rewrites, the questioning if you're good enough, the carving out time between your day jobs, the ongoing commitment to the story you want to tell. Writing is a lonely profession but man, a boost like this makes it all worth it. Congrats to all!

Movie Academy Names Five Winners Of 2023 Nicholl Fellowships Brent Delaney, Harris McCabe, J. Miller, c. Craig Patterson and Kayla Sun are the winners of the 2023 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition.

Our 2023 fellow, Kells McPhillips, has just completed her time with us here at theOffice and we are sad to see her go. She shares what her experience was like here along with some of her fave writing tips over on the blog. Check it out! And so long, Kells! It’s been such a treat to have you with us. Your future is big and bright and we’ll be cheering you on along the way. 🙌

We’ll be launching our 2024 fellowship soon, everyone, so stay close!

Folks write personal essays, short stories, dialogues, poems and everything in between. Poignant, surreal, heartbreaking, laugh-out-loud funny - each piece is different. What's important is that you write something honest. Writing on the spot then reading it aloud is a powerful practice that not only strengthens the writing itself but also your understanding of the writing. Each time you hear yourself speaking your words, you learn a little something more about your words. And you strengthen your unique voice as a writer.

Sunday Salon Write from the heart & share your story with others ◦ 10 writers max◦ 4th Sunday of the month◦ 4-7PM◦ $25 Join an intimate group of writers here at theOffice on the 4th Sunday of the month for …

Deadline Hollywood has been posting the screenplays for some great films including our member David Scarpa's script for "Napoleon". Here's Tony McNamara's oscar-nominated screenplay of "Poor Things". Check it out !

‘Poor Things’: Read The Screenplay That Got Yorgos Lanthimos, Tony McNamara And Emma Stone Back Together Again Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series spotlighting the year’s most talked-about scripts continues with Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, the darkly comedic genre-bender penned by Tony McNamara t…

Shoutout to former member Michael Weithorn who penned this screenplay at theOffice back in 2019. He just kicked off production with Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgewick, no less! Looking forward to this. Kudos Michael!

Kevin Bacon & Kyra Sedgwick To Star Alongside Each Other In A Movie For First Time In 20 Years EXCLUSIVE: Husband-and-wife duo Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick have landed roles together in a movie for the first time in two decades, with The King of Queens creator Michael J. Weithorn penning an…

We've culled a list of upcoming deadlines for the best screenwriting competitions out there. Get on it, screenwriters! And good luck!

2024 Winter/Spring Screenplay Competition and Fellowship Deadlines With the writer’s strike and the holidays behind us, it is time to hit the grind again. But don’t fret! I’m here to help with this handy list of some screenplay competitions and f…

We got a phone booth! A game changer for those who need a private space to take Zoom meetings with the agent, producer, writing room, etc. Members can book in advance. And it’s sound proof cause, you know, that’s how we roll. 🤐

Happy new year, friends! 🚀

Look at OG screenwriter David Stem rocking our OG office logo tee! What?! Haven’t seen these shirts in YEARS and David (who has just returned after many moons) just strolls in here like whatevs. 😎 Friends, we’ve been since 2004, before coworking was even a thing! Grateful to still be here. Thank you to everyone who’s been a part of the ride.

Safehouse, the screenwriters group which has used our space on Monday nights for the past 10 years, is putting on a hilarious night of horror tomorrow through Saturday in Venice. 8 at the Graveyard is 8 one-act plays with all proceeds supporting theOffice!

As you can imagine, we're still navigating the one-two punch of the pandemic and strike, so if you'd like to support our writing space AND see a night of rollicking theater, come join the fun! 🙏👻

8 at the Graveyard A humorous mix of 10-minute One-Acts, written and acted by Safehouse members; a gang of writers and actors in its 20th year of existence.

"Everyone is eager to get back into the swing of the industry but make no mistake, writers are not back to the same old 'business as usual'. There is change in the air!"

From Burnout to Balance: How the WGA Strike is Reshaping Hollywood After nearly 150 days, the WGA strike is finally over! I can practically hear the church bells ringing (and all the keyboards clacking) as every writer in LA races back to work. Everyone is ea…

We love our members and our members love it here! Great to see so many returning faces after the strike.

"Still, on Thursday the mood was upbeat at theOffice, a communal workspace for writers... that has given birth to the screenplays of movies such as Eternals, Finding Dory, The Maze Runner and Serenity. In a room of blacks, browns and greens flooded with natural daylight, people sat typing on laptops as if making up for lost time."

Fantastic writeup by The Guardian interviewing four of our members on how they're navigating the end of the writer's strike. Thank you to journalist David Smith!

‘A lot of catching up to do’: Hollywood writers head back to work The end of the historic writers’ strike brings with it a rush back to the page but also an awareness of a changing industry

We've got all your fall deadlines in one place. Get to it, screenwriters. And best of luck!

Fall 2023 Screenwriting Contest and Fellowship Deadlines September brings us cooler weather, pumpkin spice, and a bunch of new screenplay competitions and fellowships to enter! It would be impossible to list them all, but here are a few that are well wor…

Thanks to Beyonce, tons of folks are discovering Sofi Stadium for the first time and I'm reminded of our member Sam Lubell's 2020 piece in the Los Angeles Times on the promise and potential of this groundbreaking piece of architecture:

Commentary: How SoFi Stadium makes a revolutionary design promise: A place for all to play The new SoFi Stadium will be home to the Rams and Chargers, but it holds the potential to be so much more to the communities around it.

If you’re in the Los Angeles area, our manager Wade will be hosting the Sunday Salon this Sunday here at theOffice at 4PM. An intimate gathering of writers, the Sunday Salon is where we write from the heart and share our story with others.

Join us for the next Sunday Salon If you’re in the Los Angeles area, I’ll be hosting our Sunday Salon this Sunday here at theOffice at 4PM. An intimate gathering of writers, the Sunday Salon is where we write from the h…

"The MPA (formerly MPAA), whether it admits it or not, is picking and choosing which films are seen and which are buried." Resident blogger Trish examines recent controversy surrounding the MPA's NC-17 rating of Ira Sachs' award-winning film, "Passages".

Do We Still Need the MPA? The Motion Picture Association (MPA, formerly MPAA), the body responsible for rating feature films in America, is facing criticism again. The new film Passages directed by Ira Sachs was given a rat…

Who's seeing "Barbie" AND "Oppenheimer" this weekend?!

Barbenheimer: Are Double Features Here to Stay? Two major studio films are set to release on July 21, 2023: Warner Bros.’s Barbie and Universal’s Oppenheimer. There has been much buzz and excitement around both films and particularly around seei…

We have a WINNER! Congratulations to KELLS MCPHILLIPS who has just won our 2023 Fellowship Competition here at theOffice. Kells will receive a 6-month Premium Membership to the space with 24/7 access to work on her upcoming projects. She wowed us all with her short story, "Vacation" (which was also shortlisted for Summer Short Story Award last year). Kells is a Santa Monica-based journalist currently working on a novel about the effects of climate change on three generations of women spending a summer together in Cape Cod. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School.

Also thank you to everyone who submitted this year. There were so many compelling entries from rip-roaring comedic screenplays to fascinating bits of historical fiction. We were wonderfully inspired by all of your work and appreciate you sharing it with us.

As always, we're here if you need some space to focus. Keep writing, friends!

This Sunday, a small group of writers will gather in our serene Santa Monica workspace. We’ll open with a meditation to let go of the day’s chatter & to ease into a mode of increased receptivity. I’ll then offer a writing prompt designed to spark curiosity & deep introspection. For the next forty minutes the writers will write alone, whatever comes, letting the muse lead & the words flow. Then they’ll rejoin the others to read aloud what they’ve written. This is the monthly SUNDAY SALON. The stories generated here have been heartbreaking, cathartic, sweet, funny & everything in between. It’s a powerful process: writing on the spot & then sharing your words with others. It prompts bold choices, leaving little time for your cleverness or any other pretenses that you (& me & all writers) hide behind. Instead, this process rewards your courage & authenticity. And it strengthens your unique voice as a writer.

Join us for this Sunday at 4PM. Pay on a sliding scale of $15-25. Book on our website by Saturday at Noon latest. Reach out with any questions. 🙏 - Wade

Sunday Salon Write from the heart & share your story with others ◦ 10 writers max◦ 4th Sunday of the month◦ 4-7PM◦ $25 Join an intimate group of writers here at theOffice on the 4th Sunday of the month for …

It's hard to choose!

2023 Fellowship Update We received 64 submissions to our 2023 Fellowship Competition and the level of writing has been super impressive. Our judges truly have their work cut out for them! We will be announcing a winner b…