Times
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Nuts
& Bolts
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Research
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Organizing
& Writing
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Marketing
& Selling
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California Dreaming
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9
to
10:30
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Show Me the Money: How to Finance and Manage the Cost of Your Work
Explore a wide variety of ways of financing your project, including grants and fellowships, raising funds through "chip-in" websites, and partnerships (with writers/scholars/filmmakers/magazines). Writers’ colonies will also be discussed.
Panelists:
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It Takes Two to Interview
Experienced biographers explain how they locate worthwhile interviewees, persuade them to talk, evaluate their credibility, and remember what they say.
Panelists:
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The Biographer and the Biopic
Screenwriters and authors explore the challenges in moving from the book to the screenplay and talk about key aspects of a successful screen adaptation: infusing suspense into a narrative that unfolds over many years, creating character arcs, defining pivotal story moments that evoke larger dramas, and maintaining fidelity to the facts of a life as it was lived
Panelists:
- Jack El-Hai, moderator
- Dustin Lance Black
- Bill Wheeler
- Chris Markus
- Stephen McFeely
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Choosing Your Subject with the Market in Mind
What is your primary motive in choosing a subject? Fascination with the person? Sales potential? Something original to say? Find out what goes through biographers’ minds at this critical first step.
Panelists:
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Beyond Disneyland: Research Opportunties in Southern California
Southern California is home to major libraries and archives specializing in subjects that include the visual arts (Getty Research Institute) and British and American history and literature (The Huntington Library) as well as film and television history. Prominent local archivists provide an overview of their institutions’ collections and explain how to make the most of your research time
Panelists:
- Beatrice Mousli, moderator
- Sandra Joy Lee, Warner Brothers Archives
- Julie Graham, UCLA Special Collections
- Mark Quigley, UCLA Film and Television Archive
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10:45
to
12:15
|
Legal Liabilites for Biographers
When do you need permissions, and how do you obtain them? How can you avoid making potentially libelous statements? What can happen if you’re the target of a lawsuit? The panel tackles these and other pertinent legal subjects.
Panelists
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From Infatuation to Footnote: Archival and Other Research
Biographers discuss how they use archival research as well as more unusual methods to give substance and texture to their subjects’ lives and surroundings.
Panelists
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Writing about Sex and Love
Contemporary biographers strive for tasteful frankness about sex, including the role (or absence) of sex in a subject's life, sexual orientation, and the relationship (if any) of sex to love. Do your subject’s achievements and personality determine the best way to deal with sex and love? What is involved in writing well about this aspect of life, and what is gained by focusing on it?
Panelists
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Blogging to Boost Sales
Blogging about your project or book creates a paradoxical situation: Your readers may become valuable sources, and you might attract the notice of agents or publishers, but divulging content may eat into your sales. On the other hand, if your blog isn’t juicy, few will read it. This panel answers the question, “To blog, or not to blog?”
Panelists
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The Stars Appear: Stars, Celebrity, and Biography
How do biographers effectively address the iconic status of their subjects and the mythology surrounding them? Panelists discuss how their subjects’ social significance, public image, and popularity affect aspects of research, writing, sales, and marketing.
Panelists:
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12:30
to
2:00
|
Lunch
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Lunch
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Lunch
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Lunch
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Lunch
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2:15
to
3:45
|
Ex-Wives, Angry Children, and Other Delicate Relationships
A group of veteran biographers explain how to navigate the tricky terrain of your subject’s family and friends.
Panelist
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Pursuing Hollywood's Past
Veteran biographers and film historians share their research secrets, explaining how to locate inside information about Old Hollywood and its brightest stars.
Panelists:
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The Gifts, Challenges, and Dangers of Chronology
While a life is necessarily lived chronologically, biographers may begin their narratives at any point and freely move backward and forward in time. Must chronology be the driver of narrative force, or can a story organized in a different way still be compelling? What is the hardest aspect of using a basic chronological structure? What is gained and what is lost?
Panelists:
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Exploiting the Power of Social Media
Publishers have beefed up their marketing muscle on the Internet and are practically insisting that authors self-promote using social media. You want to do your part, but you can’t see yourself constantly tweeting about the more provocative aspects of your subject. Find out how to create effective and professional “reader engagement.”
Panelists:
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The Agents' View on the Changing World of Publishing
A group of leading literary agents examine trends in publishing that relate to biography.
Panelists:
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4:00
to
5:30
|
The Dotted Line: Contract Issues for Writers
You finally interested a publisher in your book. Now what? This panel disusses whether you need a lawyer's or an agent's advice, explains the meaning of typical boilerplate language, and equips you with questions you should ask.
Panelists:
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How Dare you? How to Research the Unauthorized Celebrity Bio and Live to Tell the Tale
If you plan to write about a famous living person, people close to your subject will likely insist that you have no right to intrude on his or her privacy. This session will clue you in on what to do next.
Panelists:
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Creating a Beautifully Written Biography
When we say that a biography is beautifully written, what do we mean? The panel will explore this perennially elusive but fascinating question. Panelists will share favorite passages and discuss how they seek to achieve beauty in their own writing.
Panelists:
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Biography and Book Technology: Book Trailers
Some book trailers simply preview the content. Others create a cliffhanger. In addition to determining the best approach, you need to know what trailers cost and what to expect for your money. Before you say “Action!” get the lowdown from do-it-yourselfers and an L.A. book trailer producer.
Panelists:
- Joe Woodward, moderator
- Carl Rollyson
- Jennifer Phillips
- Chris Roth
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Agent Speed Dating
By appointment only
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