Karl Iglesias


This writer is a
member of the
Alameda
Writers Group

 


THE OFFICIAL BLURB
Karl Iglesias is a screenwriter and sought-after script doctor and consultant, specializing in the reader’s emotional response to the written page.  He is the best-selling author of Writing For Emotional Impact: Advanced dramatic techniques to attract, engage, and fascinate the reader from beginning to end and The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters.

He teaches at the prestigious UCLA Extension’s Writer’s Program, online at Writers University, and has presented highly acclaimed workshops at the Screenwriting Expo, The Great American Pitchfest, Sherwood Oaks College, and various writers groups around the country. Karl is also a regular columnist on the craft for Creative Screenwriting Magazine.

MY STORY SO FAR
I was born in New York City but spent most of my life in Europe, mainly France, before moving to the United States. The constant traveling was due to my parents’ profession—they were flamenco dancers. I remember spending a lot of time by myself in libraries and bookstores, feeding my mind with stories while my parents rehearsed. Maybe that’s where I picked up my love for words and storytelling.

Once we settled in the United States, I led a somewhat "normal" life. I attended Cornell University, where I earned a B.A. in Psychology, but it wasn’t until much later that I “discovered” writing as my passion, and made a commitment to follow my bliss. After completing a year of service as a literacy leader in the Americorps program, I became a story analyst for actor-producer Edward James Olmos, and later a development executive for an independent production company.

I’ve been a writer for ten years now with various degrees of success—an option here, a couple of contest finalists and winners there, an indie development deal—and of course, my published book, The 101 Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters, which ignited my unplanned teaching and consulting career.

HOW I’M KEEPING BUSY

    • Promoting my second book, Writing For Emotional Impact, which came out October 2005.
    • Teaching two 10-week classes every quarter at UCLA Extension: Writing for Emotional Impact (Online) and Crafting Dialogue (On campus)
    • Teaching two online 4-week classes every couple of months at Writers University: Crafting Dialogue, and Mastering the Essential Habits of Highly Successful Screenwriters
    • Script consulting
    • Writing a regular column on the craft for Creative Screenwriting magazine
    • Guest-speaking at various conferences, like Screenwriting Expo, the Great American Pitchfest, and the upcoming SIGGRAPH in Boston and FTX West Film and TV Expo in Vancouver.
    • Juggling rewriting duties for other writers and directors when the work comes my way, (my last paid project for director Juan-Luis Bunuel, America Reconquered, is still in pre-production hell in Paris). And I’m trying to write my own scripts, having about ten projects in various stages of development (if only I had more time…yes, folks, most writers say, “But what I really want to do is direct.” I always say, “Forget all of the above; all I want to do is write.”
    • And of course, every month, I moderate the AWG Brainstorming SIG.

CONTACT
I can be reached through my website, or you can come up to me and chat at the AWG General Meetings the 1st Saturday of every month.