Curriculum Vitae
MY OBJECTIVE
To continue exploring the possibilities of story. I have left the hustle and bustle of teaching screenwriting in the classroom at the Vancouver Film School and now reside full time on the Southern Gulf Island of Mayne, and I am excited to offer my story expertise on my own on-line platform, Rodger Cove Story Muse. Read on to learn more about my qualifications and experience.
PROFESSIONAL WORK EXPERIENCE
2001-2024
Senior Writing Instructor at the Vancouver Film School with a specialty in story structure, character development, workshopping, genre studies, and curriculum design. In addition to teaching in Vancouver, I have delivered lectures, seminars & workshops in Toronto, Victoria, Whistler, Seattle, Austin, Guanajuato, Puebla, Monterey, Mexico City, Bangkok, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Stockholm, and Gothenburg.On-going
Script analyst and freelance story editor.2004-2011
Sessional instructor: Creative Writing, Kwantlen Polytechnic University.1995
Invited into the PRAXIS STORY EDITOR PROGRAM under the mentorship of screenwriter John Hunter (The Grey Fox, Cold Squad, Dead Man’s Gun). Story edited two feature length screenplays, including Silence, by Hank Schacte.
Selected for the BRITISH COLUMBIA FILM PROFESSIONAL INTERNSHIP PROGRAM. Four months experience working in the story department of the television series Madison.
Taught a special screenwriting course at Matsqui Medium Security Correctional Institution.
1993-97
Script analyst for CBC Western Drama Development, British Columbia Film, Movie Central, Praxis Center for Screenwriting.1993-96
Screenwriting Instructor for White Rock Continuing Education’s Creative Writing Program.1993
Writer/dramaturge for THEATRE TERRIFIC, working with physically and mentally challenged actors to tell their personal stories through staged vignettes for the Vancouver Fringe Festival show _Flames in the Wind_. Also stage-managed and co-directed.1991-92
Editor of PRISM international, a literary magazine, est. 1959.EDUCATION
MFA – 1992 In Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia.
BA – 1989 In English Literature from Simon Fraser University.
ACADEMIC AWARDS
- University of British Columbia Graduate Fellowship.
- Twice won the Betty Lambert Memorial Prize - Simon Fraser English Department’s award for the “Best play written by an undergraduate.”
- Won the Simon Fraser University “Jane Austen Society Prize” for the paper “Focalization in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.”
- College Transfer Scholarship from Simon Fraser University.
CURRENT PROJECTS
Blood Moon - A feature film in development with Froghair Productions, written by VFS alumnus Ryan Northrop. Role: Creative Producer & story editor
The Family Gathering – a full length stage play in development.
The Hrothgar Jackson Project – a creative exploration of my singing/songwriting journey. Find out more at hrothgarjackson.com.
OTHER WRITING, PRODUCTIONS, PUBLICATIONS
- Eight feature length screenplays - four options sold.
- Short fiction - published in The Fiddlehead literary magazine.
- Stage Plays - staged at the Waterfront Theatre, The Dorothy Somerset Studio, and The Vancouver Fringe Festival
- Radio Plays, various commercial stations and the CBC
- Memories from the Passenger Side - A novel written with the financial assistance of a Canada Council Explorations Grant.
PROFESSIONAL AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS
The Patio, a short film, was an official selection in the Grand Junction Film Festival in Colorado and in the Downtown Short Film Festival in Manhattan, NYC with honourable mention in 2014. Involved in story and producing.
Hair of the Sasquatch, a full length mockumentary, was an official selection of the 2008 Calgary International Film Festival. Involved as writer, producer, and actor. It had an audience rating of 4.5 out of 5.
Won a Praxis Screenwriting Fellowship for the 2nd time with the feature length screenplay, The Big Shot, written with Dale Wolfe.
Awarded development financing from Movie Central and Canada Telefilm for Roadside, a feature length screenplay.
Semi-finalist in the Chesterfield Film Company Writer’s Film Project with feature length screenplay, A Mostly Civilized Business.
Semi-finalist in the AMPAS sponsored Nicholl Fellowships in Screen writing with the feature length screenplay, Hold’em. Program Co-ordinator Greg Beal noted that it was “amongst the top 30 overall,” out of 4,445 entries.
Winner of the CBC Write For Radio Competition with radio play It’s Gonna Be A Disaster. Aired on the CBC radio program Out Front.
Awarded development financing from Telefilm Canada for the feature length screenplay The Taxidermist.
Feature length screenplay Roadside is in final short list of 3 out of 57 entries in the 1995 British Columbia Film/Telefilm Canada Premiere competition.
Awarded a Canada Council Explorations Grant to write Memories from the Passenger Side, a 292-page novel.
Winner of a PRAXIS Centre for Screenwriters Fellowship for the feature length screenplay, Fair Game.
Finalist in the Canadian National Theatre Festival’s Playwriting Competition with Face Value.
REFERENCES
Maria Jacquemetton
Writer/Executive Producer
MADMEN (winner of Golden Globes for Best New Dramatic Series in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
Michael Baser
Writer/Showrunner/VFS Writing Department Head
Known for TV shows Three’s Company, Full House, and others.
Manu Chopra
Screenwriter, best known for Dr. Cabbie
Tathagata Ghosh
Acclaimed Indian Film writer/director