Workshop by Kirk Kjeldsen
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29. 01. 2019. Department
Direction

Kirk Kjeldsen, a screenwriter and lecturer from VCUarts Cinema Program Virginia University ran again a screenwriting workshop at our School.

A five-day-long screenwriting workshop (21-25 of January) organized by our Directing Department was opened for the students.
They together analyzed a feature film "In the company of men" directed by Neil LeBute and starring Aaron Eckhart, Matt Malloy, and Stacy Edwards.

"In the Company of Men" is a 1997 Canadian/American black comedy which was adapted from a play written by LaBute and served as his feature film debut, won him the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay. The film revolves around two male coworkers, Chad and Howard, who, angry and frustrated with women in general, plot to toy maliciously with the emotions of a deaf female subordinate. It was first written as a play, which debuted at Brigham Young University in December 1992, and received a 1993 Drama AML Award from the Association for Mormon Letters.

Kirk Kjeldsen received an MFA from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts, where he was a student of Frank Daniel, and he has been an assistant professor in the cinema program since 2010. During this time, he has also taught classes and workshops at the Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin (dffb), Fudan University in Shanghai, China, and the Polish National Film School in Łódź. He was a finalist or semi-finalist in a number of screenwriting fellowships and competitions, including The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, and he has developed and sold material to both Hollywood and independent producers. During his studies at USC, Kjeldsen was a development assistant at The Sundance Institute, and he has produced more than twenty short films shot on 35mm. His first novel, Tomorrow City, was named one of the ten best books of 2013 by The New Jersey Star-Ledger; his second novel, Land of Hidden Fires, was published in 2017. He also wrote and produced the 35mm feature film Gavagai, which was shot in Norway and was directed by VCUarts Cinema Program Director Rob Tregenza.