Work one-on-one with an executive at mutually agreed upon times around your schedule. To start, you'll have a 15-minute strategy call with your executive to get the lay of the land for the month. Then, you’ll have email access to your executive throughout, plus four one-hour story notes sessions. Work on a single screenplay or multiple scripts plus get additional notes on your pitch, brand strategy, and career advice - work your mentorship to its fullest potential!
We all (myself included!) have to have a polished professional pitch up our sleeves, but when working with writers I prefer things to be very conversational. I'm not something you have to 'pitch to' outside of a structure pitch session, rather I'm interested in digging in on the story elements and really getting to the heart of things. I find this approach inevitably impacts the way a writer would pitch the project, anyway, so tends to organically lead us to an improved version of their presentational pitch.
My slate is overwhelmingly female-focused both in terms of material and practitioners and that's something I'd like to maintain but it's by no means at the exclusion of other material.
In terms of working with writers and assessing material, the gender bias of my own production slate is totally irrelevant. What I would say is that my strengths lie in emotional/elevated material so particularly when it comes to genre I'd be the most use on projects that are utilising genre to speak to/illuminate a broader issue (e.g. the recent Talk To Me as parable for drug abuse/addiction issues).
James Brown started his career in independent production and film criticism in his native Australia. He worked as a critic for the national Austereo Radio Network, directed documentary projects for ABC TV and Foxtel, and was awarded the Panorama Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival in 2004 for his drama short FUGUE.
After relocating to London, Brown worked in acquisitions at various independent UK distribution companies, holding Head of Acquisitions roles at companies including Tartan Films and Metrodome. During his time as a buyer, James established a reputation as a key foreign language buyer on the international distribution circuit, acquiring such breakout arthouse titles as I AM LOVE and THE SECRET IN THEIR EYES for both the UK and Australia/NZ. His work in acquisitions continues, most recently with his serving as Head of Content Partnerships for global VOD platform Eyelet.
In 2011 he produced his first feature, AGE OF HEROES starring Sean Bean. STILL ALICE, his second feature as a producer, was adapted from the bestselling novel by Lisa Genova and acquired by Sony Pictures Classics at the Toronto Film Festival 2014. STILL ALICE won its star Julianne Moore the SAG Award, Indie Spirit, Golden Globe, BAFTA and Oscar in 2015. In 2017 James produced and directed the family film YOU CAN TUTU which was acquired by Netflix for all English-language territories.
His short as writer/director, FAILURE TO THRIVE, premiered at the Austin Film Festival in 2018. He was selected for the Toronto Film Festival Director’s Lab the same year. His latest feature as producer, BEFORE YOU KNOW IT starring Judith Light, Mandy Patinkin and Alec Baldwin, premiered in Competition at Sundance 2019 and was released in the US by 1091 (previously THE ORCHARD).
Upcoming projects as a producer include an adaptation of another Lisa Genova novel titled INSIDE THE O'BRIENS and a feature film based on the life of famed Scottish percussionist Evelyn Glennie called MAKING NOISE.
Private Month Mentorship
Each month mentorship kicks off with a preliminary 15-min. call to set expectations and lay out strategy for the month. Writer will have email access to the executive plus 4x one-hour consultations with the exec. Exec will read up to 4 scripts in one month (different drafts of the same script or 4 different scripts) and conduct 4x one-hour story notes calls. Calls can also include feedback on your pitch, branding, or career strategy.
If you pay with the deposit/payment plan, your second half will be due the 2nd week of the Mentorship. If you need a different type of payment plan, email dorian@roadmapwriters.com.
**Please note feature screenplays are limited to 120 pages maximum. Please contact terra@roadmapwriters.com for pricing on a Month Mentorship on screenplays exceeding 120 pages.
What To Expect
After registering, you will receive an automatic Order Confirmation email. Then Roadmap's Director of Consultations, Terra Joy, will get your mentor looped in with you! If you do not hear from Terra or the exec within 3 days of registering, feel free to email terra@roadmapwriters.com for an update.
Before starting your Month Mentorship, please ensure you are familiar with our Code of Conduct.