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!
Always begin with the elevator pitch. Distill the project into a couple sentences and then break it out further. The world, the characters, the POV that makes it unique. And why are YOU the best writer to tell this story?
Queer authors writing film/tv/theatre and books (fiction and non-fiction). Untold stories from history, particularly from voices we don't get to hear very often. Stories that have the potential to serve as an ongoing series with long story engines.
Sports / Multi-cam / Faith-based / Action
International producer John-Paul Sarni most recently served as EVP, Head of International Content + IP Acquisitions at Stampede Ventures. In that post, he curated and looked after a development slate including a first-look deal with CBS Studios’ international division, a joint venture with Australia’s KOJO Studios (THE ALLIANCE), and projects across 15+ countries. He served as Executive Producer on the comedy series, GOLD DIGGERS for Australia’s ABC/CBS Studios (AACTA Nominee for Best Comedy Series), and THE DARKNESS for Iceland’s Síminn/CBS Studios from director Lasse Hallström.
He began in development at HBO Films before moving on to aid+abet as an executive working on such films as PARIAH (Sundance 2011) and UNA NOCHE (Berlinale 2012). As VP of Development & Literary Acquisitions at Sonar Entertainment, he oversaw an extensive slate of series, miniseries and feature films produced and acquired for the international market.
At Laurence Fishburne’s Cinema Gypsy Productions he served as Head of Development and Current, developing new properties for the company, including their award-winning ABC series, BLACK-ISH as well as Emmy winner, SNOWY DAY for Amazon.
He hosts the podcast PAGE & SCREEN WITH JOHN-PAUL SARNI (now in its 3rd season) in which he talks with authors, actors, historians and journalists.
Originally from Andover, Massachusetts, he lives between Italy and California. He is a member of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
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.
Cancellation Policy: You may cancel your registration for a refund or Roadmap gift card if you have not yet submitted your material for review. However, once your material has been received, your registration cannot be canceled. Having revised material or a desire to retroactively apply a discount or gift card code are not grounds for cancellation, refunds, or gift card credit. Once your material has been submitted, the only acceptable grounds for cancellation and a refund or gift card credit is an unforeseen, ongoing emergency on the part of either the writer or the exec resulting in more than 6 weeks without any scheduling update from the exec via direct contact or Roadmap, or a sudden change in the exec's ongoing availability. In the instance of an irreconcilable scheduling issue, the writer may still receive a written feedback report from the exec. In this case, the writer is not entitled to a refund or gift card credit as the exec has read the submitted material and provided written feedback in lieu of the call.