I’ve been a part of a screenwriters’ group for a long time now. We’ve held together far longer than most writers groups I know of – mainly because we also make a point of spending some social time together. We meet a couple of Saturday mornings a month, and after giving (or getting) notes on our scripts or treatments, we often go out to lunch together. There’s been some turn-over in the membership of the Forum, but there’s been a consistant core for a long time.
And then, sometimes we also go on a retreat or excursion together, or have a pot-luck barbeque.
At some point in the late 1990s (I don’t know the exact date, though I could probably figure it out eventually), we went down to the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park.
L to R: Front row: Derrick Warfel and Lee Batchler; Back row: Jack Gilbert, Janet Batchler, Cindy Ziegler Goodwin, Me, Kathy Perkins, and Greg Perkins
Arranging the car-pooling was a task, but we all got there in one piece.
I recently turned up this photo, as well as another one from a retreat we’d had, and it made me conscious of the fact that I hadn’t taken pictures of the group in recent years. So when the Forum had a barbeque this Memorial Day, I took my camera along to capture some photos.
L to R: Bill Marsilii, (screenwriter for Deja Vu), his wife Lauri (who is a talented artist), Lee Batchler (screenwriter with his wife on Batman Forever)
L to R: Andrea Nasfell (writer for Christmas with a Capital C) and Janet Batchler (Lee’s writing and life partner, and a teacher in USC’s film school)
Jack Gilbert (instructor for Act One and Azusa Pacific) with the Nasfell’s dog Naya. (Naya was very happy with the attention Jack lavished on her. She was disappointed in the rest of us for wanting to sit around and talk instead of play with her.)
Bob Massey (writer and musician).
L to R: Keith Putman (writer and director), his wife Kathy (a professor at Fuller Seminary), their son Jake.
L to R: Brady Nasfell (director and producer) and Keith Putman.
We had a great time, just sitting around and talking. And eating, of course: hot dogs and grilled salmon (really delicious, that), green salad, a chicken cassarole a la Marsilii, corn on the cop, plus chips and veggies, with cookies as dessert.
