Writing for film is a specialized art that many writers hope to learn. This month, the FWA Ponte Vedra Writers group hosts an award-winning filmmaker and screenwriter to guide area writers through the full process of crafting a screenplay. Franklin Ritch will present “Writing for Film,” at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 14, at the Ponte Vedra Beach Branch Library.
In his workshop, Ritch will take writers from the conception of an idea to the execution on paper. He’ll focus on theme, structure and pacing, while discussing the broad spectrum of storytelling.
Ritch is an independent filmmaker on the rise — writing, directing and editing with a passion for unique ideas and sharp storytelling. Collaborating with Emmy-winning cinematographer, Britt McTammany, Ritch’s early short, “Bedridden” (Fantastic Fest, 2018), kicked off a marathon of short film productions that included “Still Life” (Sleeping Giant Fest 2019), “Powerful” (SERFF 2019), “The 27 Deaths” (Fantastic Fest 2021) and many more.
In 2018, Ritch was awarded the Rising Star Award by the mayor of his hometown, Jacksonville. In 2022, Ritch premiered his debut feature film, “The Artifice Girl,” starring sci-fi legend Lance Henriksen, to a packed theater at Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, where the film won the Golden Audience Award and later took top prize at its European premiere in Trieste, Italy.
Ritch has been named one of the “25 New Faces of Independent Film” by Filmmaker Magazine.
The Ponte Vedra Writers group is part of the Florida Writers Association, a statewide membership organization dedicated to the support of both aspiring and published writers in any genre. The Jan. 14 meeting is free and open to members and nonmembers alike.
For information on FWA, go to floridawriters.org.
