Friends Week | Story Summit

FRIENDS: THE ART AND SOUL OF COLLABORATION

February 15 - 19

Daytime Class:

2 p.m. - 4 p.m. Eastern (11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Pacific)

Evening Class:

9 p.m. - 11 p.m. Eastern (6 to 8 p.m. Pacific)

"If you want to become a writer, write. But if you want to have a successful career, learn how to collaborate."

—Tab Murphy, Academy-Award-nominated screenwriter for Gorillas in the Mist and Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame, Tarzan and Atlantis, the Lost Empire

There you are, sitting at home in front of your computer, thinking your script or novel is
just about you and the page. But what happens once your story feels complete or needs help? What lifts your words from the page onto a screen or bookstore shelves?

That’s when you’ve got to have friends. Relationships. Helpers. Collaborators.

Your ability to work with others in a vibrant creative team may be one of the most
important and overlooked elements of your writing career.

Whether you want to join a writers’ room, contribute on the movie set while your script is produced, or work with editors and designers to publish your book, this week-long course will give you the essential training you need to succeed as part of a team.

What better way to learn collaboration than through a course inspired by the classic show Friends?

The name says it all. Friends was not only about a tightly knit team of characters, it
was a model of creative collaboration, led by series co-creator and legendary producer
Marta F. Kauffman.

In this week-long course, you’ll have the extraordinary opportunity to learn from Marta
on Monday and Wednesday as she answers your questions, provides feedback on your
work and simulates writer’s rooms so you can practice collaboration in real time.

On Tuesday and Thursday, we’ll widen our circle of friends to discuss collaboration in
TV, film and publishing, featuring successful writing teams and professionals who collaborate with writers on a regular basis.

We’ll end the week with live readings (maybe of your work) by some of your favorite players from Friends. Hearing your words read and interpreted by professional actors is one of the most affirming and instructive experiences you can have as a writer.

Here's how the week will unfold:

Monday, February 15: Ask Me Anything: The Genius of Marta F. Kauffman: Come
with questions for a live Q&A with Marta. This is an unparalleled opportunity to hear how she created Friends and the hit series, Grace and Frankie—and learn what one of the most successful producers in TV history looks for when she puts together a team of writers. To make this class as real-world as possible, she’ll create breakout groups and give you assignments to work on with fellow participants. Sharpen your pen, because she’ll be back on Wednesday to hear your group present your work.

Tuesday, February 16: Collaboration Day: Writer’s School Co-Directors Amy Ferris and Debra Engle will join David Kirkpatrick, Story Summit Founder, to share their personal stories and best practices in a round table discussion about the soul of collaboration. How do you function within a team? How do you take a note, whether that be from an agent, producer, or publisher? How do you present yourself to a potential employer? How do you do this without appearing too aggressive or phony? How do you build relationships? What happens in a writers’ room? On an editorial team? On a movie set? Why does simple human decency matter? Why does friendship in professional collaboration matter?

Daytime: Expert story developer Paulo de Oliveira will join Collaboration Day for the daytime round table. Paulo is probably best known for birthing and developing everyone’s’ favorite hit series, Outlander.

Evening: For the evening class, Gary Lucchesi brings his depth of experience to the round table. Gary has experienced every form of collaboration as an agent for William Morris, as President of Production of Paramount Pictures, and as an award- winning producer of such films as Million Dollar Baby and Primal Fear.

Wednesday, February 17: Here in the Real World: Marta returns, this time to hear the logline and scene your team developed in response to her assignment, and to give you constructive feedback. The writers’ room may be simulated, but the exercise in collaboration is real.

Thursday, February 18: The Power of Partnership: What can you do as part of a team that you might not accomplish on your own? Is a collaborative relationship on certain projects right for you? Can you keep your unique identity AND hand over your creative ideas for the good of the whole?

In keeping with the humor to be found in this week of learning, inspiration, and encouragement, we promise you some laughter this Thursday, and collaborative tips inspired by actual scripts from some of the wittiest writers on earth.

Daytime: Get ready to be engaged in the life lessons from Bennett Yellen and Bobby Farrelly, long-time friends and collaborators on one of the most outrageous and iconic comedies of the 20th century, the box office sensation that made Jim Carrey a superstar, Dumb and Dumber.

Evening: Be prepared to hear from Jonathan Stark and Tracy Newman, the long-time writing duo who created According to Jim and won an Emmy for co-writing “The Puppy Episode” in 1997, in which Ellen DeGeneres’s character came out of the closet. What’s the reality of an enduring writing partnership?

Friday, February 19: Table Reads: On this final day of the course, Friends cast members will read scenes written by students from the Wednesday simulations of the writer’s room. Your scene may be one of them! The actors will discuss the unique synergy between actors and writers and how their collaboration can elevate everyone’s work. What a way to end the week!

The internet is alive with speculation as to whether there will ever be a Friends reunion, but at the Story Summit Writers' School, we are having a mini-Friends reunion all of our own, thanks to the help of Marta F. Kaufmann and Story Summit mentor and Friends alum, Jane Sibbett, who played Ross’s ex-wife, Carol Willick.

Daytime: Joining us for the daytime discussion and table reads are Jane Sibbett and Jessica Hecht, who portrayed lesbian couple Carol and Susan on Friends. The episode featuring their lesbian wedding was reported as the most watched single sitcom episode to that date. Rounding out the read will be Tim Bagley, one of the country’s foremost character actors, who plays Peter in Marta’s production of Grace and Frankie.

Evening: This might be called the “mini-reunion of the Friends Exes,” as we have three of them for the discussion and table reads. There’s Jane Sibbett, of course, who played Ross’s ex-wife on the show. There’s the versatile Tate Donovan, who played Rachel’s boyfriend, Joshua, in Season 4. And finally, there's the unique Maggie Wheeler, who played Chandler’s love interest, Janice. It will be a once-in-a-lifetime evening.

Marta F. Kauffman and Jane Fonda on the set of Grace and Frankie. Image Credit: Deadline

Your ability to collaborate is the difference between writing as a hobby and writing as a profession.

To be a successful collaborator in the real world of publishing and entertainment, you
need to ...

- Work with people who may not always support or agree with your ideas.

- Champion the ideas of others and parent them just as you would your own.
- Show up prepared and on time, with respect for your co-workers.
- Accept constructive feedback gracefully as a way to grow and improve.
- Recognize there’s a greater goal than simply seeing your name on the credits or
book cover.
- Work with integrity and honesty.
- Advocate for your ideas and be willing to see them shift and evolve for the good
of the whole.
- Communicate clearly.
- Project the most attractive aspects of your inner personality.
- Enjoy a sense of partnership and support.

Playing off one another’s talents, making a good idea even better, learning from those
who have come before—these are the hallmarks and joys of professional collaboration.

No writer who has had any degree of success has done it alone. Even Emily Dickinson
had her brother! There are cover designers, copy editors, line editors, marketing
executives, producers, punch-up writers with whom you’ll need to collaborate.

Marta F. Kauffman

Marta F. Kauffman is an Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning television writer, producer, and showrunner behind the hit series "Friends" and "Grace and Frankie." Kauffman got her big break alongside David Crane with their pilots "Dream On" (1990) and "The Powers That Be" (1992) before they co-created "Friends."

In 2015, Kauffman started her production company, Okay Goodnight, with industry veterans Robbie Tollin and Hannah KS Canter. Their first series, "Grace and Frankie," is Netflix’s longest-running original ever.

Jane Sibbett

Jane Sibbett is an actress, author, and a force for good.

Jane's most notable roles include Haddy Newman on the Fox television series "Herman's Head," and as Ross Geller's ex-wife, the groundbreaking role of Carol Willick in the NBC sitcom, "Friends."

Jane's play, "SHE'ISLAND," is co-written with a host of women for the Kahilu Theatre in Hawaii.

Jessica Hecht

Jessica Hecht is known for her role as Susan Bunch, the wife of Ross Geller’s ex-wife Carol on "Friends." She played Gretchen Schwartz on "Breaking Bad" and has appeared in numerous other television series and movies.

Her latest series, "Hudson Falls," will premiere this summer.

Jessica was nominated for an Emmy in 2019 for her role as Karen in the Netflix series "Special," and she received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress for her role in "A View from the Bridge" on Broadway.

Maggie Wheeler

Maggie Wheeler will forever be known and loved for her role as the nasal-voiced Janice, Chandler’s love interest on “Friends.”

“People like to hear me say,
‘You love me, Chandler Bing. You just don’t know you love me,’” she says.

Her TV credits also include roles on “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “Ellen,” Seinfeld,” “Will & Grace,” and “How I Met Your Mother.”

Maggie voiced all the female characters—namely the evil Melodia and the heroic Emily Hart/Steelheart—on the “Silverhawks” animated series. She’s also known for her work in “The Parent Trap” and “The Addams Family” movies.

Beyond her work as an actor, Maggie co-directs (and writes songs for) the Golden Bridge Choir, an intergenerational group in Los Angeles dedicated to building community through song.

Tate Donovan

Tate Donovan is a “Friends” alum, having played Joshua, Rachel’s love interest, in Season 4. His TV credits also include “Alternatino,” “MacGyver,” “Man in the High Castle,” “Masters of Sex,” “24,” “Damages,” and “The OC.” Recently, he shot two pilots: FOX’s “Blood Relative” with Melissa Leo and HBO Max’s “Verbatim.”

He has appeared in more than 45 films, including “Rocketman,” “The Upside,” “Manchester by the Sea,” “Argo” (SAG Award), “Good Night and Good Luck,” “Memphis Belle,” “Love Potion #9,” “Clean and Sober,” and the title voice in Disney’s “Hercules.”

His upcoming releases include Sony’s biopic of Aretha Franklin, “Respect,” and the Sundance film “Worth,” about the 911 compensation fund.

Tate won an Emmy for his direction of the documentary “Arthur and Johnnie,” about tennis great Arthur Ashe. He has directed episodes of “Madam Secretary,” “Bloodline,” “Damages,” “Glee,” “Hawaii Five-0,” “Weeds” and “The OC.”

Tate also has starred in Tony Award-winning productions with Judi Dench in “Amy’s
View” and Frances McDormand in “Good People.”

Tim Bagley

Tim Bagley currently plays the role of Peter on Marta F. Kauffman’s “Grace and Frankie,” and he has recurring roles in “Call Me Kat” and “The Great North.”

A native Midwesterner, Tim moved to southern California after high school to perform with the singing group The Young Americans, while majoring in Art with a minor in Psychology at California State University Fullerton.

After college, he worked as a butler at the Playboy Mansion, a Mitzi Gaynor dancer, a page at Paramount Studios, and a reader at a court reporting college.

Tim began his career writing and performing with The Groundlings Main Stage
Company from 1990 to1995, and he has been seen in more than 170 films and television shows since.

One of the country’s foremost character actors, his credits include “Will & Grace,” “Teachers,” “Monk,” “This Is 40,” “Knocked Up,” “Employee of the Month” and “The
Day After Tomorrow.”

Jonathan Stark

Jonathan Stark began writing for television in 1991, penning episodes for “Cheers,” “The Nanny,” “Drew Carey” and “Ellen,” for which he won an Emmy and a George Foster Peabody Award for “The Puppy Episode.”

He and writing partner Tracy Newman created the ABC sitcom “According to Jim,” which ran for eight years and 183 episodes.

He is an alumnus of the Los Angeles improvisation troupe The Groundlings and can be seen performing at numerous improvisation theaters around the Los Angeles area.

Tracy Newman

Tracy Newman is a retired TV writer/producer. In 1997, she and her writing partner, John Stark, won an Emmy and a Peabody Award for co-writing the ground-breaking “coming out” episode of "Ellen."

In 2001 they co-created the ABC sitcom "According to Jim." They started their writing careers on "Cheers."

David Kirkpatrick

Former President of Paramount Pictures and the Production President of Walt Disney Studios, David has worked on more than 200 motion pictures, including such global franchises as "Indiana Jones," and "Star Trek."

Debra Engle

Deb has been a storyteller all her life. She is the #1 bestselling author of "The Only Little Prayer You Need," featuring a foreword by the Dalai Lama. In addition, she’s written three other books of nonfiction and a novel, "Twenty.

Deb is a two-time winner of the Nautilus Award, honoring better books for a better world. Deb holds an MFA in Creative Nonfiction and has worked as a book and magazine editor, publisher and mentor for writers worldwide.

Amy Ferris

Amy is an author, screenwriter and television writer, journalist and editor.

Her adaptation of the movie "Funny Valentines" (Directed by Julie Dash, "Daughters of the Dust") was nominated for a Best Screenplay award (BET). Her memoir, "Marrying George Clooney: Confessions from a Midlife Crisis," was adapted into an off-Broadway play in 2012.

She has contributed essays to numerous anthologies. Amy curated and edited the collection "Shades of Blue" and co-edited the anthology "Dancing at the Shame Prom." She created the monthly column "The Ovary Office" in collaboration with Women's eNews highlighting and illuminating women in politics.

She serves on the Advisory Board of The Women’s Media Center and is on Faculty at Kauai Writers Conference. In 2015, she co-founded The Milford Readers & Writers Festival along with Sean Strub, Robert Levine and Suzanne Braun Levine. In 2018 Amy was honored by Women's eNews as one of its 21 Leaders for the 21st Century for her activism, her passion and her commitment to women's voices.

Bobby Farrelly

Bobby Farrelly is an American film director, screenwriter and producer. He and his brother Peter are known for writing, directing and producing quirky comedy films such as "Dumb and Dumber," "Kingpin," "Shallow Hal," "Me, Myself and Irene," "There's Something About Mary," "The Heartbreak Kid," "Stuck on You," "The Three Stooges and Dumb and Dumber To."

Gary Lucchesi

Gary Lucchesi serves as Partner/Producer of the independent film company Revelations Entertainment, as well as President Emeritus of the Producer’s Guild of America.

Throughout his career, Lucchesi has produced more than 60 feature films. The first was "Primal Fear," which was soon followed by notable hits including "Million Dollar Baby," the Oscar winner for Best Picture of 2004; "Lincoln Lawyer" with Matthew McConaughey and Marisa Tomei; and the "Underworld" franchise with Kate Beckinsale, of which he made four sequels.

In the last few years he produced "The Age of Adaline," "The Boy," and "Peppermint."

Other credits include box office smash "The Exorcism of Emily Rose;" "The Gift," starring Cate Blanchett, Katie Holmes, Greg Kinnear, Hilary Swank and Giovanni Ribisi; and adaptations of three Philip Roth novels – "The Human Stain," "Elegy," and 2016’s "American Pastoral."

Prior to becoming an independent producer, Lucchesi was President of Production at Paramount, where he oversaw such films as "Ghost," "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," "Fatal Attraction," "The Hunt for Red October," "Coming to America," "The Naked Gun," "The Godfather: Part III," "Star Trek," "Black Rain" and "The Untouchables."

He also worked at TriStar Pictures for four years as both Vice President and Senior Vice President of Production. Lucchesi began his career in Los Angeles as an agent for the William Morris Agency.

Bennett Yellin

Bennett Yellin has spent more than three decades as a writer for film and television.

Over the course of his career, he has successfully collaborated with several writing partners — most famously Peter and Bobby Farrelly on the comedy classic "Dumb and Dumber," as well as its official sequel, "Dumb and Dumber To."

Paulo de Oliveira

Paulo de Oliveira has had a 25+ year career as a television programming executive and producer, working at media companies including HBO, Disney and NBC Universal and on shows such as "Outlander," "Monk," "Psych," "Battlestar Galactica" and "Eureka."

Paulo was instrumental in birthing and developing the "Outlander" TV series based
on Diana Gabaldon’s best-selling books. He helped sell the show to Sony TV and then Starz with showrunner Ron D. Moore, whom he worked with on "Battlestar Galactica."

The show was initially picked up for a straight-to-series, first season 16-episode order, for which he was Co-Executive Producer, and has received multiple renewals and global awards.

Currently he is a non-exclusive Executive Producer for the leading Canadian production company Omnifilm Entertainment. He was most recently Executive Producer of their female empowerment mystery series "The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco," produced for Britbox, ITV and Netflix.

At Omnifilm he has brought in and is developing high-profile projects including "Haunts" from creator/showrunner John Rogers (Leverage, Librarians) and "The Henson Company," a significant part of which will be financed through foreign partners; and "The Scopes Trial," based on the Pulitzer-Prize-winning book "Summer For The Gods," about the infamous “Monkey Trial” pitting creationism against evolution, with John Romano ("The Lincoln Lawyer") attached to write.

Previous to that he spent a decade at Universal Television and NBC Universal, where he was ultimately Senior Vice-President, Cable Programming. There he developed and supervised cable TV series for USA Network and SyFy Channel, including USA’s hit shows "Monk" and "Psych," as well as SyFy’s breakout series "Eureka" and "Battlestar Galactica."

He was also the on-set creative producer of the first season of "Eureka" and an on-set producer on the pilot of "Psych."

Choose either our daytime or evening course.

We offer two different schedules to fit your calendar and routine.

Faculty

DAYTIME CLASS

2 to 4 p.m. Eastern (11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Pacific)

EVENING CLASS

9 to 11 p.m. Eastern (6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Pacific)

Please note: The classes are designed specifically for live participation, so your
attendance is important. If you need to miss a class for any reason, though, you’ll receive
a passcode-protected link to watch the recordings after the course is over.