Award-winning director comes to Bloomington searching for writers

Attention all budding screenwriters: director Gary Wood is looking for writers to help with his latest projects, and he is coming to Bloomington Saturday. \nWood will be hosting a screenwriting workshop from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at The Buskirk-Chumley Theater. He will be speaking about his film as well as his experiences working for "Cinefantastique" in the early '90s. He had the opportunity to interview and gather tips from famous writers such as Stephen King, Larry Ferguson and Frank Darabont. \nIn a press release from the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, Wood explained that he always asked to interview the screenwriters when covering movie productions. \n"One--no one ever asks to speak to the writers so they are always interested in talking. And -- two -- I would talk to them about their movie, then I would pick their brains and learn as much from them as I could."\nParticipants will have a chance to pick Wood's brain at the workshop tomorrow. He said that he will show movie clips and have discussions on how to minimize dialogue and tell stories with visuals and sound. He encourages participants to bring scripts that they are currently working on to apply what they learn in the workshop directly to their pieces.\n"Of all the talent we have as a production company, we're most lacking good writers," Wood said in the press release. "We've got a lot in the works, and I could use some help."\nWood's first original film "Saving Star Wars" was nominated for Best screenplay at the London Science Film Festival, and his most recent, "OPEN MIC'rs," has sold out in IMAX Theaters in Indianapolis. He said he is working on a musical starring comedian Heywood Banks, a documentary about the life of George Harrison, an animated feature and the true story of the 1824 massacre at Fall Creek.\nAfter the workshop, at 8 p.m., Wood will be showing "OPEN MIC'rs," a film featuring "Caddyshack" star Cindy Morgan as a celebrity judge who helps the owner of a comedy club select an MC from a group of stand-up comedians. Tickets are $8. \nThe film has several well-known faces including Rupert from reality TV's "Survivor," Landon Lueck from MTV's "The Real World" and "Tonight Show" veteran Hank McGill.\nThe fee for the workshop is $27, and registration is not required.\nWood hopes to have a large crowd to hear his explanations of what he most values as a director.\n"Everyone has a different philosophy and different ways of writing," he said. "This is our way"