Classes
All labs, workshops and/or classes are designed to equip participants with the necessary tools to actually work in the film industry. There will be a revolving door between lab/workshop/class students and the current feature film project that is in the works at Subversive Films.
Screenwriting
Ongoing Screenwriting Intensive
A weekly workshop for writers at any stage of their careers to learn and put into practice the necessary tools to write a feature-length screenplay that can actually get made. Drawing from craft greats such as Linda Seger, David Howard, and Robert McKee, as well as from his own experience writing, producing, and selling feature-length screenplays, Matthew A. Brown will guide participants in the writing process from concept/idea through polished second draft of their full-length screenplays.
Phases will include story discovery, synopsis, sequence breakdown, treatment, step outline, first draft, rewrite, second draft, and polish. The primary focus is to create material that can actually get produced, material unique to the respective writer, material that the writer is driven to invest in for the entire journey, from idea through actively seeking to produce, or sell.
As such, the development of the story/screenplay will take into account the competitive nature and current state of the marketplace, including analysis of commercially successful independent films, to position participants in the strongest manner possible to actually get their scripts made and/or sold. Writers can enter the workshop at any phase in their own process, whether they have yet to discover the story they wish to tell, are in the midst of a rewrite, or already draft they are seeking to realize into a film.
Cost: $150/month
Time Commitment: Once per week for 2-3 hrs
Start Date/Time: Thursdays at 6:30pm
starting January 16th, 2025
​Place is limited.
Acting
Ongoing Acting Intensive for Teens + Adults ​
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An ongoing intensive weekly class in which actors will workshop scenes under the guidance and tutelage of experienced theater and screen actress, Winter Williams, and feature film director, Matthew A. Brown. Drawing from the Stanislavski-based method, Winter will focus on preparation for scene work and the necessary tools for actors to situate themselves fully in the present moment, while availing themselves to the imaginary circumstances of the scene. Matthew will bring an urgency to the scenes, working with actors as if on a live film shoot, preparing them for the demands of the set while granting insight into the director-actor relationship.
A core focus of the work will also involve honing in on each actor’s own idiosyncrasies, that which makes you unique, ensuring that when you walk into the room, you will not be forgotten.
*Actors at all levels are welcome, from beginning to working professional.
Cost: $150/month
Wint
Winter Session: January 15th - March 19th
Spring Session: April 2nd- May 28th.
Time Commitment: Once per week for 2-3 hrs
Start Date/Time: Adult class on Wednesdays, 6:30pm
starting January 15th, 2025
Teen class on Saturdays from 2-5pm
Starting January 18th, 2025
​Place is limited
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COMING SOON
Drama and storytelling for Teens (Ages 13 - 19)
THIS CLASS START IS TBD
Filmmaking
Feature Film Production Intensive
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A hands-on, learning-by-doing, 12-month intensive. Under the mentorship of acclaimed independent filmmaker Matthew A. Brown, participants will take on active producer roles in the creation of a feature-length narrative film, from concept development through to public release.
Unlike traditional film schools, this workshop provides the necessary tools to actually get a feature film off the ground, along with practical, real-world experience in every aspect of production.
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​CLICK BELOW FOR THE FULL PACKET OF INFORMATION
Winter Williams
Actress, Founder of In The Pines Studio
Winter (formally known as Ashley C. Williams) is an American film and theater actress known for her award winning, breakout performance in revenge thriller Julia, crime drama Albanian Gangster and the cult horror film The Human Centipede (First Sequence). Growing up in Charlottesville, Virginia, she was exposed to the growing art scene, and given the freedom to develop a passion for acting and the arts at the young age of 10.
After starring in several community theater shows as a young teen, including Annie, Anne Frank and The Grapes of Wrath, she attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, where she received the highest honor (The Charles Jehlenger Award) and a scholarship to join their Rep Company. After graduating AADA Rep with an advanced Associates degree in Acting, she frequented the off broadway stages of NYC, including The Ellen Stewart Theater and 59E59 Theater, playing lead roles in new and experimental plays.
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Before heading out to Hollywood with a couple breakout films, she co-founded Mind The Art Entertainment, a theater production company in NYC where she produced, co-wrote and acted in numerous off and off-off broadway productions, including in The Intl. Fringe Fest, with numerous positive accolades in the press. ​​
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Matthew A. Brown
Writer, Director, Producer
Matthew A. Brown’s feature film directorial debut, Julia, was released theatrically in the US in AMC cinemas in October 2015 after winning multiple awards at the world’s leading genre film festivals and selling to over forty international territories. His sophomore feature, Albanian Gangster, was released in theaters via AMC Independent in October 2020, and he is currently in post on his third feature, Illyrian Blood, a sequel to Albanian Gangster.
His next project, Killdeer, now in prep, is a crime drama series set against an oilfield boom and bust in the badlands of North Dakota’s Bakken oilfield. Prior to directing, he wrote and sold a number of feature film scripts, one of which, Leaving the Cape, was a 2008 semifinalist at the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting.
He has written and directed multiple short films, including Crush, which qualified for the 2012 Academy Awards. Prior to directing, he worked as an actor, playing lead roles in a number of successful American independent features, including God's Army (2000) and Brigham City (2021).
He has masters degrees in Screenwriting & Directing from the Binger Film Institute in Amsterdam and a BA in English Lit from UC Santa Barbara. As an actor, he trained at The Lee Strasberg Theater Institute, NY. Brown is currently completing his MFA in Creative Nonfiction at Carlow University.
Contact: Winter@InThePinesStudio.com for more information.