What we’re about
QUICK & DIRTY SUMMARY
Short, focused workshops, online via Zoom. For free. Considering running a year-long, intensive writing program in the future. Tailored towards working adults and first-time writers, run by me, a former high school teacher and wrestling coach, now working as a professional writer, with my next movie going into production this year.
WHY BARF CAMP
‘Barf Camp’ sounds terrible, I know, but for context, it stems from my early days as a high school wrestling coach. We’d hold tryouts every year, and as long as you attended all five days, you made the team. Regardless of whether you had any actual athletic ability or not.
But it wasn’t easy, hence the term, ‘Barf Camp’.
Present day, as a screenwriting instructor, I feel like the adage still applies. Just show up. Put in the work. Try to get better every day. No judgment. Do this long enough and you’re bound to get some traction. Maybe you get some positive feedback on your work. Place in a contest. Get a producer or manager to read your material.
Or heavens forbid, maybe even get something made.
I listed my bio below, but I didn’t go to film school, I didn’t have any connections, didn’t live in Los Angeles and I didn’t start writing until much later in life. I was a dad in the suburbs, with a regular 9-5 job and no clue as to what I was doing. I was just good at being terrible, if that makes any sense. But I continued to show up and put the work in. It was as simple as that.
WHY THIS MEETUP GROUP
Outside of my writing and teaching commitments, I’ve been wanting to do something like this for a while now, to grow a widespread online community that supports new writers and working adults, which is exactly where I started. My students at Chapman and Georgia have been amazing, but I’ve always had a soft spot for all of us out there, the non-traditional screenwriters, trudging our way through life, but still holding on to some distant dream of seeing our words and our stories realized on the big screen.
I don’t know everything and I’m certainly no guru, but I feel like I’ve worked with enough students and first-time writers to say that I’ve made a positive impact in their writing career. As a former biology teacher and wrestling coach, I enjoyed the meaningful aspects of the job and it’s no different now, except I’m focused on teaching character and structure and theme, instead of double-leg takedowns. I also feel like I’ve reached enough significant milestones in my own writing career, where I can reasonably guide students in the right direction. And I was exactly where you are, right now.
For starters, I’d like to offer short, focused workshops, online via Zoom. For free. At some point, I’m considering running a year-long, intensive writing program, 7-8 students max. That would be a paid course, but for now, it’s the workshops.
Maybe we’ll see each other there and if you have any questions, I’d love to hear from you. Until then, keep on putting the work in. Some of those kids who barely made the team, who everyone doubted, they became champions… so can you.
BIO
Matt Deller’s a screenwriter, Dungeons & Dragons nerd, video-game designer and drummer for an 80's cover band. In a previous life, he was an Assistant Principal and Chaos Wrangler for a High School of 4,000 kids, where his experience as the captain of a Division I collegiate wrestling team occasionally came in handy. His first professional writing endeavor was for Obsidian Entertainment’s Neverwinter Nights 2, followed by his first feature film Manhattan Undying, starring Yellowstone’s Luke Grimes, released by Paramount Pictures.
Since then, Matt has worked with Danny McBride’s Rough House Pictures, the Traveling Picture Show Company, Joel David Moore’s Balcony 9 Productions, Malcolm Lee’s Blackmaled Productions and Nick and Joe Manganiello’s 3:59 Inc. He’s also served as an Adjunct Professor in screenwriting for both Chapman University and the University of Georgia.
Currently, Matt is writing and producing the adaptation of Keith C. Blackmore’s best-selling novel, Mountain Man, along with finishing his first literary fiction novel, titled 5150 4 U.
