Artlightenment 2014 to Showcase Screenwriter Annie Kananack

The annual Artlightenment festival coming in November to the Church of Scientology & Celebrity Centre Nashville will feature a workshop by  screenwriter Annie Kananack.

Annie Kananack has been screenwriting since 1991 and says, “I am most alive and fulfilled when I’m writing.” Kananack has been selected as a featured artist for the 2014 Artlightenment film festival and art show. She will be delivering a workshop titled “From Screenplay to Big Screen,” on Saturday, Nov 15.

Artlightenment is an art show and film festival that has occurred each year since 2009. It takes place at the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre Nashville with the mission to uplift artists, and thereby elevate the culture.

Corinne Sullivan, president of the church, says, “Annie is the perfect role model for aspiring screenwriters, and Artlightenment is lucky to have her delivering this workshop.”

Kananack has participated in several screenwriting competitions throughout the years, including the Academy Nicholl Fellowship where she was a semi-finalist in 2000, the Page International Screenwriting Awards, where she became a Quarter-finalist in 2014, the Austin Film Festival Screenwriting Competition where she received an Honorable Mention in 2002, the Script Pipeline Competition in 2014 and the Nashville Film Festival Screenplay Competition where she became a semi-finalist in 2014.

Kananack’s screenplay X-Box Kid was optioned by Happy Madison Studios in 2011, and her screenplay Broken Time, optioned by Broken Time Productions (which changed its name after optioning her screenplay and took on Kananack as a producer), is now in pre-production.

Kananack says her influence comes from the films of the 30s and 40s which are very character driven. She says, “Films like ‘My Man Godfrey’, ‘The Philadelphia Story’, ‘Sabrina’ and so on are about people and their relationships, and for the most part, they were lighter.”  

Kananack wants Nashville to become the community known for character-driven screenplays. She wants the films coming out of Nashville to be as much of a brand on the city as music.

Kananack’s seminar “From Screenplay to Big Screen” will be at 4pm on Sat, Nov 15 in the community room of the Church of Scientology and Celebrity Centre Nashville. For more information about the Artlightenment festival, visit artlightenment.com.