1997 Virginia Film Festival

Press Release
For further information: Victoria Joyce (804) 361-1259

Screenwriters Frank Pierson and Richard Tuggle to lead The Regal Shot-by-Shot Film Workshops at '97 Virginia Film Festival

Charlottesville, Virginia:- The Virginia Film Festival (October 30 through November 2, 1997 in Charlottesville, Virginia) is pleased to announce that Academy-award winning screenwriter Frank Pierson ("Dog Day Afternoon", "Copycat", "Presumed Innocent") and 1970 University of Virginia graduate Richard Tuggle ("Tightrope", "Escape from Alcatraz") will lead The Regal Shot-by-Shot Film Workshops at this year's festival. Both workshops will be held at the Regal Downtown Mall in Charlottesville. Tickets are $6 per workshop, $5 to seniors (65 and older), children under twelve and students with I.D.

Pierson, a Virginia Film Festival favorite who is revered as a "screenwriter's screenwriter," will introduce his 1967 film Cool Hand Luke at 10 p.m. on Thursday, October 30 at the Regal Downtown Mall. He will then conduct a three-hour shot-by-shot analysis of the film on Sunday, November 2, at 10 a.m. Pierson's first two produced screenplays, Cat Ballou and Cool Hand Luke, were nominated for Academy awards, but it was his sixth film, Dog Day Afternoon, which landed the prize. In addition to screenwriting, Pierson has many impressive directorial credits, including "Truman" (1996 Emmy Award winner), King of the Gypsies, and the remake of A Star is Born. Pierson is a past president of the Writers Guild of America West, and received the 1990 Valentine Davies Award and the 1991 Screen Laurel Award from the Writers Guild of America.

Tuggle, who is making his debut as a participant in the Virginia Film Festival, will introduce two of his films on Friday, October 31: "Escape from Alcatraz" at 10 a.m. and "Tightrope" at 4 p.m. Both screenings will be in The Culbreth Theatre. Tuggle will conduct his workshop on "Tightrope" on Saturday, November 1 at 10 a.m. Like Pierson, Tuggle has added director to his list of credentials. After writing the screenplay for "Escape from Alcatraz" he went on to direct that film's star, Clint Eastwood, in "Tightrope" for which he also wrote the screenplay. He also directed Anthony Michael Hall in "Out of Bounds."

Further details, including how to order tickets by mail, are included in the 1997 Festival Guide. Guides are available in and around Charlottesville and via mail. For more information, or to be added to the mailing list, please call 1-800-UVA-FEST.