I know of another in LA headed by Robin Rowe. It's called ScreenplayLab (www.screenplaylab.com) and they do table reads of upbeat comedies, have weekly mixers.

I'm in a smaller group in NYC. It's headed by a recent Sundance Lab winner Steven Arvanites. For NYers it's a great thing. He has speakers like Marilyn Horowitz, and several NYU professors.

www.nycscreenwriter.org

In Raleigh there is Screenline, kept alive by Mike Everette lo these many, many years.

Ashamedly, I confess to attending only once -- my loss.

Keep Writing!

Thanks for the shout out, Scott!

The Scriptwriters Network events actually allow you to meet all of those great speakers. The events have a very personal feeling to them.

I'm glad to be a part of such a great group. :)

Susan Bridges
Managing Editor, Newsletter
The Scriptwriters Network

I'd love to hear about any groups in the Chicago area - Northwest Suburbs.

@Mike J. Hultquist: Just did a quick Google search. There's Story Studio Chicago - although not a writers group, they would likely know of one. And The Neighborhood Writing Alliance - that seems like a good bet.

The Seattle area has quite a bit of screenwriting activity. The local Northwest Screenwriters Guild holds monthly meetings, and has speakers--writers, producers, agents, etc.--from LA and elsewhere who also regularly hear pitches.

See www.nwsg.org

Opinions on whether joining the screenwriters network is worth joining for people who don't live in LA? What benefits are there for out of town writers?

I had long experience of a writers group - Filthy McFaddens 6 of 6's ruled!

It was a mix of depraved and down right deviant minds comprising of authors, comedians, journalists, a screen writer and play write or two. For 10 years it was beautiful. Now I have lost 7 of the original group to new jobs, life and geographic moves. While we all keep in contact through email (with Skype) it just doesn't cut the chops being in a physical pub drinking Guinness beer (don't try this at home boys and girls), fighting over pitches, story ideas or jokes. The diversity also made the cauldron work its magic. The differences in personal reality, between participants, created a diverse slate of opinion to actually help get stuff of the ground.

@James - If you're not able to attend the SWN events due to distance, there are other benefits.

For one, you get the newsletter, as well as access to all past versions of it through the web site. The newsletter contains coverage of some of our more popular network events, and many contributors include contact information so that you can e-mail them and ask them questions yourself.

You also get to access podcasts of some of the speakers through the web site.

But if you're wanting to save a buck, just check the web site regularly for the newest newsletter, which is always free. :)

Susan