Scarecrow Video

Featured among a group of other writers, Kevin Sharp of Palo Alto, CA has his Top 10 Movies list on display at Seattle’s Scarecrow Video store — one of the largest remaining such stores in the country. As stated in its own press materials…

From its passionate founder George Latsios and former owners Carl Tostevin & Mickey McDonough… Scarecrow has existed with one vision: to bring people and film together. It began with a few hundred tapes in the back of a record store, and for more than 28 years its devoted caretakers have gradually accumulated the largest independently owned video and physical media library in the country, currently boasting over 130,000 titles. 

In this age of streaming content, most physical media video stores have closed down. Passionate film fans still support places like Scarecrow and others around the country; one big reason why is that titles come and go off streaming services, while a physical copy will always be available. In addition, video stores create a community of film fans among those behind the counter as well as the customers.

In 2014, Scarecrow's inventory became part of the Scarecrow Project, and the store reopened as a non-profit. Scarecrow also supports local film organizations and hosts  screenings.

Their new mission statement reads as follows:

Scarecrow Video is dedicated to championing the indispensable role of film arts in community, cultural, and civic life.   

Flash Fiction Forum

Writer Kevin Sharp of Palo Alto is a regular attendee and performer at the Flash Fiction Forum, a bi-monthly reading series held in San Jose, CA. FFF is the brainchild of local authors Tania Martin and Lita Kurth. According the site:

"The idea for the forum emerged out of a local writers workshop in San Jose, CA where members routinely read their work aloud. We noticed that although the South Bay has a wealth of poetry reading events, there was not a regular spoken word venue for fiction.  If up to now, you’ve only written and published, but never read in public, we encourage you to join us. This platform allows the writers to get an immediate response to their work. Join us and expose your fiction!"

Each forum presents a diverse lineup of writers, reading 500 word (or shorter) fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. In 2016, FFF partnered with the Los Gatos, CA Listowel Writers Festival for a "Lit Crawl" held at a series of coffee shops and bars.

The site of the forum is the WORKS Gallery in San Jose. Founded in 1977, the space is a non-profit art and performance venue with a regularly rotating series of exhibits. WORKS' mission statement reads as follows:

"Works/San José believes that thriving communities support artistic experimentation. Therefore, we serve as the South Bay community’s creative laboratory where people can experiment, exhibit and engage with art and with each other. We achieve our mission by providing an accessible, supportive and welcoming art center."

Readers interested in learning more about FFF can visit their website at flashfictionforum [dot] com.

The Don & Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting

Palo Alto writer Kevin Sharp was a previous runner-up in the Don & Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting. The Nicholls -- as they are called in the industry -- are considered the most prestigious screenwriting competition of the numerous ones that exist across the U.S. and the world. Aspiring writers are advised to consider both the prestige of a contest and past winners’ track records, before committing money for an entry fee. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS) has administered the fellowships since 1986; the program was born in 1985 as a collaboration between Gee Nicholl (widow of film producer Don Nicholl) and Julian Blaustein.

The Nicholls recognize up to five amateur screenwriters each year with a $35,000 prize for each. Over $4 million in total has been awarded since the program’s inception. All fellowship winners are expected to complete one new feature film screenplay during the following year; quarterly prize payments are made to assist writers with living expenses, giving them time and freedom to focus on their creative work.

Writers who have earned less than $25,000 profressionally are eligible to enter. Screenplays must be original works, written in English, between 70-160 pages. Scripts are read via multiple rounds of voting; each is read at least twice, while the further a script advances the more times it is read. The quarterfinal round is made up of approximately 5 percent of entries; the semifinal round is approximately 2 percent. Typically, 10-15 scripts reach the finals each year. As of 2017, over 7,000 total entries were received.

Past winners who have gone on to professional writing careers include Alison Anders, Jeffrey Eugenides, Susannah Grant, Karen Moncrieff, Michael A. Rich, Doug Atchison, and Deston Daniel Cretton.