The Flash Forward Institute was founded by Heidi Wall and Suzanne Lyons and is based in Los Angeles. Combining over 30 years of industry experience, Wall and Lyons work together to nurture enterprising talent in every aspect of the entertainment industry. They promote creativity through new, innovative ways of thinking, acting and communicating, using questions - not answers - to break through to new ground.
The Institute was developed through an inspired relationship between its cofounders. Wall had been training small groups of writers, producers, and directors around her dining room table, but as her producing career expanded (with credits such as The Bachelor's Baby [CBS], Dancing in the Dark [Lifetime], and Books of Love [CBS]), she had less and less time to devote to it. She was at the point of abandoning her teaching when she met Lyons, a Canadian network executive newly arrived in Hollywood to start her own production company. Lyons had heard all about Wall from a woman writer who optioned three scripts under Wall's tutelage. Lyons convinced Wall to give one more class, this time in a lecture hall. Instead of the ten to 15 enrollees Wall was used to, 120 people signed up, and the rest, as they say, is history. The Institute is committed to producing leaders who make a difference in and outside of Hollywood, in the quality of our lives.
Over the years, the Flash Forward Institute has held its renowned workshop across North America. Participants come from all walks of life, including actors, writers, producers, composers, directors, agents, lawyers, and executives. Wall and Lyons provide the inside information on creating "heat" around you, getting an agent, networking effectively, raising financing and closing the deal. By joining a workshop, attendees immediately have access to hundreds of industry insiders, obtain a personal mentor, and meet with top-ranking industry professionals in a roundtable session.
Special guests from the entertainment world who have attended the Los Angeles sessions include: Sharon Byrens, VP Showtime; Peter Green, Creative Executive, Hollywood Pictures; Debra Hill, producer; Joan Hyler, president, WIF; J. J. Jamieson, Director of TV Movies and Miniseries, NBC; Tim McNeal, Director of Comedy Development and Current Programming, Warner Bros. Network; Donna Mills, actress / producer. In Vancouver in 1998, the industry experts included William B. Davis, Actor (The X-Files), Owner, William Davis Centre for Actors' Study; Stuart Aikens, Casting Director, Stuart Aikens Casting Inc.; Grant Rosenberg, Executive Producer, Poltergeist; Lisa Purdy, Program Development Officer, CBC British Columbia; and Chris Carter, Creator/Executive Producer, The X-Files, Millennium. Some amazing people have agreed to be mentors including Dawn Steel, Norman Jewison, Bill Gross of William Morris, and Janet Yang of Oliver Stone's company.
The workshop begins with two intensive sessions on a weekend, followed by meetings in subsequent weeks with a team committed to the success of each of its members. The majority of participants have enjoyed phenomenal success. In Wall's first workshop of 12 people, 75% had sold a project within six weeks, had a script, treatment, or book optioned. Flash Forward brings forth integrity, excitement, generosity, leadership and vision, nourishing dreams and creating ways to turn them into reality.
For more information on the workshop in Vancouver, please contact:
Women in Film and Video Vancouver,
1431 Howe Street,
Vancouver, BC,
V6Z 1R9 Ph: (604) 685-1152
Fax: (604) 685-1124
wifvv@idmail.com
