Novels, stories and books adapted into screenplays. Screenplay rewrites, ghostwriting and script doctoring.

The Hollywood Writers Studio was launched in 1992 as a division of Joda Productions, Inc.,

a Los Angeles based motion picture development and production company.

THE DIRECTORS

David Sheldon

David Sheldon, a busy writer-director-producer, most recently signed a contract for “Texas Hold ‘Em,” a screenplay he wrote with Joan McCall based on a story by Paul Rose, a Hollywood Writers Studio client. It is a Ninety Million Dollar budgeted motion picture planned for shooting in Dallas, Las Vegas and Monte Carlo with major stars. He has written, directed and/or produced twelve feature films of his own and has worked in various capacities on over 50 others. He produced, co-authored and directed "The Legend of Dark Mountain" which was screened at the Cannes Film Festival. He co-authored the screenplay "Predator: The Concert" which stars George Clooney, Charlie Sheen, Laura Dern, Louise Fletcher, Deborah Raffin and John Rhys-Davies. He wrote and produced "Secrets of a Small Town" for Twentieth Century-Fox Television.

David has been in business with most of the Hollywood studios. One of his first feature films, "Grizzly," which he wrote and produced, is one of the most financially successful independent films in motion picture history, earning 50 times its cost worldwide. He wrote, directed and/or produced "Lovely But Deadly," "Just Before Dawn," "The Guardian," "The Evil," "Day of the Animals," "The Manitou," "Sheba Baby," "Devil Times Five," and "Abby."

He started out in Hollywood as Director of Screenplay Development for Lawrence A. Gordon ("48 Hours," "Field Of Dreams," "Die Hard," etc.) at American International Pictures. He supervised various aspects of productions such as "Dillinger," "Sisters," "The Reincarnation of Peter Proud," "Futureworld," “Amityville Horror,” and "Walking Tall." He subsequently went into partnership with producer Phil Feldman (“Blue Thunder,” “The Toy,” “A Star is Born,” “The Getaway.”).

Sheldon earned an MFA degree in writing and directing at the Yale University School of Drama and has been a member of the Director's Unit of the Actors Studio in New York. During his college years and thereafter, he produced and directed over 100 Broadway plays and musicals at the Gateway Playhouse in Bellport, Long Island, owned by his family. He subsequently became director of the Columbia Pictures Talent Farm developing new writers and actors under the supervision of Columbia Pictures talent scout Joyce Selznick. His outstanding work has been acclaimed in Newsweek, Life Magazine, the New York Times and other publications.

Joan McCall

One of the most prolific writers in Hollywood, Joan McCall has written over fifty screenplays on assignment including “Texas Hold ‘Em” which she co-authored and has been planned for Production in Dallas. Her screenplays “Lipstick City,” “Miss Chatelaine” and “The Escort” also written at Hollywood Writers Studio are currently under option.

Her feature film, "Predator: The Concert," which she co-authored with David Sheldon, was filmed in Europe starring George Clooney, Charlie Sheen, Laura Dern, Deborah Raffin, Louise Fletcher and Deborah Foreman. Her first screenplay, "Shirley," about the racecar driver, Shirley Muldowney, was developed and produced as a successful motion picture under the title "Heart Like a Wheel."

In addition to her screenplay writing, Joan has written over 150 scripts for network television. She was a staff writer for NBC's "Santa Barbara," for New World Television, and has written many scripts and stories for " Days of Our Lives" (NBC). As a contract writer for "Another World" (CBS), Ms. McCall wrote two scripts a week. She was a continuing writer for "Capitol," and she wrote a bible (a six-month story projection) for "Search For Tomorrow" (CBS).

Joan McCall has also had a successful career as an actress. She has starred on Broadway in several hit plays by writers such as Neil Simon, Woody Allen and Evan Hunter, in a number of national tours of Broadway shows, and in several Hollywood motion pictures. Her first film was Devil Times Five in 1974, a starring role at the age of 18.

A native of Kentucky, Joan graduated from Berea College with a B.A. degree in art and theater. She trained for the theater in New York and studied with Lee Strasberg and Charles Conrad. A novelist as well as a screenwriter, she just completed two new books, "Maggie” and “When I Knew Al,” a biography of Al Pacino. A practitioner of metaphysics, she is the pastor of Creative Arts Center for Spiritual Living in Los Angeles. Speaking fluent French, she is a member of the French Circle in Los Angeles and has served as President of the prestigious Salon Francaise.

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