ABOUT THE AFW
Max Adams founded the online film writing/screenwriting school The Academy of Film Writing to offer classes and subjects to students and workshoppers studying screenwriting and filmmaking that other curriculums are missing. [She knows they are missing because she’s a competition judge and has seen what’s out there. Whoah.] The school is international. So are Max’s students. Though the bulk of the student body is located in the US and Canada, AFW has students and workshoppers in England, Belgium, Greece, Spain — we’re online, we don’t have international boundaries. Four of Max’s workshoppers have won Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting from The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences. [Max is Nicholl alum too.] Others have won prestigious seats in Sundance Labs, awards and accolades in film festivals and competitions too numerous list, and many of Max’s students and workshoppers are working professional writers in the industry.
ABOUT MAX ADAMS
Max Adams is an author and award winning screenwriter. She has written for Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures, Tri-Star Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Walt Disney Studios, Universal Pictures – and a couple others to remain unnamed because no one around here wants to get black listed. Max is a former volunteer AFI Alumni reader and WGAw online mentor, has appeared as a speaker at, among other places, AMPAS, USC, and Film Arts Foundation, is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at University of Utah and a former lecturer & instructor at New York Film Academy, is the author of The Screenwriter’s Survival Guide AND The New Screenwriter’s Survival Guide, is the founder of two international online screenwriting workshops, and has the dubious distinction of having been dubbed “Red Hot Adams” by Daily Variety for selling three pitches over a holiday weekend – which made her agents cry. [In a good way.] She answers now to both “Max” and “Red Hot” in crowds and dog parks.
ABOUT CRIS YEONG
Cris Yeong is Max’s partner in crime left hand. Cris has been an integral member of the 5150 & AFW clan since 2011. Cris is native to China and lives in Suzhou City with his wife Susan and their two children Joy and Qianyi. Cris is quiet, yet mighty. He provides integral support to AFW classes and the 5150 Workshop and without him, TheAFW – and Max – would collapse under the workload. Thanks, Cris.
Max has been working with the Eastside Youth Content Creators Program — a San Antonio program for high school students from San Antonio’s East Side — teaching students film writing and production skills. The program is the brainchild of District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and Alamo City Studios CEO Kerry Valderamma. The 2023 Summer program has birthed 10 student shorts written, produced, acted in, and directed by East Side students that will be playing at the EYCCP showcase in San Antonio on September 27th 2023. You are invited. Hit that!
NICHOLL FELLOWSHIP WINNERS FROM MAX WORKSHOPS
Patricia Burroughs — Nicholl Fellowship Winner 2001 — Redemption
Colleen Cooper DeMaio — Nicholl Fellowship Winner 2005 — Pirates of Lesser Providence
Lee Patterson — Nicholl Fellowhship Winner 2008 — Snatched
Vanar Jaddou — Niholl Fellowship Winner 2020 — Goodbye, Iraq
PRESS
THE EYCCP PROJECT
Max has been working with the Eastside Youth Content Creators Program — a San Antonio program for high school students from San Antonio's East Side — teaching students film writing and production skills. The program is the brainchild of District 2 Councilman Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and Alamo City Studios CEO Kerry Valderamma. The 2023 Summer program has birthed 10 student shorts written, produced, acted in, and directed by East Side students that will be playing at the EYCCP showcase in San Antonio on September 27th 2023. You are invited. Hit that!
Testimonials
CK LOVE
SCREENWRITER
I believe BLOOD IN THE BONE, my feature Femmenoir, would never have been selected by the Santa Barbara International Screenplay Awards if I didn't have the brains and support of the AFW screenwriting support group and wisdom of our fearless leader Max Adams.
Tonia Kempler
Writer/Director
Thank you. You have completely given me confidence and skills I didn’t have before. Couldn’t have done this without taking your classes.
Alvaro Rodriguez
Screenwriter
Max Adams is the kind of smart, engaging teacher that made me want to be a better writer — and she helped me do it.
Kerry Valderamma
Writer/Director
Max Adams is one of the most knowledgeable and talented people in screenwriting that I know, all writers need to hear what Max Adams has to say.
Debi Yazbeck
Writer/Director
You laid the foundation, Max. Best teacher ever!
Ana Maria Montoya
Screenwriter
If you want someone to challenge you to dive deep and pull the BEST out of yourself, Max is that whip-smart coach, teacher, and mentor.
Toni McGee Causey
Author
The brilliance of taking Max Adams’ classes is you start seeing improvement in your writing almost immediately.
Julie Howe
Author/Screenwriter
I’ve taken all of Max’s classes and quite simply, her focused methods and attention to detail blow every other screenwriting class out of the water.
Jennifer Mulligan
Screenwriter
Max Adams has been a keen mentor, champion and cheerleader. Her online classes have provided me with very specific and important screenwriting tools. My short script, Minerva’s War, was a 2014 Finalist at the Lady Filmmakers Film Festival in Beverly Hills as a direct result of learning and applying these techniques.
Tony Ferrendelli
Screenwriter
Max Adams has helped to completely transform the way I write scripts. Placement of several scripts in multiple competitions is a direct result of the skills I have developed through participation in Max’s classes and workshop.
Al Finocchio
Screenwriter
Max is as smart, tough, and entertaining as she sounds in her book. It’s hard to imagine a better mentor.
Patricia Burroughs
Author/Screenwriter
The input I got from Max Adams lifted my script, ‘Redemption,’ from a SemiFinalist to a Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting award winner.
Della Vance Greenawalt
Screenwriter
Max Adams’ classes are the best I have ever taken. In every class I have experienced a “light bulb” moment that raised my scripts to another level.
Gwenda Bond
Author/Screenwriter
Max’s workshop was a transformative experience for me as a young writer.
Nancy Bilyeau
Author/Screenwriter
I carried Max’s advice over to my fiction and have now sold & published five novels.
Joan Philo
Screenwriter
It’s so big what you are to screenwriting and what you give to others and how you collect and champion writers who do more than write, they produce. That’s huge in this business of writing and what sets you above the rest.
Peter Andrews
Screenwriter/Playwright
If you want to take the next step in your writing, Max makes the difference. She’s hands-on in classes that balance essential skills with insights you won’t get anywhere else.
Stacy Baker Masand
Screenwriter
You know that saying, ‘You don’t know what you don’t know?’ That was my experience before taking classes at The Academy of Film Writing. Hands down, my writing transformed more after taking Max’s courses than any other time period or curriculum.
Dan Goforth
Screenwriter
For a screenwriter, Max Adams’ 5150 Workshop is one of the best things you can do to improve yourself and your work. If you’re lucky enough to catch an open spot, TAKE IT!!!
Kristen McNaule
Writer/Director
AFW’s 5150 workshop has given an incredible boost to my writing, thanks to the guidance of Max Adams.