Stouffer, 62, a widower since 1985, has two children, Blair Sean Stouffer, 35, and Shannon Glenn Stouffer, 31.

He's written and directed industrial and theatrical films, including a Cine Golden Eagle Award-winning documentary, WHERE DO THE CHILDREN PLAY? The piece, done for the National Association for Retarded Citizens, was "a labor of love. An honor to do. And one of the real moments of my career," Stouffer said.

His screenplay A MESSAGE FOR MARTINEZ, an action piece in 1986 Nicaragua, earned a spot in the Top 10 in the Year 2000 National Screenwriting Competition.

Stouffer sold two screenplays, THE KILLINGS AT EL DIABLO and SANDS OF ECSTASY - which was produced - and he directed the movie HORROR HIGH.

The Santa Fe Screenwriting Conference 2001 will be in Santa Fe, New Mexico, May 25-28.

The "full-ticket" cost for the conference is $565 plus tax, not including lodging and meals. The March 25 Producers Seminar is an additional $90, and an Academy Class is another $100. Group rates are available.

******************************************************************

IF YOU HAVE ANOTHER JOB BESIDES SCREENWRITING, WHAT IS IT?

Co-Executive Director of the Santa Fe Screenwriting Conference. Astoundingly, this is a full-time job. It's amazing that it takes a whole year to put on a four-day event. I never thought it would. But it does.

And I don't mind it, because the Conference is an overwhelming success, and to me, it is doing something important with my life.

WHAT DID YOU STUDY IN COLLEGE? DID YOU GO TO FILM SCHOOL?

I was an English major. I did not go to film school.

HOW DID YOU HAPPEN TO BECOME THE CO-FOUNDER AND CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE SANTA FE SCREENWRITING CONFERENCE?

In late Spring of 1999, Rick Reichman, who wrote "Formatting Your Screenplay," and I buddied up and started the Santa Fe Screenplay Competition (now discontinued). Immediately after launching that, we realized there was what we perceived to be a tremendous need for a screenwriting conference where screenwriters could go to learn and/or improve their craft. And to get creative inspiration. And not be caught up in the glitter and promise of agents and managers.

So we set about to do that, and SFeSC 2000 was born. It was first held over Memorial Day weekend at St. John's College in Santa Fe. Although our experience at St. John's was a wonderful one, for a variety of reasons we decided to accept an offer from The College of Santa Fe to hold the annual event there, and so we signed a six-year contract with them.

The Conferences and Special Events section of the college has been enormously helpful to us, and they've gone above and beyond to ensure that we have all the support we need. We have a home.

The important thing to remember here is that this is a screenwriting conference founded and operated by screenwriters for screenwriters. That is the through-line, text and subtext of this effort, and it will always be so.

The Mentors and Workshop Leaders who come here are all top-notch screenwriters who come to share and give. It is the same for the few other workshop presenters who have valuable information to pass on to screenwriters. They have no fear of "losing their secrets." They understand that to teach is to learn. And so they go away from here filled with just as much magic as do the enrollees. It is an amazing event.

CONFERENCE PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL INDICATES THAT IT FOCUSES 90 PERCENT ON THE ART AND CRAFT OF SCREENWRITING AND 10 PERCENT ON MARKETING. THIS IS THE POLAR OPPOSITE OF MANY CONFERENCES WHERE FRANTIC NETWORKING IS THE NORM. WHY DID YOU MAKE THIS DECISION?

The other major screenwriting conferences, it seems to me, presume that when you go there you have a screenplay under your arm that is polished and ready to sell to Hollywood. My experience is that this is not the case.

Anyone who has worked with screenwriting students and/or has been connected with a screenwriting contest knows that most of the stuff you see has glaring weaknesses that will, in most cases, prevent it from being of interest to agents or producers.

We felt like there needed to be a place where screenwriters could, in baseball jargon, go to Spring training. Even the perennial World Champion New York Yankees go to Spring training every year in Florida. They touch bases (no pun intended) with fundamentals, sharpen their skills, perfect their game, and come out of the blocks ready to rock & roll.

We think screenwriting is no different. SFeSC is Spring Training for screenwriters. We think that every year you should come to this conference, ground yourself again in the fundamentals, sharpen your skills, polish your script and then go to Hollywood with your most professional presentation. There is too much competition out there not to do that.

Coming here every year to discover new trends, new tricks or techniques, new approaches for the work you are currently writing will give you the edge over all the thousands of scripts that are registered with the WGA,w and WGA,e every year. Remember, Hollywood only produces around 400 pictures per year. If you want to be in that group you had better shoot your best stick.

YOU OFFER 24 NINETY-MINUTE WORKSHOPS. WHAT CRITERIA SHOULD WRITERS USE TO SELECT THE MOST APPROPRIATE WORKSHOPS FOR THEM?

This is purely subjective. Where are your weaknesses? Where are you confused? What are you interested in? What are you currently working on that you could use a little or a lot of help? What are you planning to work on next?

Probabilities are, whatever that is, you will be able to discover Workshop Leaders who will put you on the right path. We cover subjects like formatting, conflict, character development, reversals, structure, noir, MOW's, writing dialogue, writing without dialogue, visual imagery, characterization, plot development, re-writing, polishing, theme, opening scenes, closing scenes, getting produced, loglines, query letters, contests, and more.

It's like going to a creative cafeteria. This Conference is a screenwriter's paradise.

HOW DID YOU SELECT PRESENTERS?

We network. A Mentor has to be more than just a successful screenwriter. He or she has to want to come here to teach.

There are really good people out there who just love to teach. Who love to share and answer questions by screenwriters who burn to learn. This is where all that happens. It isn't a job to them. It's an opportunity.

We locate them through sources we have built over the past two years. These sources are our associates who are connected in one way or the other with the Conference. They give us names, we consider them, and follow up if we think the person is appropriate.

Now we are getting references from our references. It takes time. SFeSC still has a long way to go to be a household name. The 2001 Conference is only our second. We still have to sell potential Mentors and Workshop Leaders on the idea of coming here.

And another thing, with the exception of Rick Reichman, our strategy is that no one Mentor or Workshop Leader can teach at SFeSC for more than two years running. They will have to sit out for a year or two so we can bring in new presenters.

It isn't that we aren't appreciative of the faculty, or loyal, because we hold them all in very high esteem. They have become friends with us personally as well as friends of the Conference. This strategy is to keep the Conference pulsating with fresh faces and new ideas.

TWENTY CONFERENCE ATTENDEES WILL ENJOY ACTORS READING THE FIRST 8-12 PAGES OF THEIR SCREENPLAYS. PLEASE SAY A LITTLE ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF A WRITER'S WITNESSING A SCRIPT READING.

Even with scheduling flaws, this was one thing that really worked last year. To get your opening scene read, you have to be one of the first 20 who register who would like this service. It doesn't cost extra. The writer sits in the audience and witnesses the reading. They learn what works and what doesn't. Immediately following the reading there is a brief critique by the audience and sometimes the actors.

The writer gets an unbiased interpretation of the scene, which is invaluable. The first 10 pages of a screenplay are the most important for a whole host of reasons.

You want them to work. This is a great way to find out if they do. This year we are having the readings on Thursday evening under the stars, and on Friday afternoon on stage. There will be a minimum of distractions, so the writers and the actors should have better crowds.

HOW DID YOU LINE UP ACTORS FOR THE SCRIPT READINGS?

We have a man named John Hayes who produces this for us. He is well connected in the acting field here in Santa Fe, and John assembles professional actors who sit on a stage and read these pages. The actors have at least one read-through before the Conference, and they are ready.

CONFERENCE ATTENDEES SIGN UP FOR NINE HOURS OF CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION AND TWO PANEL DISCUSSIONS. PLEASE DESCRIBE THE ADVANTAGES TO THIS TYPE OF WRITING CONFERENCE.

It's an intense learning experience. All focused on screenwriting. The advantage of a holiday weekend gives everyone an extra day. Nine hours of classroom instruction by a Mentor of your choice is phenomenal.

And not sitting in a room with several hundred other writers, either. Our beginning and intermediate classes admit a maximum of 40. Our advanced classes - Academy Classes - are limited to 15. This gives you many opportunities to ask questions and get personal attention.

WOULD WRITERS WHO DON'T KNOW THE FIRST THING ABOUT SCREENWRITING BE COMFORTABLE AT THE CONFERENCE?

SFeSC is a celebration of screenwriting. Anyone who is interested in learning about this craft is welcome to come here and will be completely comfortable for one significant reason: Every Mentor who teaches here knows how tough this craft really is, and as a result, they have the highest respect for anyone willing to tackle it.

As I said earlier, we have Beginning classes for novices. We have two of them. One is taught by Wendy Jane Henson and the other by Rick Reichman.

Anyone who knows little to nothing about screenwriting is welcome and encouraged to attend these classes. They are designed for them and for those who may be tackling their first screenplay. The writers in these classes will find their learning curve pointing straight up to the heavens.

Once they come out of nine hours with either of these Mentors and go home to write, next year they'll be well qualified for Intermediate Classes.

HOW WOULD A WRITER KNOW IF HE/SHE IS READY FOR THE INTERMEDIATE CLASSES?

You just know. You know if you are beyond Beginning Class. And you know you aren't ready for Academy Class because you feel a bit intimidated to get in there and mix it up with screenwriters who have written at least two screenplays and have moved on to their third, or fourth, etc. And you look at the Mentors and get excited about what you can learn from them.

There isn't one person who signs up for this Conference who isn't excited about the learning possibilities. They tell you this over the phone.

And when you're at the Conference, the excitement is palpable. It is truly gratifying for those of us who labor all year to make it happen.

THE IDEA OF OFFERING SEPARATE CLASSES FOR TEENS IS INTRIGUING. PLEASE EXPLAIN THAT DECISION.

Okay, you got me with that one. That was my idea. I just love kids.

Some years ago I was a volunteer football, basketball and baseball coach. Little League stuff. This was because of my two sons. And if I didn't learn anything at all, I learned the importance of good, sound fundamentals.

The Teen Class was established for the purpose of solving problems before they start. I was talking to a young man the other day about this, and I told him that screenwriting was a lot like having a broken arm. If you don't get a cast put on it right away and it heals wrong, the doctor will have to break it again and set it all over.

With screenwriting, if it doesn't walk like a duck, quack like a duck, and look like a duck it ain't no damn duck!

I told him he could write the greatest movie idea in the history of the world and if it isn't formatted correctly, no reader in Hollywood will go beyond page one. If you don't want to have to start all over, start right.

So my goal is to point any kid who wants to learn screenwriting in the right direction. I'm not there to inspire or entertain them.

The first thing I do in class is go to the blackboard and write "It's a Business." They have to understand that this is not some free-form hobby they are undertaking. That if they want to be successful, there are certain things they have to know from the get-go.

The next thing I write is "It's a Craft." I tell them I am going to do everything I can to keep them from making the usual screenwriting mistakes. In their evaluation last year, one kid wrote, "It was boring, but I learned a lot."

So I don't sing and dance for them, but I teach them.

THE TELEVISION INDUSTRY IS RIGHTFULLY CONCERNED ABOUT DIVERSITY BEHIND AND IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA. DOES THE SANTE FE SCREENWRITING CONFERENCE MAKE AN EFFORT TO INCLUDE WRITERS OF ALL ETHNIC GROUPS?

We make every effort to include Mentors and Workshop Leaders of all ethnic groups. As we continue to grow, and people have more confidence in us, we think we will have more success.

Because of our geographical position, we have especially reached out to the Native American and Hispanic community for qualified mentors, and have made overtures to many of them, but have thus far been unsuccessful in convincing them to come here.

We will continue to make the effort, and we will eventually succeed. We want them here. It's their Conference, too.

TEN ACCOMPLISHED PRODUCERS WILL BE AT THE CONFERENCE FOR PITCHES AND CONSULTATION. HOW DIFFICULT WAS IT TO GET PRODUCERS TO VENTURE ACROSS THE DESERT AND MOUNTAINS FROM LOS ANGELES AND TO BE OPEN TO THIS PROCESS?

Obviously you've never been to Santa Fe.

IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE ABOUT THE CONFERENCE YOU'D LIKE TO MENTION?

I would like to go back to the producers for a moment. In order for a producer to be invited to attend the Santa Fe Screenwriting Conference, he or she must agree that they and their production companies are open to screenplays written by unproduced and unrepresented screenwriters. And we need to have some sense about them that they are enthusiastically looking.

When they come here and are exposed to more than 300 screenwriters, they are hopeful they will go back home having discovered a diamond in the rough. Finding that one screenplay that otherwise might have languished on somebody's closet shelf because it never saw the light of day.

I've always wondered how many Jim Brown's or Babe Ruth's there are out there who were never noticed and never got a chance. This Producers Seminar is designed to meet that challenge.

HOW CAN WRITERS GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SANTA FE SCREENWRITING CONFERENCE?

One can call us (505.424.1501), fax us (505.471.7126), email us (writeit@SFeSC.com), or send up smoke signals. We want them to understand that we are here to help them. They are why we do this.