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One-to-One Coaching for Screenwriters and Novelists
Screenplay Analysis • Novel Evaluations • Workshops

Our Movie on YouTube.com!

Our short film, Canzoni di Carmela (Carmela’s Song), is now on YouTube.com!

Please click this link and take five minutes (it’s a short film!) to watch it, rate it, and comment on it!

Feel free to forward the above link to friends, family, fellow writers and filmmakers. 

Canzoni di Carmela was made by some of our own Hi-Way Haven community (see below), working with John Grisham’s Leucadiawood Productions.

Canzoni di Carmela was created, from concept to closing credits, as en entry in the 48 Hour Short Film Project in San Diego. (Also known as, “What? Make a film in 48 hours? You’re crazy!”) It was twice screened at Landmark’s Hillcrest Cinemas.

Canzoni di Carmela was produced by Vera Caccioppoli and John Grimshaw of Leucadiawood Productions; directed by John Grimshaw, from a Screenplay by Vera Caccioppoli; and shot by the San Diego Cinematographer and Editor, Johno Wells. Longtime Haven writer Amy Albani beautifully played, and sang, the lead role, Carmela.

More Haven News

Roger that, Houston! We have a double winner!
Vera Caccioppoli won the Gold Award in Drama at the Houston International Film Festival for her screenplay Hi-Way Haven. Caccioppoli also took home the Bronze in the romantic comedy genre for her screenplay Perfect Couple.

Encore! Encore!
More locally produced films are in the works for Caccioppoli, including a short of her award-winning story, Gary Cooper’s Tears, now in casting and pre-production. For more information about upcoming Hi-Way Haven productions, email Vera@Hi-Way-Haven.com.

Spam Filters and Phone Failures and Wildfires! Oh, my!
Given the recent wildfires near my home and both phone and spam filter malfunctions, if you have recently requested further information of The Haven, and I've not responded personally, please assume that your calls or e-mails did not reach me. I ALWAYS try to return calls and e-mails individually and personally, so please, for my benefit, if your your call or e-mail has NOT been answered to date, please contact me again. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Vera.

Cazoni di Carmela ©2007 Leucadiawood Productions

Director                                                John Grimshaw
Producers                                             John Grimshaw, Vera Caccioppoli
Cinematographer                                  Johno Wells
Film Editor                                            Johno Wells
Screenplay                                           Vera Caccioppoli
Production Assistants                             Morgan Tremaine
                                                            Andy Vasconcellos
                                                            Richard Mayer
                                                            Alison Moors
Cast
Carmela                                                Amy Albani
Alex Gomm                                           Danny Morris
Carmela’s Daughter-in-Law                     Leonie Tremaine
Carmela’s Son                                       John Grimshaw
Carmela’s Young Children                       Anthony Luciano Swit
                                                            Rafael Thomas Swit
                                                            Joseph Jackson Swit
Soprano                                                Amy Albani
Pianist                                                Adele Albani
Music                                                            G. Puccini 

Hi-Way Haven was founded in 2004 by Vera Caccioppoli, MFA. Vera has written and published fiction, poetry, screenplays, newspaper and magazine articles, and personal essays since she was fourteen and received her first handwritten rejection letter from Michael Curtis, the fiction editor of The Atlantic Monthly. (It would be many years later, when playing poker with Mr. Curtis, that Vera would remind the editor of his rejection letter to her, quoting it from memory.) A native of Cliffside Park, New Jersey, Vera earned her MFA in Creative Writing from the George Mason University writing program, where she also was awarded a full fellowship and taught creative writing, literature, and composition for many years. Her writing, which has earned the prestigious PEN/Faulkner Award, has been published not only in a host of the finest literary journals, but also in the Washington Post, Shape magazine, and been broadcast on National Public Radio. Vera has recently optioned or sold two screenplays to Hollywood and won numerous screenwriting awards at film festivals around the country. In addition to writing, she is an artist, jewelry designer, and writing coach. Vera lives in Encinitas, California.

760.815.4341
(California Time)

Hi- Way Haven:  A Place for Writers
1042 N. El Camino Real Suite 269 Encinitas, CA  92024
Vera@Hi-Way-Haven.com

One-to-one Coaching for Screenwriters and Novelists —with Coach Vera, you can complete your novel, screenplay, or memoir—and make your dreams come true!

Hi-Way Haven is A Place for Writers! Created in Encinitas, California in 2004 by the author, screenwriter, and writing coach, Vera Caccioppoli, Hi-Way Haven offers writers of all skills and ages private coaching, screenplay analysis, novel evaluations, and screenwriting workshops.