Monday, February 18, 2008

"Reno 911!" writer heads conference faculty

Robert Garant heads the faculty list for the annual Wyoming Writers, Inc., conference June 6-8 at the Casper Holiday Inn.

He joins an excellent line-up of presenters that includes poet Ray Gonzales, novelist Masha Hamilton, and New York City-based literary agents Rita Rosenkranz and Katherine Sands.

If Garant (pictured above) looks like one of the sheriff's department deputies in TV's Reno 911, that's because he is. He's also its writer, director, and executive producer.

Garant was born in Cookeville, Tennessee. He spent the early '90s appearing in off-off Broadway theaters (bars) in New York City with the comedy group The State. The State had a three-season run on MTV, which led to a 44-minute run on CBS. He then created, wrote, produced, and occasionally appeared in three seasons of Viva Variety on Comedy Central.

Since relocating to Los Angeles, Garant and his writing partner, Thomas Lennon, have written feature films for Disney, Spyglass, Imagine, Warner Brothers, Columbia, Paramount, New Line, Dimension, and Universal Pictures, and Night at the Museum I & II for Twentieth Century Fox. He has written and directed two feature films, Balls of Fury, for Universal and Spyglass, and Reno 911!: Miami for Fox and Paramount. In his spare time, he writes, directs, executive produces, and stars in Reno 911! -- one of Comedy Central’s highest-rated shows.
The conference includes readings, workshops, and one-on-one critique sessions with faculty members. Get more info at http://www.wyowriters.org/.