Star Trek Screenwriter, Morgan Gendel: Mapping The Brain/The Future of Humanity

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“This is your Brain on TV”

Hugo Award-winning screenwriter Morgan Gendel will use his fan-favorite episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, “The Inner Light,” as a jumping-off point to discuss the role of the connectome on TV and movies and the real-life implications for Human 2.0. In “The Inner Light,” Capt. Picard of the starship Enterprise has an undeniably real alt-life experience created by the re-wiring of his brain by a beam from an alien probe.

Clips from “Inner Light,” “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “Total Recall,” “The Matrix” and “Inception,” will highlight the sci-fi potential for connectome hacks, following which Gendel will draw on the work of Sebastian Seung of Princeton University and others to discuss what could happen when fiction becomes reality.

Mapping the human brain is one of the great scientific challenges of the 21st century. The Human Connectome Project (HCP) is elucidating the neural pathways that underlie brain function and behavior. Deciphering this amazingly complex wiring diagram will reveal much about what makes us uniquely human and what makes every person different from all others.

Once we can alter anyone’s connectome, will mental illness, schooling and personality quirks become a thing of the past?

They love our meetup in Bushwick!:

http://bushwickdaily.com/2015/04/star-trek-writer-morgan-gendel-is-coming-to-a-meetup-at-livestream-public-east-williamsburg/ (http://bushwickdaily.com/2015/04/star-trek-writer-morgan-gendel-is-coming-to-a-meetup-at-livestream-public-east-williamsburg/)

Admission is $7 online or cash. Included is food provided by Action Burger. Drinks are available at onsite cash bar - Fitzcarraldo.

Livestream Public is an easy 12-15 minute L train ride from Union Square or quick connect to L from G or M lines. This is a fun, arty area you should get to know! (Livestream Public has no affiliation with Third Ward, a former building tenant).

As usual, attendees have a chance to get free entrepreneurial, futurist and technology books from our http://www.promenadespeakers.com sponsor, when they provide their business card.

At his talk, Morgan will be selling/autographing a copy of his original Writers Draft of “THE INNER LIGHT” and his graphic novel sequel, “THE OUTER LIGHT.” Each is $20 autographed. We will also give one to a randomly selected attendee.

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About Morgan Gendel:

Morgan Gendel has written or produced more than 200 episodes of primetime TV and is perhaps best known as writer of the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Inner Light,” for which he won the Hugo Award. His other sci-fi/comic credits include The Dresden Files, which he brought to TV as Executive producer; MTV’s Spider-Man, in which he served as Head Writer and Showrunner; and additional episodes of both Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. He also received Emmy and Writers Guild nominations for his work on Law & Order.

He is currently adapting Ursula K. LeGuin’s celebrated sci-fi novel “THE TELLING” as a feature film; has written the graphic novel Hellana in partnership with Stan Lee; and recently completed the TV pilot script Layers for Roddenberry Entertainment in partnership with Oscar-winning producer Chay Carter (“Argo”).

Gendel leads workshops, teaches and consults to TV production companies across the USA, in Germany and Russia.

Aspiring screenwriters will also want to attend his upcoming professional writing seminar in NYC:

Saturday, April 25

Made in NY Media Center by IFP

“Create the Next (Hypothetical) Sci-Fi TV Series”

In this daylong workshop, screenwriter Morgan Gendel, winner of the Hugo Award for Star Trek: The Next Generation fan-favorite episode “The Inner Light” and an Emmy nominee for Law & Order, will lead participants as they work in a realistic "writers room" setting to create the concept for a new hypothetical sci-fi series. The fundamentals of setting, character and action will be examined with an eye toward how they work together in a compelling screen story. Open to working writers, aspiring amateurs, sci-fi fans or those who simply want to voice their ideas. There is a separate charge for this seminar, which we are not producing.

More about the course:

https://nymediacenter.com/classes/class/?id=578D0071-437B-478B-BC37C40EA85C974C&slugid=create-the-next-hypothetical-sci-fi-tv-series

To Register: Save $20 by using this code: SciFi20 (https://www.nymediacenter.com/education/registration.cfm?course=Create-the-Next-%28Hypothetical%29-Sci-Fi-TV%20-Series)

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@morgangendel

Action Burger provides seasoned burgers, beer, liquor milkshakes, comics, action figures, video games and sci-fi movies on 292 Graham Avenue in Williamsburg. Like the fan page: http://www.facebook.com/Action.Burger

or visit www.actionburger.com (http://www.actionburger.com/) .

Our Meetup was recently featured in The Brooklyn Paper:

Looking Forward with The Brooklyn Futurist Meetup (http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/38/9/24-brooklyn-futurists-2015-02-27-bk_38_9.html)