What’s the best way to backstop a career in the notoriously topsy-turvy world of screenwriting? Adam Jay Epstein (Not Another Teen Movie, Extreme Movie) does it with his “night job” of authoring best-selling fantasy and sci-fi books for the middle grades. While helping the panel drink through three bottles of wine from California’s fast-growing Paso Robles region, Epstein talks about the process and economics of creating book franchises like The Familiars, Starbounders and Snared, his love of executing on big ideas, and the time the his Revenge of the Nerds remake totally fell apart after four weeks of shooting.