Independent Writers' Caucus
Member News
DEADLINE EXCLUSIVE: The Independent Writers’ Caucus has added seven new members to its board of directors.
Meg LeFauve, Howard A. Rodman, Lorien Mckenna, Garrick Dion, Nitza Wilon, Elizabeth Kaiden and AJ Feuerman will all join long-standing organization chairs James Moorer, Kimberly Sparks, Kim Turner and Rich Orstad.
Read the full article here.
Rebekah Mueller was chosen as one of five writers, out of 2000 applicants, for the Paramount Writers Mentoring program. The program offers emerging TV writers mentorship and career development with showrunners and EPs. Each writer is paired with two executives from CBS network and CBS Studios.
Stephen Nolly and Philippe Boygen were both selected to the Mentorship Matters program (sponsored by Screencraft and Coverfly). Mentorship Matters is a year-long mentorship program created by showrunners to help boost opportunities for emerging diverse writers, has selected 19 scribes for 2024-2025.
Danielle Weinberg’s directorial debut, INVASION ’53, will screen at San Diego Comic-Con. Well-known sci-fi actor Jeffrey Combs stars in this sendup of 1950s sci-fi movies. The short film premiered at the Oscar-qualifying Cinequest Film Festival and won several awards at the First Contact Sci-Fi and Fantasy Film Festival, including Best Actor (Jeffrey Combs) and Best Screenplay (Danielle Weinberg).
Gina DeAngelis’s short film adaptation DOORS premiered at the Indie Short Film Festival in Charlottesville, Virginia. In DOORS, an elfish empty-nester pressures his gentle, eccentric wife to downsize their beloved farmhouse, until he discovers she’s taken his request literally. In addition, Gina’s short script BA, an action thriller, won the script competition and had a live reading at the festival.
On their Happier in Hollywood podcast, showrunners Liz Craft and Sarah Fain gave the IWC and members Ellen Ancui and Steve Holbert a shout out. They read Ellen and Steve's bios as examples of "Giving Good Bio."
Carolyn Kras's screenplay AUTHORESS, about an untold chapter of Jane Austen’s life, has been named a Top 10 Script in the WritersxWriters Competition. In AUTHORESS, Jane Austen is a struggling writer who has a complicated romance with a mysterious sea captain who inspires her final novel Persuasion. The script may be requested from Manager Doorie Lee at 42.
Matija Šraj's comedy pilot QUEENMAKER, about a drag queen who accidentally gets elected to Australian parliament, was awarded Honorable Mention in the 2025 Page International Screenwriting Awards – Stowe Story Labs Fellowship. This follows winning the grand prize in the 2024 CineStory TV Fellowship.
Merridith Allen got 8 on the Blacklist with her pilot script, STUNTWOMAN, a half-hour dramedy about a woman who attempts to improve her life by going back to stunt performing at age 40. Merridith rewrote the script after attending the prestigious Cinestory Episodic Retreat.
Leah Simmons' feature GERMINATION is a finalist selection for the 2025 Abortion Pipeline Project (APP) as part of the Athena Film Festival’s Creative Development Program. The Abortion Pipeline Project (APP) is an annual lab for feature film scripts centered on abortion and reproductive freedom. Part of the Athena Film Festival’s Creative Development Program, APP writers take part in a virtual lab and receive a grant to continue to develop their project.
Gabe Berry has been hired by Canadian production company Zargara Productions to write a feature. The film is based on the award-winning short that Gabe co-wrote, currently in post-production. This is the second time Gabe has been hired to write a feature screenplay.
Thomas R. Schrack directed the short film S.K.A.T.E. The project is currently in post-production.