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< Back Johnny Gilligan gilligaj@yahoo.com (310) 945-7707 Coverfly The Black List Born in Ireland into a family of cops, Johnny jumped ship and became a coder in Silicon Valley. Later, Johnny took up acting where, ironically, he plays a lot of cops... Four years ago, his mother's sudden death, while he was 10,000 miles away on a movie set, ignited his screenwriting journey. Johnny mines his day job working in cutting-edge technology, his acting, and his life experience as the son of a wheelchair mother, to create grounded scifi stories led by richly complex characters. Honors & Awards Page Awards - GOLD PRIZE WINNER SCI-FI - 2023 Final Draft Big Break - TOP 5 SCI-FI - 2020 9 OVERALL 8 OUT 10's ON BLCKLST.COM non-WGA Male, 40+ THE STREAM Grounded Sci-Fi Feature - LOOPER meets THE DISCOVERY In the near future, when a tech company perfects a way to communicate with the dead in a scientifically discovered afterlife, known as The Stream, a failed novelist fights to save his daughter’s soul from being permanently erased by the company’s CEO… his estranged brother. INHERITANCE Grounded Sci-Fi Feature - TRUE DETECTIVE: NIGHT COUNTRY meets MIDNIGHT SPECIAL When alien DNA is discovered in an innocent Native Alaskan teen, a tenacious geneticist fights to stop her shadowy biotech bosses from weaponizing him. LIFELINK Grounded Sci-Fi Feature - DIE HARD meets FINAL DESTINATION When bio-implants give users 24-hour notice of their death, a grieving ex-marine fights to undo the past-death of his daughter, unearthing a catastrophic secret about the implants and their creator. Character-driven, Science, Thriller, Sci-Fi Male, 40+ unrepped

< Back Nick Perlman nick@nickperlman.com http://www.nickperlman.com IMDb Nick is originally from Tarrytown, NY, which is – to be clear – not “upstate.” He's very passionate about this fact. He was raised on pizza, bagels, and pizza bagels. Pizza was on a bagel and he had pizza anytime. Anyway, Nick is a filmmaker and screenwriter and holds a BFA in Film and Television Production from the Savannah College of Art and Design. His work is focused on telling authentic and heartfelt stories featuring the LGBTQ+ community. Nick has penned eight feature-length screenplays, two pilots, various short works and has directed and self-produced four short films, some of which have screened internationally and have been recognized by multiple festivals. He currently works as a freelance editor for television, streaming and social media. Honors & Awards Quarterfinalist, CineStory Foundation Feature Retreat - SILENT RETREAT - 2024 Finalist, WeScreenplay Feature Lab - LOVE IS SIMPLE - 2023 Quarterfinalist, Academy Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship - LOVE IS SIMPLE - 2022 non-WGA Male LOVE IS SIMPLE Coming-of-age/Dramedy When two out-of-the-closet high school seniors from dramatically different socioeconomic backgrounds become neighbors in a gentrifying building, they discover not only their similarities and differences, but come to understand everything that love isn't. SILENT RETREAT Dramedy When Jerome runs into his old flame, Luke, at – of all places – a silent retreat, their past threatens to unravel his present. I CARRY YOUR HEART Drama While reckoning with the abuse that has haunted his ancestors for over a century, a stubborn writer must forgive his estranged father before he can commit to being a father himself. drama, character driven Male unrepped

< Back Kim Turner redharecreatives@gmail.com 850-543-7559 http://www.themightykim.com Coverfly The Black List Kim Turner is a professional screenwriter and has performed in improvisational and sketch comedy for over 25 years. She was in the nation's first all-female improv team, "Big Purse", in 1992. She complemented this work with an Associates Degree in Theater from Palm Beach State College. Kim attended the Second City Training Program in Chicago - completing both the writing and improvisation programs and being accepted (on the first attempt) to its exclusive Conservatory Program. Additionally, she completed the writing program at iO (formerly Improv Olympic) and worked with the Annoyance Theater (Chicago). Following her experience in Chicago, Kim was selected as one of twelve screenwriters for the inaugural Meryl Streep Writers Lab in 2015 (and only comedy!). Kim has quartered, semifinaled or finaled at the Austin Film Festival, the Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship, Stowe Story Labs (Tangerine Fellowship), Final Draft/Big Break and many others. Kim makes tremendous chocolate chip cookies and reads stories aloud in unique voices. She has a comprehensive knowledge of 80s trivia, Star Trek lore and can recite much of the dialogue from the animated Hobbit and Raising Arizona. Honors & Awards Austin Film Festival (Comedy Feature) - Winner YMH Comedy Fellowship - Chasing Shadows (with Tony Ferrendelli) - 2024 The Writers Lab supported by Meryl Streep - (Comedy Feature) - Winner - Christy's Got Cancer! - 2015 (Inaugural year) Austin Film Festival (Comedy Feature) - Semifinalist - Christy's Got Cancer! - 2020 non-WGA Female, Over 50 CHASING SHADOWS (with Tony Ferrendelli) A coming-of-middle-age story about a couple who separates just shy of their 25th anniversary and must figure out if being alone is better than feeling alone in a relationship. Marriage is not for the faint of heart. MEDICINE SHOW (Half-hour Western Comedy - 30 Rock meets Blazing Saddles) A glorified confidence man finds himself in desperate need of help when he is discovered half-dead in the desert by a First Nations woman and a traveler looking to settle in the Old West. CHRISTY'S GOT CANCER! (Comedy Feature - Think Little Miss Sunshine meets The Big Sick) When Kate’s hypochondriac, maelstrom of a self-involved mother gets the kind of news no one (but she) wants, Kate must marshal her family’s collective dysfunctional superpowers to come up with a care plan and resolve their relationship in time. Character-driven, Sketch, Satire, Late Night, Magical Realism, Bittersweet, Dark, Fantasy Female, Over 50 unrepped

< Back Danielle Weinberg Attorney: Mark S. Temple, (310) 888-0044, mst@entatty.com http://WrittenByDanielleWeinberg.com IMDb Writer, producer, and director Danielle Weinberg won The Script Lab's 2024 Free Screenplay Contest with her feature screenplay COASTAL WATCH, which placed first out of more than 15,000 scripts. She recently sold an original romcom feature script, and her play MURDER, PARTY OF TEN was featured in the 2023 New Works Festival of the Long Beach Shakespeare Company. Danielle’s directorial debut is the sci-fi short film INVASION ’53, starring Jeffrey Combs. On its festival run now, the movie had its world premiere at the Oscar-qualifying Cinequest Film Festival and has been selected by more than fifty film festivals, including the 2025 Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival in San Diego. To date, INVASION '53 has won more than twenty awards, including the top juried award at five festivals and two audience awards. A graduate of the Writing Seminars at the Johns Hopkins University, Danielle earned an M.F.A. in Feature Film Screenwriting from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. She worked in development for Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (STAR TREK, SLEEPY HOLLOW), Orlando Jones and Legion of Creatives. Danielle is currently developing several independent features as a multi-hyphenate at Catoctin Pictures. Her projects are highly commercial, with modest budgets, in genres that have worldwide appeal. Danielle's influences include Steve Martin, Mel Brooks, and Steven Spielberg. CanvasRebel recently profiled Danielle here . Honors & Awards Winner of The Script Lab's 2024 TSL Free Screenplay Contest - COASTAL WATCH - 2024 The Best of the IWC - COASTAL WATCH - 2025 The Best of the IWC - IRL - 2024 non-WGA Female, 40+ COASTAL WATCH (Feature) In the vein of Hitchcock’s REAR WINDOW: A recently traumatized teen witnesses a murder in the beach house across the street, but when no one believes her, she seeks out the answers herself and becomes locked in a deadly cat-and-mouse game with a man who will stop at nothing to protect his secret. CRIMINAL CARE (Feature) To pay for his mother's nursing care, a cash-strapped medical resident moonlights as a doctor for criminals but finds himself trapped in a ruthless world he may never escape. CURIOSITY (Pilot – comps: CASTLE, VERONICA MARS) Sherlock Holmes with a sci-fi twist: An outgoing young undergrad teams with a brilliant but socially inept A.I. researcher to solve baffling murder cases — and gradually comes to realize that her genius partner is the world's first android. Character-driven, Female-centric, Thriller, Procedural, Romantic, Sci-Fi, Coming-of-Age, YA Female, 40+ unrepped

< Back Alexa Oona Schulz alexaschulz@mac.com http://alexa-schulz.com Alexa Oona grew up in Hamburg, Germany, with the handed-down responsibility for the Holocaust, but more specifically with a Nazi grandfather who after the war worked for the church as a deacon in youth exchange programs with teenagers from Africa and the Arab world – her mother calls him a hypocrite; Alexa Oona calls him a complex character. A Los Angeles resident since 2007, Alexa Oona writes in English and German and is fluent in Spanish. She is passionate about crime (writing crime that is) – but has also been paid for dramedy writing - which proves that even Germans can be funny! Alexa Oona's produced writing credits include TV court show episodes and a prime-time feature for ZDF (Germany) as well as numerous documentaries (e.g. for ARTE) that she directed. In 2006, her award-winning documentary début WEEKEND WARRIORS, a humorous film that follows the lives of four German players of American-style football in Berlin, was theatrically released in Germany by one of the largest multiplex chains. non-WGA Female, Over 40 ANDIE FROM GERMANY (Short-form Serialized Series - Dark Comedy) A failing but success-obsessed German actress gets more than she expected after stealing a dead Hollywood starlet’s identity; now she has to successfully nail her lines and a criminal scheme. AMERICAN CRIME: MEXICO CITY (Hourlong Procedural Series Pilot - Police Drama ) When a PTSD-afflicted Special Agent is paired with a carefree FBI linguist to solve American crimes in Mexico City, she is thrust into solving the mysterious case of a deadly sound attack while struggling to navigate cultural differences. Character-driven, Female-centric, Crime, Historical/Alternative History, International Female, Over 40 unrepped

< Back Rich Orstad richorstad@laughingo.com http://www.laughingo.com Coverfly The Black List Rich started writing his first story, the sci-fi thriller Lightmares, in his High School Creative Writing class, where his teacher commented he had a difficult choice to make; do the practical thing and become an Engineer or heed Robert Frost’s advice, take the road less travelled and become a writer. Well, after graduating college as a Mechanical Engineer and starting his career, the monkeys never stopped scratching at that story until it finally poured out of him nearly twenty years later, and he's been writing ever since. Since then, he has become a two-time winner and twelve-time finalist with two features in various stages of development. He won the Screencraft True Story Competition with his inspirational bio-pic ENDURANCE, currently in development with Noble Story Co, placed Silver in PAGE with his family feature RESCUE DOG, and is working with Redwoods Studios with his Austin After Dark Finalist horror-comedy NAMASTE ALIVE! Growing up, Rich consumed every Stephen King novel he wrote, was lucky enough to watch Star Wars when it first came out in theaters and had a dad that loved to tell stories about growing up on a farm in depression-era North Dakota. Which is why Rich loves telling stories across all genres because like a well-lived life, every story should pack an emotional punch. Rich is looking for the right representation, is open to OWA’s, and resides in Los Gatos, CA with his wife, Kim. non-WGA Male, 55+, Middle Eastern ENDURANCE (Feature, Family Drama) After losing his legs to an IED in 2012, an Afghanistan War veteran commits his life to completing the Boston Marathon one year after the 2013 bombings and to finish the most important race of his life…his commitment to faith and bringing hope to wounded veterans. Based on a true story. KEEPSAKES CHRISTMAS (Feature, Family Drama) When a social worker discovers that an elderly woman’s Christmas keepsakes have the power to magically transport them both back in time to the memory each holiday memento represents, she takes on the fight to save the senior’s home and her lifetime of precious holiday memories. NAMASTE ALIVE! (Feature, Horror Comedy) When a shy Cali girl says her mantra wrong during Hot Mindfulness Yoga Class and becomes possessed by the Hindu God of Destruction, her best friend must assemble a rag-tag team of friends, family, and mystics to save her life and prevent the end of humankind. Character-driven, Thriller, Sci-Fi, Horror, Magical Realism Male, 55+, Middle Eastern unrepped

< Back Lisa Jeanne Rosenberg thewholestory@comcast.net Lisa Rosenberg is an AFI Screenwriting graduate and a narrative screenwriter focused on dramas, coming-of-age, and political thrillers. CURE, a thriller, was a Semifinalist for the 2023 New York Women in Film & Television Writers’ Lab and Second Round in the 2022, 2021, and 2020 Austin Film Festival Screenwriting Competitions. A PLACE CALLED HOME, a political drama, was a 2024 Quarterfinalist in the ScreenCraft True Story & Public Domain Competition and previously an Independent Film Week selection. GRAFT, a period coming-of-age, won a 2023 Puffin Foundation grant for development as a stage play and was Second Round in the 2022 Austin Film Festival Screenwriting Competition. CRAWL SPACE, a psychological drama adapted from the novel by Edie Meidav, was a 2015 Finalist for the New York Women in Film & Television Writers' Lab. Recent contracts include script consulting and editing on THE CALLBACK short by writer/director Kara Herold; writing CLIPPED WINGS (working title), a dramatic feature for Front Row Productions; co-writing the treatment for THE MAYA MOVIE, a documentary feature for Redhouse Productions; and writing A PRAYER, a script for a short for actor Anthony Aguilar Gallagher. Earlier projects she has written for have earned an Emmy, a Codie, an Action for Children's Television Award, and a nomination for a Peabody Award. Honors & Awards Bold Voice Award and Semifinalist, NYWIFT Writers’ Lab – CURE – 2025 Semifinalist, ScreenCraft True Story & Public Domain Competition – GRAFT – 2025 Second Round, Austin Film Festival Screenwriting Competition – CURE – 2025 non-WGA, caucus only Female, Middle Eastern, Multi-Ethnic, 40+ CURE (Political Thriller) When a gifted Nigerian medical student invents a malaria vaccine derived from sea life, he must challenge a powerful drug company bent on co-opting his work and patenting the creatures from which the vaccine would be made. GRAFT (Coming-of-Age) In 1903, a nineteen-year-old street girl, impersonator, and thief gains an unexpected chance to recreate herself on the stage, which may enable her to transform who she can be in real life. CRAWL SPACE (Psychological Thriller) When an unrepentant war criminal secretly returns home, desperate to clear his name, he meets a troubled drifter whose story mirrors his own, forcing him to run again to finally face what he has become. Character-driven, Medical, Crime, Thriller, Psychological, Historical/Alternative History, Coming-of-Age, International Female, Middle Eastern, Multi-Ethnic, 40+ unrepped

Get steamy with romcom pilots and features from the creative minds at the Independent Writers' Caucus! Let the IWC Romance You! - 2026 The IWC enjoys a RomCom! And so will you! Happy Valentine's Day from your favorite creatives!

The Independent Writers' Caucus is a collaborative group of emerging, professional screenwriters - working together to create an infrastructure of opportunity for each other. Your Next Great Project Begins with an IWC Writer Contact Us First Name Last Name Email Address Message Submit Thanks for your message! Thank you for your interest in the Independent Writers' Caucus. Please provide your contact information above and we will notify you as soon as our membership portal reopens. We have great things to do. Let's do them together. Members Only Access

< Back Leon Masters leon.x.masters@gmail.com https://leonxmasters.wixsite.com/leon Leon Masters is a gay transgender man whose writing fuses the othering of supernatural creatures and real-world horrors to explore issues facing transgender and other marginalized folks. Raised in the proudly weird, small central coast hippie-town and former Murder Capital of the World, Santa Cruz, California, he developed an off-beat sense of humor when it comes to tackling serious issues, and is heavily influenced by his background where cults, ghost-hunts and séances felt like the norm. Leon has a background in fine arts, photography, and design. After undergrad, he worked for on several short videos, live events, and film volunteer projects in multiple capacities in the Bay Area. He also independently created a short film and an experimental no-budget feature as director, co-writer, producer, and actor. He earned an MFA in Screenwriting from UCLA. He writes crime thriller, supernatural horror, and science fiction features, teleplays, podcasts, and shorts. Leon was a Roadmap Writers Diversity Fellowship Runner-Up and a Transgender Film Center Fellowship finalist. He is a lead team member of the Pre-Rainbow Pages where he works to help build community with and uplift fellow queer writers. Honors & Awards Winner, Roadmap Writers Podcasting Competition – OUT OF THE MIST – 2024 Finalist, Hollyshorts – DEAD DAUGHTER - 2024 Winner, Creative Screenwriting Unique Voices – PERDITION – 2021 non-WGA/Caucus Only Male, Non-binary, Trans, LGBTQ+, 40+ NZR – NATIONAL ZOMBIE REGISTRY ( Science Fiction Crime Thriller - THE LAST OF US meets THE KILLING ) In a world where zombies casually walk among us, the chief of the zombie disposable task force spirals into a bizarre murder investigation that threatens to out him and possibly ruin his life after he stumbles across the murder of a transgender woman. PERDITION ( Supernatural Mystery Crime Thriller - SUPERNATURAL meets TWIN PEAKS ) The fallen Angel of Mysteries and current private investigator agrees to find a reformed-demon’s human wife, but that plan is paused when the case unveils the existence of hundreds of unsolved supernatural crimes tied to the town she disappeared in. BAD MEDICINE ( Crime Thriller - BLUE VELVET meets INSOMNIA ) A disgraced San Francisco homicide detective travels to a sleepy East Coast town for a chance to rethink his life and ends up at the center of a bizarre series of gruesome murders. Queer, Crime, Thriller, Procedural, Sci-Fi, Psychological, Horror, Coming-of-Age Male, Non-binary, Trans, LGBTQ+, 40+ unrepped

< Back Linda Dillon Moya (Sweigart) Manager: Sandra Avila, Inclusion Management - www.inclusionmgmt.com https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm2130265/credits Raised on the border of El Paso, Texas, and Juárez, Mexico, Linda studied at an all-girl Catholic school. She was a tomboy until she was sent to modeling school to become a beauty queen. Linda spent her childhood perfecting her English and Spanish skills to please her mother, who taught ESL. She learned to shoot guns from her father, a Green Beret, who had severe PTSD. In high school, Linda discovered that her father was actually her stepfather. This precipitated Linda’s rebellious period. She dated the son of a notorious drug lord until her mother packed her off to study in Spain. Linda has worked in diverse fields: an archeological field-tech, a financial planner, and an instructor at Homeland Security, where she taught TSA Agents to find bombs. These experiences led to a passion for storytelling that landed her an MFA in Screenwriting from UCLA. When her mother died unexpectedly, her mom’s so-called best friend seduced her stepfather, dumped him at a retirement home, and pillaged the family estate. Heartbroken, Linda took a two-year pilgrimage around the world where she was courted by an Indian Prince, consulted Cambodian fortune tellers, and was hospitalized in Myanmar for a spider bite. Luckily, she lives to tell the tale. WGA Associate Member Female, BIPOC, Latinx, Indigenous/Native American, Multi-Ethnic BORDER SAINTS (Supernatural Crime Drama - SUPERNATURAL meets BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER) An ambitious FBI agent must embrace her ancestral powers to take down the men who murdered her father, but as family secrets unravel, she learns nothing is as it appears. BURNOUTS (Drama - WHITE LOTUS meets THE RESORT) An aggrieved woman stranded in a foreign country finds love and a sense of purpose in the most unexpected place -- Siem Reap, Cambodia. We follow her life and struggles as she works to reinvent herself. WHITE SANDS (Sci-fi/Drama - in the vein of X-FILES) FBI agents Dr. David Carmichael and Lexie Stone investigate a murder found on sacred Native American land. Stumped, they enlist a crew of archeological misfits and a Hopi Shaman to investigate the crime and other strange occurrences across the United States. Character-driven, Female-centric, BIPOC-centric, Crime, Procedural, Fantasy, International, Magical Realism Female, BIPOC, Latinx, Indigenous/Native American, Multi-Ethnic repped

The Independent Writers' Caucus is a collaborative group of emerging, professional screenwriters - working together to create an infrastructure of opportunity for each other. Your Next Great Project Begins with an IWC Writer About Us The Independent Writers' Caucus was founded in January of 2022 following the dissolution of the Writers Guild of America (West) Caucuses. The program was a way to integrate writers into the Guild and help prepare them for full membership. Over 150 vetted, professional writers found each other and fashioned its own powerful infrastructure to create opportunities for their collective membership. From those passionate beginnings, the Independent Writers' Caucus was born. Our membership is notably diverse - with over half of the Caucus identifying as female, a quarter as LGBTQ+, some as veterans, neurodiverse, disabled, First People, Middle Eastern, Latinx, AAPI, African-American, immigrant, multi-ethnic and more. Our diversity serves the mandates of ever-expanding, modern writers' rooms. We are professional, motivated, inspired storytellers with a cache of materials - ready to help bring story to life in the world. Members Only Access