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- Danielle Weinberg | IWC List 2026
< 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 forty film festivals, including the 2025 Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival in San Diego. To date, INVASION '53 has won 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. 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
- Contact the IWC | Independent Writers' Caucus
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
- Contact the IWC | Independent Writers' Caucus
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
- Leadership | IWC List 2026
The Independent Writers' Caucus is guided in its efforts to lead its membership into eligibility with the Writers Guild of America by its leadership - which includes the guidance of the Board. The Board is comprised of Howard A. Rodman, Meg LeFauve, Lorien McKenna, Nitza Wilon, Elizabeth Kaiden (of The Writers Lab), Garrick Dion and AJ Feuerman. Independent Writers' Caucus Chairs and Board Members IWC Chairs - 2025 Our Chairs are members of the IWC whose leadership helps elevate all of our members and bring opportunity to the organization James Moorer James, one of the newest co-chairs to serve with the IWC brings the same passion for helping he created while working for Roadmap Writers. James proudly serves on several committes including Diversity and New Membership. James is also a champion for writers with disabilities and helping writers understand the business of screenwriting. Kimberley Sparks Kim has been a member of the IWC since the organization’s inception, and she became a Chair in 2023. She is happy to serve on the Script Challenge, Meet and Greet, and New Members committees. She is dedicated to helping writers of film, television, and video games develop and further their careers Kim Turner Kim has been a Chair since the IWC's inception in 2021. She is proud to serve in Leadership as well as a member of the Marketing/PR/Merchandise; Finance; Best of the IWC; and New Membership committees. She is an engaged advocate for emerging writers and enjoys building relationships that help to bring opportunity to the group. Rich Orstad Rich joined IWC in 2024, volunteered for Finance Committee, and became Treasurer later that year as IWC pursues 501c6 non-profit status. Passionate about storytelling and helping others to do so, Rich brings this same passion to the future of IWC’s growth, outreach, and stability as Chair. IWC Board of Directors - 2025 Carolyn Kras is a Co-founding Member of the IWC and former Co-chair. She has developed projects for 20th TV Studio, Escape Artists, Welle, and more. Her awards include the Alfred P. Sloan First Place Screenwriting Award, Hamptons International Film Festival Screenwriters Lab, Visionary Playwright Award, New York Television Festival Official Selection, Plume & Pellicule Screenwriting Award, Middlebury Script Lab Selection, Hearst Creative Artist Fellowship, and a Fulbright to the United Kingdom. Carolyn Kras AJ Feuerman AJ FEUERMAN is a PR and social media executive representing a diverse client roster across the entertainment industry. AJ founded @ajfeuerman Communications in January 2018; clients have included agencies (i.e., Rogers & Cowan PMK), indie studios and distributors (Gravitas, Freestyle, VMI), podcasts and individual talent, among others. As Valhalla Entertainment’s VP of Publicity and Marketing, she directed all publicity, social media and marketing efforts for the industry stalwart, best known for titles like The Terminator, The Abyss and “The Walking Dead.” AJ was previously VP of Communications at influencer marketing agency QYOU and was the Director of PR and Social Media for global film distributor, Gravitas Ventures. Elizabeth co-founded The Writers Lab with Nitza Wilon in 2015, and they co-produce the flagship international lab based in New York, plus labs in the UK, Europe, Canada, in addition to global virtual programming for audiences in Africa, Australia and more. Elizabeth is also a founding Partner, with Nitza, of Women in the Script Trade (WIST), where she works individually with exceptional women screenwriters. WIST developed and ran the Athena Screenwriting Labs alongside the Athena FIlm Festival from 2016 to 2019. Elizabeth previously served as Head of Development at Tangerine Entertainment, an independent production company that produces films directed by women, and has mentored at Stowe Story Labs. A former theater and film critic and graduate of Princeton and the Yale School of Drama, she lives in New York with her family. Elizabeth Kaiden Nitza Wilon Nitza co-founded The Writers Lab with Elizabeth Kaiden in 2015, and they co-produce the flagship international lab based in New York, plus labs in the UK, Europe, Canada, in addition to global virtual programming for audiences in Africa, Australia and more. Nitza is also a founding Partner, with Elizabeth, of Women in the Script Trade (WIST), where she works individually with exceptional women screenwriters. WIST developed and ran the Athena Screenwriting Labs alongside the Athena FIlm Festival from 2016 to 2019. Prior to committing to script development for women, Nitza was an actor, journalist, and magazine and book editor. She earned her BA from the Annenberg School of Communications at UPenn. In addition to her work advocating for women in film, Nitza is a writer and voice actor. She lives in New York City with her family. Lorien McKenna Lorien McKenna is an Emmy-nominated and NAACP Image Award-winning writer. As a Story Manager at Pixar Animation Studios, Lorien worked on UP, BRAVE, INSIDE OUT, and THE GOOD DINOSAUR . She was the Development Producer on several animated features at Paramount Animation and was the Co-Executive Producer for CURIOUS GEORGE for the TV series and animated feature films. She has written and developed for platforms including NBC, Hulu, Comedy Central, and Netflix. Lorien has also worked on multiple projects for the CGI media based attraction studio Red Raion, and as a script editor for Screen Australia, Screen Queensland, and Screen Ireland. Recently, she was the Showrunner for the Emmy-winning YouTube/Kids at Play preschool show TAB TIME . A mentor for the Cinestory Foundation and the Nostos Screenwriting Retreats, Lorien also served as an adjunct professor for St. Mary’s College of California, where she received her BA and MFA. Meg LeFauve An Oscar Nominated writer, Meg LeFauve won an Annie Award for writing Pixar’s blockbuster Inside Out and its sequel, Inside Out 2 . She also wrote Pixar’s Golden Globe nominated film “The Good Dinosaur” and was a writer on Marvel’s “Captain Marvel.” She adapted the classic book “My Father’s Dragon” for Netflix and Cartoon Saloon in 2022. She began her career running Jodie Foster’s Egg Pictures , developing and producing films nominated for an Emmy, a Golden Globe, a Spirit Award and she won a Peabody Award. A world wide consultant, she has taught at AFI and UCLA Graduate Film School, and is a returning mentor at The Writer’s Lab (sponsored by Meryl Streep), the Sundance Creative Labs and is a mentor and Board Member of the CineStory Script Sessions . Garrick Dion is a former VP of Development at Brön, following an 8-year run in a similar role with Bold Films. At Bold, Garrick was involved with such acclaimed projects as Damien Chazelle's Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning drama Whiplash; Nicholas Winding Refn's Drive; the coming-of-age drama Middle of Nowhere starring Anton Yelchin and Susan Sarandon; Sony Pictures' sci-fi sequel Starship Troopers: Marauder , and Lost River , the forthcoming directorial debut of actor Ryan Gosling. He has overseen a slate of projects that includes Robert Rodriguez's live-action remake of Ralph Bakshi & Frank Frazetta's Fire and Ice; and screenwriter Dan Gilroy's directorial debut Nightcrawler starring Jake Gyllenhaal. Prior to joining Bold, he worked in feature development for producers Joel Silver (The Matrix ) and Denise DiNovi (Batman). Garrick Dion Howard A. Rodman Howard A. Rodman is a screenwriter, author and educator. He is the former President of the Writers Guild of America, West; professor and former chair of the writing division at the USC School of Cinematic Arts; and an artistic director of the Sundance Institute Screenwriting Labs. Rodman is a Governor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He is a member of the National Film Preservation Board, which advises Librarian of Congress on the annual selection of films to the National Film Registry, and on national film preservation planning policy. He also serves on the Brown University President’s Advisory Council on the Arts. AJ Feuerman Elizabeth Kaiden Nitza Wilon
- Best of the IWC 2024 | IWC List 2026
The 2024 list of the best 20 scripts by IWC writers. 2024 Best of the IWC 2024's Top 20 Scripts by Independent Writers' Caucus Members Other Years' Best of the IWC Lists 2026 2025
- Laura Mannino | IWC List 2026
< Back Laura Mannino lauramannino@gmail.com http://www.lauramannino.com The Black List While growing up in White Plains, New York, Laura desperately wanted to play the Head Bitch In Charge Duchess in a school production of Twelfth Night. She was cast as the funny maid who hangs out with drunks instead. That set Laura up nicely for a life of performing stand-up, sketch, and improv at bars, former strip clubs, current yoga studios, and actual dungeons throughout NYC and LA after graduating from NYU and UCB. Credits include Consulting Producer on MTV's Loveline with Amber Rose and Quibi's Sexology with Shan and Sketch Writer for Awestruck's Asshole Parents. Laura has also written for Ora TV, Disney Television Animation, Viacom Velocity, Here TV, and A&E Networks Digital. Laura adapted her half-hour pilot, Bodice Rippers, into an audio drama. In her Substack, Flossing in the Apocalypse, Laura reflects on grief, eldest daughter syndrome, and bearing witness to systemic collapse as her perimenopausal hormones try to kill her. But it's funny. Promise! Passionate about progressive politics, Laura has written social media and voter-engagement videos for The Hometown Project, which pairs celebrities with down-ballot candidates. She also founded the grassroots gun reform group Drain The NRA, which has been covered by The New York Times, CNN, and The Hollywood Reporter, and worked as a field organizer for Elizabeth Warren's 2020 presidential campaign. Laura lives in Los Angeles with her husband, son, and terrier, Ruffles. Honors & Awards Fiction Podcast Second Rounder, Austin Film Festival Screenplay Competition - BODICE RIPPERS Audio Drama - 2025 Comedy Semifinalist and Scholarship Winner, CineStory Foundation TV Retreat - BODICE RIPPERS - 2024 Grand Prize Winner, Roadmap Writers Top Tier Competition - BODICE RIPPERS - 2023 Non-WGA/Caucus Only Female, 40+ BODICE RIPPERS Half-Hour TV Rom-Com Buddy Comedy BRIDGERTON meets HACKS with a wink & a nod to OUTLANDER When a romance fanfiction writer who prefers her laptop over the limelight helps a runaway princess in the Scottish Highlands, she’s thrust into a media firestorm and into the arms of the celebrity of her secret fantasies. STORM THE CASTLE Half-Hour TV Workplace Comedy ABBOTT ELEMENTARY meets PARKS & RECREATION In this modern Robin Hood, obedient Robin returns to her hometown of Sherwood, NJ. There she finds her merry band of rogues to steal back what Sheryl Nottingham, the corrupt exec of Joust Castle, took from its workers to save her family’s legacy. BLOOD SISTERS Supernatural Comedy Feature PRACTICAL MAGIC meets SHAUN OF THE DEAD After the unexpected death of her mom, an uptight interior designer and her goth daughter tap into their secret witch powers to stop a vampire beauty influencer and a very distant relative, from taking over their small town with a witchy past. Character-driven, Female-centric, Romantic, Satire, Bittersweet, Silly, Late Night, Sketch Female, 40+ unrepped
- Lisa Kenner Grissom | IWC List 2026
< Back Lisa Kenner Grissom lisa.kenner@gmail.com 310-770-8887 https://lisakennergrissom.com Coverfly The Black List Lisa is a Boston-born, LA-based award-winning playwright, screenwriter, and producer who writes comedic dramas and dramatic comedies. She is known for creating multi-layered characters, exploring the complexity of human emotions, and finding levity in discomfort. Lisa wrote and produced the multiple award-winning short film, TATTOO YOU, which has screened at 15+ film festivals nationally and internationally. Lisa is currently on a jag writing about female Jewish resistance fighters and is generally drawn to writing stories about fascinating, undiscovered, badass women, set either in the past or today. Her hour-long TV Pilot, FANIA IN THE FOREST, was a Top 5 ScreenCraft Screenwriting Fellowship Finalist, among other accolades. Additional TV and Film projects include FOLLOWING FANIA, a documentary in development, and the comedy feature, GROWN-UP BULLY. In the works is a feature adaptation of her award-winning, critically-acclaimed play, HERE COMES THE NIGHT. In addition to the IWC, Lisa is a proud member of The Dramatist Guild, Playwrights Union, and Reboot. Lisa is a graduate of Wesleyan University and received her MFA in Stage and Screen at Lesley University. When she’s not typing away, she’s probably walking on a beach, taking in some art, or listening to live music. Fun fact: Lisa played left wing for her Division 3 collegiate women’s ice hockey team. Honors & Awards IWC Best Of Selection - FANIA IN THE FOREST - 2026 Top 5 Finalist - ScreenCraft Screenwriting Fellowship - FANIA IN THE FOREST - 2022 non-WGA Female, Over 40 FANIA IN THE FOREST (TV hour-long Drama - A SMALL LIGHT meets WE WERE THE LUCKY ONES ) When a rebellious 16 year-old Jewish girl narrowly escapes the Vilna ghetto for the forest to join a group of young resistance fighters intent on disrupting the Nazi war machine, her goal to find her scattered family will test the safety of the entire brigade. GROWN-UP BULLY (Comedy Feature) When Tammy, the bully who never grew up and never left her small town, learns that her teenage daughter is being bullied, she embarks on a mission to seek forgiveness from her high school target, redeem herself as a mom, and grow up—even if it means finally leaving her hometown to do it. Character-driven, Female-centric, Historical/Alternative History, Coming-of-Age, Limited Series, Bittersweet, Snarky, Naturalistic Female, Over 40 unrepped
- Marie D. Jones | IWC List 2026
< Back Marie D. Jones James Moorer - One Moorer Management IMDB Marie D. Jones is a screenwriter with two produced films, “Secrets Beneath the Floorboards,” which premiered on Lifetime Movie Network and currently airs on Amazon Prime under the name “House of Lies;” She also wrote the romantic comedy, “Mistletoe Connection,” which airs on UPtv. She wrote and co-produced three short films that made the festival circuit, including two for RockChalk Pictures, and a Stephen King Dollar Baby film titled “Graduation Afternoon.” Her sci fi, horror, and thriller scripts have placed highly in many major competitions and she has optioned several projects in the past. She was recently chosen as a winner of the 2025 Story Farm Fellowship. Marie is also the author of 30 non-fiction books on the paranormal, cutting-edge science, UFOs, human development, health and wellness, and unknown anomalies. She is a former MUFON field investigator and a trained disaster preparedness responder. She has appeared on The History Channel’s “Ancient Aliens” and on over 2,500 radio shows and podcasts worldwide and is a staff writer for New Dawn Magazine. Her articles have appeared in dozens of print and online publications. She is a published novelist, including the horror novel The Dim, and has written a line of disaster preparedness eBooks as well as over two dozen specialty journals. She lives in San Diego, CA with her son, Max, two dogs, and a cat. Her website is www.mariedjones.com. Non-WGA/Caucus-only Member Female CRASH Grounded SciFi/Thriller - Manifest meets Close Encounters An air disaster expert and a park ranger find evidence of a massive cover-up involving a mysterious plane crash with no bodies recovered and reports of a possible UFO in the sky when the plane went down. BLACK DESERT Horror/Thriller - The Thing meets Predator A Marine unit led by a female sergeant must defeat an army of deadly supernatural beings while on a desert training mission that prey on their individual fears. SENTINELS Horror/Thriller Storm of the Century meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers A single mother and her autistic son team with a disillusioned pastor to escape their mind-controlled neighbors and the mysterious entities surrounding their town after the boy hears a series of numbers on a radio station warning of an alien invasion. Female-centric, Thriller, Romantic, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Psychological, Horror, Limited Series Female unrepped
- Lisa Gold | IWC List 2026
< Back Lisa Gold lisasmgold@gmail.com http://www.lisamgold.com Coverfly Writer/director Lisa Gold grew up all over North America, leaving her confused and also Canadian. Dual citizen Lisa now lives in Long Beach, which looks out at oil derricks disguised as palm trees. Perfect for Lisa, who loves dressing up painful truths in unique genre material. Lisa wrote and/or directed eight award-winning short films which played in 100 festivals. Her screenplays won a 2024 PAGE Bronze Prize, CineStory Screenwriting Award and the Nashville Film Festival Grand Jury Prize; other scripts reached the Finals of the Nicholl Fellowships, PAGE Awards and Script Pipeline TV Competition. She twice reached the Austin Semi-Finals with a feature and a TV pilot. Lisa is currently completing a YA sci-fi novel based on her script, while also working on a couple of alarmingly timely TV and feature scripts. With a B.A. from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from UCLA, Lisa recently worked way her downward, receiving an A.A. in cinema production from Los Angeles City College. A graduate of Second City Conservatory, Lisa performed improv comedy at crappy coffeehouses all over LA. Honors & Awards Winner, Bronze Prize, PAGE International Screenwriting Awards - THE SECRET OF SHANGRI-LA, 2024 Finalist, The Writers Lab Canada - CANADA RESISTS - 2024 Finalist, PAGE International Screenwriting Awards - FOREGLOW - 2021 non-WGA Female, disabled, Over 40 CANADA RESISTS (TV action-thriller pilot - a reverse THE AMERICANS meets Norwegian thriller series OCCUPIED , with more satire/female empowerment like DIPLOMAT ) Following a far-right wing U.S. government takeover of Canada, a Toronto hockey mom becomes the unlikely leader of the secret Canadian resistance…pitting her against her CIA husband. THE SECRET OF SHANGRI-LA (family action-adventure feature - a kid-centric RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK meets the fun of HARRY POTTER .) Following clues left by his late mother, BRANDON, 11, tricks his emotionally distant father into taking them on a perilous but healing journey to the mythical paradise of Shangri-La. TRIPPIN’ (YA sci-fi time travel pilot - DEAD TO ME meets CRUEL SUMMER) After her little sister is killed, snarky artist Lexy, 16, loses her voice. Along with brother Kyle, 17, she travels back to the past to save their sister, but instead ends up creating alternate realities, upending her family and her high school’s social order. Character-driven, Female-centric, Crime, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, YA, Snarky Female, disabled, Over 40 unrepped
- Catherine Vouvray | IWC List 2026
< Back Catherine Vouvray cathvouvray@gmail.com http://commelevin.com Coverfly Catherine Vouvray grew up gay in God’s country – the bible belt South – fearing for her life at home with mentally ill parents and out in the rural world, where those in the LGBTQIA+ community were killed for sport. Education saved her life, but writing saved her soul. Her work is focused on empathy, relationships, mental health, and finding the funny in dark times. A published short story writer and produced writer/director, Vouvray’s mission is to add to queer cinema while often placing older (gasp!) women at the epicenter of stories ranging from comedy to drama, to rom-com, to family, and finally, to animation. Oh, and yes, she also writes straight stuff for the youth. Vouvray is in post-production on her first independent feature film, All Wounds , which apparently needs a new title because it isn't a horror. Her influences include Waller-Bridges, Sciamma, Gaudagnino, and Manuel-Miranda. When not indulging in filmmaking, Vouvray writes novels, including The Months of Payne. Catherine is currently a proud fellow of the Michener Center for Writers. Honors & Awards Universal Global Talent Development & Inclusion - Semifinalist - LES GO! - 2021 non-WGA Female, LGBTQ+, 40+ LES GO! Lesbian rom-com After using a lesbian-dating app to research a new role and accidentally meeting Ms. Right, a lonely, middle-aged movie star must redefine what love and career mean to her before she loses both. AUTHOR OF THE EPILOGUE romantic dramedy An elderly woman journeys home to England with her husband's ghost to reconnect with the love she left behind--a woman--before her son puts her in a nursing home. CODENAME: MAME 1/2 hour TV spy comedy An insular, sexy, sixty-year-old spy forced into retirement secretly continues targeting an international crime syndicate who then comes after her and her first-ever friends in the retirement community where she's gone undercover. Character-driven, Female-centric, Queer, Romantic, Historical/Alternative History, International Female, LGBTQ+, 40+ unrepped
- Best of the IWC 2025 | IWC List 2026
The 2025 list of the best 20 scripts by IWC writers. 2025 Best of the IWC 2025's Top 20 Scripts by Independent Writers' Caucus Members Other Years' Best of the IWC Lists 2026 2024








