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< Back Emelie Svensson emelie.norrahammar@gmail.com The Black List Shaped by pivotal moments in her life, she turned to storytelling as a way to transform personal experience into narratives with universal resonance. She primarily writes feature films about people who struggle to let go of the life they had when circumstances force them into a new reality. Her work balances emotional depth with moments of lightness and explores how connection, community, and resilience emerge in the face of unwanted change. Emelie is the creator and owner of a trademarked creative brand that serves as the foundation for her first children’s book, currently in development, as well as three completed feature screenplays based on the same intellectual property. She has also produced and directed an animated teaser trailer for one of these projects. She holds the film rights to the life of Jayden “Mozzie” Irving, an Australian stuntman who survived 25 days imprisoned in a notorious Democratic Republic of the Congo prison after a traveling adventure went horribly wrong. She is currently writing a television pilot inspired by selected aspects of his life story. Emelie is collaborating with a British producer on two projects, including a historically based script developed in close consultation with a postdoctoral historian to ensure historical accuracy. Honors & Awards BRONZE PRIZE, Short Film, The PAGE International Screenwriting Awards - INTO THE DARKNESS - 2024 non-WGA/Caucus only Female INTO THE DARKNESS Historical Drama Feature BILLY ELLIOT meets LEAN ON PETE In 1930s Wales, a proud coal miner whose body is failing takes a job with the pit ponies. Torn between tradition and the hope of a better life for his family, he forms an unlikely bond with one of the ponies as he struggles to leave the mine before it breaks him. HATING CHRISTMAS Romantic Comedy, Holiday Feature THE GRINCH meets BAD MOMS When a divorced mother who hates Christmas is kidnapped by Santa and taken to the North Pole, she must rediscover her Christmas spirit to help him save the holiday before she is allowed to return home to her children. SHAKA Sports Drama Feature SOUL SURFER meets THE INTOUCHABLES When a horrific accident leaves him paralyzed, an arrogant world-champion surfer struggles to adapt to life in a wheelchair and find meaning beyond the waves. Character-driven, Romantic, Sci-Fi, Historical/Alternative History Female unrepped

< Back Terri C. Viani Rep: James Moorer, james@onemoorer.com IMDB Terri Coduri Viani started her screenwriting career on Disney/ABC's hit show, Brand Spanking New Doug. After Disney, she freelanced in New York City before moving to New England to write for The Westerly (RI) Sun and The Stonebridge Press rural newspaper group while also turning her attention back to screenwriting. She recently sold a romcom to Crown Media and a feature film dramedy to Wilkidoos Productions. Terri lived and traveled around the world as a teen, including Saudi Arabia and the Soviet Union. She spent her high school years at an all-girls boarding school in the English countryside and now resides in Connecticut with one husband and three cats. Terri writes comedies, romcoms, and feel-good dramedies about offbeat characters searching for their misplaced piece of the American dream and a place to call home. WGA Associate Female, 55+ THE LAST VIDEO STORE IN ALASKA Rom-com You've Got Mail meets Always Be My Maybe Childhood sweethearts turned adult enemies find themselves falling for each other again under an intoxicating mix of nostalgia and the Northern Lights when they discover they co-own the last (and failing) video store in Alaska. HANGRY Comedy-Horror The Golden Girls meets The Exorcist Four gutsy seniors vow to battle their small-town mayor and his rapacious plans to develop their tiny bucolic town, unaware the timid mayor has sold his soul to a charming but insatiable demon who promises the mayor the power he craves - in exchange for the flesh of the mayor's enemies." Character-driven, Female-centric, Bittersweet, Silly, Snarky Female, 55+

< Back Jami Brandli jamibrandli@gmail.com http://www.jamibrandli.com Coverfly Jami Brandli has developed TV projects for Fish Ladder and Jonathan Steinberg and Dan Shotz, and was a finalist for the Disney/ABC Writing Program. She’s an award-winning playwright whose storytelling is inspired by the chaos of growing up in her family’s Italian restaurant in Jersey, her love of myths, mysteries and magical realism, her background in education and her desire to bring to light the lives of extraordinary people who you most likely never heard of. She is the winner of the 2023 Jane Chambers Award and the Stanley Drama Award for her play The Magician’s Sister. Her play BLISS (or Emily Post is Dead!) was named on The Kilroys List and was a LA Times Critics’ Choice. Her work has been produced/developed at New Dramatists, NY Theatre Workshop, Women’s Voices Theater Festival, Center Theatre Group, among other venues. Additional accolades: 2022 Center Theatre Group Writer’s Workshop. Nominated for Best Playwriting for an Original Play; Los Angeles Ovation Awards. Humanitas Prize PLAY LA playwright fellow. Finalist for the PEN Literary Award for Drama. Upcoming play productions/presentations for 2025: The Magician’s Sister at Center for the Arts at Kayenta, St. George, UT. O: A Rhapsody in Divorce at Outside In Theatre, LA. The Romeo and Juliet Senior Citizens Project at Coachella Valley Rep. She has her MFA from Emerson College and teaches dramatic writing at Lesley University's low-residency MFA program. Visit her website for more info about upcoming projects. Honors & Awards The Jane Chambers Playwriting Award - Winner - The Magician's Sister - 2023 The Writers Lab supported by Meryl Streep - Quarterfinalist - MADAM - 2022 non-WGA Female, 40+ THE GUARDIANSHIP Feature - Buffy meets The Karate Kid with a side of Beowulf Outsider teen Ellie is shocked to discover her family are Guardians, secret warriors who protect their town from evil creatures hell-bent on killing humans. As she's mentored by her stern grandmother, Ellie struggles to be a “normal” teen while training to save humanity. HOPE Hour YA sci-fi thriller Set in the near future, HOPE is LOST in a sanatorium with an unlikely female teen hero who goes from party girl to one badass fighter tasked with gathering a motley crew to save the world from a superbug and a corporate government conspiracy. MADAM Hour drama Based on the extraordinary life of Norma Wallace. New Orleans, 1934. When Alvin Karpis, FBI’s “most wanted”, overstays his welcome at Norma’s brothel, she makes a secret deal with the FBI to help capture Karpis. With one false move, Norma could not only lose everything she has fought for…but also her life. Character-driven, Female-centric, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Historical/Alternative History, Coming-of-Age, YA, Magical Realism Female, 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 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 Diana Romero dianaromerowriter@gmail.com One Moorer Productions - James Moorer http://www.dianaromero.net After initially supporting at-risk youth in Hollywood as a social worker, Diana embarked on a journey of writing and producing film and television. Her firsthand encounters with incarcerated, runaway, and homeless adolescents fueled her passion for social justice. This commitment, coupled with her expertise in writing and production, led her to create the award-winning film Niña Quebrada, which dives into the realities of sex trafficking. Despite finding herself reliant on a wheelchair in 2018, Diana remained committed to her pursuit of creative expression. Transitioning into TV writing, she contributed to projects like CW’s 4400 and Freeform’s Good Trouble. She also wrote episodes of the web series, My Life is Worth Living. With a BA in social work from Whittier College and an MFA from the American Film Institute, Diana's approach is evident in her work. She has garnered acclaim through various fellowships, including the PGA's Power of Diversity Master Workshop and as a semi-finalist in the highly competitive Disney Writing Program, demonstrating her commitment to inclusivity and empowerment. Currently, Diana has written a solo show based on her experiences as a 1st generation American born in Kansas. The show will debut in 2025. Beyond her career, Diana finds joy in swimming, comedy, and playing with her dogs. Honors & Awards Best Theatrical Short nominee, Imagen Awards 2008 - Niña Quebrada Special Mention, Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival 2009 - Niña Quebrada Graduate/Fellow, PGA Power of Diversity Master Workshop 2019 non-WGA Female, Latinx, Disabled, 40+ BLOOD TIES (Detective Procedural) A wheelchair using detective and her charismatic detective step-brother with a turbulent past, tackle an international manhunt, pursuing an elusive murder suspect with no name. As they unravel complex cases, personal demons surface, testing bonds and redemption in the heart of a gripping, far-reaching investigation BEHIND THE HALO: TRAFFICKED (Detective Procedural) An LAPD detective in the Human Trafficking Unit solves cases by day and goes rogue at night where she stops at nothing to serve justice, while keeping another secret: she herself is a former victim of sex trafficking. IT'S THE SMALL BIG THINGS (Family Drama: This Is Us meets Firefly Lane) A misfit struggles to fit in during three pivotal stages of her life—as a misunderstood child, as a newly hired social worker, and as a determined wheelchair. Character-driven, Female-centric, Crime, Procedural, Coming-of-Age, Limited Series Female, Latinx, Disabled, 40+ Repped

< Back Craig T. Williams redwallproductions@gmail.com http://www.redwallproductions.com/ A native New Yorker, Craig is a writer and producer at Red Wall Productions, a film production company he founded over twenty years ago with his wife and partner of 22 years, Rosalyn Coleman Williams. Together, they have created over 50 film projects, including features, documentaries, and narrative short films. His journey landed him his first staff writing job on the hit TV show "TERROR LAKE DRIVE" on ALLBLK, an AMC Streamer. Craig was part of the prestigious Warner Brothers Discovery TV Writer’s Program. His feature film “Black Boys Don't Sew” has Academy Award Winner Viola Davis and her husband Julius Tennon attached as Executive Producers. Craig has many scripts in various stages of development including the award winning one-hour TV pilot “How Ya Like Me Now,” about the ‘80s rap rivalry between Kool Moe Dee and LL Cool J. A one hour mystery procedural “The Connectors,” set in the Bronx, 2 women who discover they were born on the same day to the same father, create an agency that reconnects lost family. Honors & Awards Warner Brothers Discovery All Access TV Writers Program (2021) Gotham Film and Media - “Series Creator to Watch” IFP Episodic Lab non-WGA Male, Black, 55+ CALL ME DADDY (half hour comedy) Tired of waiting for Mrs. Right, an emotionally stunted 30 year old man decides to have a baby on his own to be the father he never had. BLACK BOYS DON'T SEW (feature drama) An untreated bipolar artist discovers his 11 year-old nephew has been diagnosed with the same illness, he kidnaps him to show him a life free of pills Character-driven, BIPOC-centric, Procedural Male, Black, 55+ Repped

< 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

< Back Elise Salomon https://againstthewindproductions.com/ Coverfly The Black List Elise Salomon is an award-winning storyteller based in Los Angeles whose projects have been featured at international festivals and markets including Sundance, SXSW, IDFA, FrightFest, Stowe Story Labs, Austin Film Festival, Galway Film Fleadh, Frontières and Cannes. A proud graduate of Pitzer College with a BA in Media Studies, she produced PAPER HEART, co-produced SMASHED and directed and produced LOS WILD ONES. Her writing embodies themes of trauma, trust, truth and transformation. She believes in storytelling as a universal tool to foster engagement, compassion and meaningful discourse. Elise continues to be a fierce advocate for diversity and pursues projects with iconic characters and an all-encompassing aesthetic. Recently invited as a new member into the Independent Writers’ Caucus, she has also been selected for the Austin Film Festival's "Screenwriters to Watch” List 2025. Honors & Awards Austin Film Festival Screenwriters to Watch 2025 Finalist - CAOINEADH - Austin Film Festival 2023 Selection - INSIDE - Cannes Marche du Film Frontières Genre Proof of Concept Platform 2019 non-WGA Female, 40+ INSIDE (Haunting of Hill House meets MOTHMAN PROPHECIES) On Ireland’s mystical Aran Islands, an American therapist arrives to treat a recently widowed composer imprisoned in his remote cottage by agoraphobia - and learns the terrifying possibility that the true source of his suffering may be a dark force rooted in the land itself. CAOINEADH (A supernatural Romeo & Juliet) In the West of Ireland, Brona and Cormac are two lost souls brought together by a terrible accident. Their fated union bonds them with the kind of love only written about, but a series of eerie events plague them...and propel them toward fulfilling their dark destiny. URD | SKULD (THE SHINING meets THE WICKER MAN) A young American couple attempts to mend their strained relationship as they travel on a tight budget to the Austrian Alps for Christmas — as their troubles are laid bare, something much more sinister and powerful than they have ever known awakens. Character-driven, Female-centric, Thriller, Psychological, Horror, Limited Series, International Female, 40+ Repped

< Back Hank Isaac pointsource@gmail.com http://www.hankthewriter.com Hank Isaac is a screenwriter and filmmaker who has enjoyed a varied career. The only child of a motion picture executive and a professional dancer, Hank experienced a fanciful childhood. He married his college sweetheart and they are somewhat of an anomaly – they're still married to each other after more than half a century. Hank has worked as a middle school teacher, a college professor, a sailing school manager & instructor, a research director, a product designer, an exhibit designer, a radio station disc jockey, and a toy store owner. He is a former U.S. Naval Officer who served on active duty during the Vietnam conflict. Hank and his wife lived on a boat for eleven years and raised a genius daughter in a toy store. Hank began writing feature films in 1994 and was fortunate to have been mentored by the late legendary Stewart Stern (Rebel without a Cause; Rachel, Rachel; Man without a Country; Sybil). He started directing in 2006 and since then, he and his work have been “Official Selections” in over one hundred international film festivals and awards competitions and have won more than fifty awards. Additionally, his screenplays and teleplays have been finalists and semi-finalists in more than three dozen writing competitions. Non-WGA/Caucus-only Member Male, 40+, 55+ KYLA'S WAR TV Series - Historical Drama In WWII Poland, a twelve-year-old girl is the pampered pigtailed daughter of a respected surgeon by day and, by night, a Resistance fighter who is quickly becoming the scourge of the Third Reich. OLIVIANA Family TV Series & Middle-Grade Novel Against an ever-increasing set of seemingly insurmountable situations, a little girl struggles to build and run a tiny cargo-carrying railroad to try to save her town from economic ruin and in the process learns a trainload of life lessons. ATOM & EVE Feature Film - Family - Drama Without enough air to journey to each other's habitat, two children, the isolated last survivors of a failed planetary colony, must devise a way for one to rescue the other in the face of a life-threatening disaster. Character-driven, Female-centric, Sci-Fi, Coming-of-Age, YA, Animation, Limited Series, Magical Realism Male, 40+, 55+ unrepped

< Back Lisa Kors lisamkors@gmail.com https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1131495/ A daughter of immigrants, Lisa Kors was raised near Yonkers, NY. Her love of storytelling was shaped by a dad who played handball with FBI guys and a social worker mom whose clients kept finding dead bodies on the job. (Yonkers was a big garbage mafia town back then, so maybe not so weird…?) By second grade, Lisa could tell a story that would scare the bejesus out of her friends. To this day, Lisa likes writing stories about good people making bad choices for excellent reasons. She is also an excellent parallel parker. Honors & Awards Coverfly Top 2% of Thriller/Horror TV Pilots - THE DRAGON OF HANDALE - 2022 Finalist, We Screenplay Diverse Voices Competition - THE DRAGON OF HANDALE - 2022 Finalist, ScreenCraft Horror Competition - THE DRAGON OF HANDALE - 2022 non-WGA Female, Non-binary THE DRAGON OF HANDALE TV, Drama Based on a popular British novel, The Dragon of Handale is a medieval whodunnit that follows a badass young widow who investigates a gruesome series of murders at the convent where bad nuns are sent to be punished. PRINCES' HOSPITAL TV, Drama (GREY'S ANATOMY x HOMELAND) Inspired by a real hospital in Saudi Arabia, PRINCES' HOSPITAL is a one-hour drama that follows the adventures of the extravagantly paid ex-pat doctors and nurses who treat only the 20,000 members of the royal family. Money, rules and secrets abound. FREAKY FURDAY Feature, Comedy Cat-astophe ensues when a pampered show dog and a scrappy feral cat switch bodies right before a high-stakes competition. Female-centric, Medical, Crime, Thriller, Procedural, Psychological, Horror, International Female, Non-binary unrepped

< Back Ann LeSchander Ann.LeSchander@gmail.com IMDB Originally from upstate NY, Ann started as a touring singer in musicals before moving to Los Angeles to record film soundtracks, sparking her passion for storytelling and a pivot to filmmaking. Ann’s historical feature, FREIDEL, won Francis Ford Coppola’s American Zoetrope Competition. As a Creative Director for Sony Pictures Entertainment, Ann has written and directed commercials, trailers, and promos for Sony content including Cinevault, Murder & Mayhem, Sony Movie Channel, Game Show Network, and more. She is the winner of a Promax Gold Award for her “Hellevator Interruptus” campaign with Blumhouse Entertainment. Ann wrote and directed the indie feature THE PARK BENCH, which won “Best Feature” awards in NY, Toronto, Chicago, and Argentina. It is available on multiple streamers and a popular pick in libraries across the US. (The daughter of a librarian, this makes Ann very happy.) Ann holds a BA in English from Colgate University, and MFA from USC School of Cinematic Arts. Honors & Awards Winner - Francis Ford Coppola's American Zoetrope Screenplay Competition - FREIDEL - 2024 Top Ten Final Draft ""Big Break"" (& selected for The Writer's Lab) - PICKING UP PORTER DOUGLAS - 2019 non-WGA Female, 40+ MASTERPIECE Episodic TV Pilot Castle , White Collar After a reckless mistake, a rugged LA Homicide Detective is ""transferred"" to Art Theft thrusting him into LA's billion-dollar art scene. Paired with a snobby art scholar, he tracks crimes through the city while while trying to solve the one murder case that has eluded him." FREIDEL Feature - Historical Action/Adventure Arctic , The Nightingale After her family is murdered in a pogrom, a young Jewish woman embarks on a perilous journey through the Russian wilderness to escape across the border and receives help from an unlikely ally, a young Russian soldier shot for disobeying orders. PICKING UP PORTER DOUGLAS Feature - Comedy Get Him to the Greek , Topsy Turvy An aspiring singer is thrilled to drive famed opera star Porter Douglas to his sold-out concert in upstate New York, until the carousing tenor goes AWOL and she must enlist a former marine to help find him before he ruins her fledgling career. Character-driven, Female-centric, Thriller, Romantic, Naturalistic Female, 40+ unrepped