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< 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

< 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 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

< 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

< 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

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

< Back Robbi D'Allessandro robbidall@gmail.com Robbi writes to bridge societal, political, and relational divides. She does this not through argument or ideology, but by creating engaging storylines with rich, deeply human characters placed in situations that challenge audience’s belief systems and their sense of identity, purpose, and place in the world. One of the most rewarding aspects of Robbi’s career is using her writing to help others. After interviewing parents who lost two of their three children to heroin addiction, she created a piece entitled Damage Done, which is now used to raise funds for organizations that support those struggling with addiction. In the same spirit, her production of Voices of We - a compilation of monologues exploring the personal, societal, and political challenges women face - helped raise funds for both local and national women’s organizations. Robbi was contracted to adapt bestselling author Ronald Drez’s Twenty-Five Yards of War: The Extraordinary Courage of Ordinary Men in World War II as a limited television series, as well as Dean Morrissey’s Ship of Dreams, Monster Trap, and The Great Kettles for screen. Robbi holds a Master of Science in Personality and Social Psychology from Northeastern University, and a Master of Fine Arts in Stage and Screenwriting from Lesley University. Honors & Awards Winner - Kennedy Center Paula Vogel National Playwrights Award - Broken Prayer - 2011 Nominee - Abington Theater Christopher Brian Wolk Award - Broken Prayer – 2012 Best Original Sitcom - New York Screenplay Competition - Outliers - 2014 " non-WGA Female, 55+ AIR WARS A Satirical Tale of American Poli-tainment Present day NYC, Air Wars is a workplace comedy that, through a series of Murdochian events, pits RightLine Media (the ultra-conservative Death Star) and Unity Vision (the liberal mothership) against each other under the same roof. Cue the panic. Cue the mishaps. Cue an uproarious season one. LYING IN WAIT Thriller Everyone wants global wellness-influencer, Isla Beaumont’s life, except Isla. To avoid a legacy of suicide, Isla looks to the dark web where she elicits the help of a savvy psychopath. Little does Isla know that the traumas that plagued her life are nothing compared to the price she’ll pay to be relieved from their grasp. TWENTY-FIVE YARDS OF WAR A WWII Documentary series and/or Docudrama limited series anthology based on Ron Drez’ best-selling book, Twenty-Five Yards of War: The Extraordinary Ordinary Courage of Ordinary Men in WWII. Seven unlikely heroes. Seven untold stories. Seven outcomes that changed the tides of WWII for the better. Character-driven, Female-centric, Thriller, Psychological, Historical/Alternative History, Anthology Female, 55+ unrepped

< Back Adrienne Thorne IMDb Adrienne Thorne is from middle-of-nowhere farm-country in Washington state, where she spent her childhood writing stories in between driving tractors and competing in county fair 4-H contests. In the years since then, Adrienne earned an MBA in film producing and has had a feature script produced. She has also sold a spec to an indie company, and she recently optioned an original YA dramedy feature. Adrienne has placed in the Academy Nicholl Fellowship multiple times, in addition to placements in ScreenCraft and Network ISA contests. Having been happily married to her former high school boyfriend for twelve years, Adrienne writes through the lens of the transforming power of both romantic and familial love. When she’s not writing, Adrienne is busy navigating through the non-stop adventure of life with the autistic and other neurodiverse traits that she and most of her five children live with. Honors & Awards Quarterfinalist, Nicholl Fellowship, STUDS - 2020 Quarterfinalist, Nicholl Fellowship, STONES - 2022 Semifinalist, ScreenCraft Virtual Pitch Contest - CAULIFLOWER QUEEN 2024 Non-WGA/Caucus-only Member Female, Disabled BULLSH!T Action-Comedy - a lighter COCAINE BEAR meets the country feel of TWISTERS A screwup ranch-hand and his hapless buddies work in real time to catch the raging bull he accidentally let out, before it wreaks havoc on their small town and his blunder is discovered by his fed-up boss and his newly-pregnant, long-suffering girlfriend. CAULIFLOWER QUEEN Animated family comedy - CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS meets THE PRINCESS DIARIES An idealistic teenage beauty queen fights against an unscrupulous potato chip company mogul who wants to pave her town’s beloved farmland, while she unknowingly falls for his son. STONES Coming-of-age dramedy - LADY BIRD meets QUIZ LADY An impetuous teenage farm girl seeks freedom from her all-male household on a trip to a national dairy knowledge bowl competition, despite her overbearing brother coming along as chaperone. Character-driven, Western, Romantic, Coming-of-Age, YA, Animation, Snarky Female, Disabled unrepped

The annual list of the best 20 scripts by IWC writers. 2026 Best of the IWC This Year's Top Scripts by Independent Writers' Caucus Members Previous Best of the IWC Lists 2025 2024

< Back Shauna Ray Ratapu Shaunarayratapu@gmail.com http://shaunarayratapu.com The Black List Shauna Ray Ratapu (she/her) is a California-born, Aotearoa/New Zealand-seasoned Gen X storyteller whose work blurs the line between the tragic and the absurd. A former high school drama teacher and theater company owner, she now writes women-centric, character-driven dark comedies infused with serendipity and a touch of magical realism. A Page Awards Semifinalist, Stowe Story Labs Semifinalist, and two-time Austin Film Festival Second Rounder, Shauna draws inspiration from a life raised by a single, alcoholic archaeologist mother and a bar-owning, gunslinging grandmother — figures who taught her that chaos and humor often share the same barstool. After nearly two decades in Aotearoa/New Zealand, Shauna returned to Southern California in 2019. Her writing carries the layered textures of both worlds, shaped by her Māori husband of 30 years and their three exceptionally talented grown-ass children — two queer, two women, all Indigenous, and one disabled. Through them, and through her cross-cultural lens, Shauna explores the beautifully messy intersections of identity, resilience, and belonging. Honors & Awards Semifinalist, The Page Awards - HEN - 2025 Second Rounder, Austin Film Festival - STARS ALSO DIE - 2025 Semifinalist, STOWE STORY LABS FELLOWSHIP AWARDS - 2024 Non-WGA/Caucus-only Member Female, 55+ STARS ALSO DIE Feature | Darkly Comedic Family Drama HIS THREE DAUGHTERS meets THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS but with a cosmic twist When their emotionally abusive, Carl Sagan-obsessed mom is put on hospice care, four estranged siblings reunite for a hilariously dark and cosmically chaotic Thanksgiving. HEN Halfhour Dramatic Comedy | Mystery | SciFi In the spirit of HACKS , BETTER THINGS , and a splash of THE GOOD PLACE A sharp-witted empty nester becomes obsessed with a mystical sourdough and the enigmatic TikTok baker behind it, sparking a cosmic unraveling of her reality, identity, and everything she thought she’d already baked in. BIG WHEEL Feature | Darkly Comedic Family Drama THE SKELETON TWINS meets HONEY BOY in THE FLORIDA PROJECT When a helicopter mom with PTSD takes in her recovering “asshole” brother, her suburban sanctuary begins to crumble with every reminder of the feral and fearless little girl she was in 1976. Character-driven, Female-centric, Queer, Coming-of-Age, Dark, International, Magical Realism Female, 55+ Unrepped

< Back Tracy Charlton tkcharlton@gmail.com Tracy attended the University of California, Berkeley where she studied English literature. After graduating, she moved to Los Angeles where she worked in the film industry for several years before relocating to New York City, where she got her master's degree in journalism from Columbia University. Her screenplay RAISED UP was one of the winners of The Writers Lab, which is funded by Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman, and was based on a story she did in journalism school. Her original screenplay THE BUILDING was made into a movie that aired in Canada. She also did an uncredited rewrite on LEONIE, which starred Emily Mortimer and aired in the U.S. and Japan. She is currently in pre-production for her short script EARTH ANSWERS, which was one of the winners of the WeScreenplay Short Script Lab in 2024. Shooting is scheduled for March, 2026 in San Francisco. Tracy currently lives in Marin County with her son and an emotionally needy Golden Retriever named Pickles. Honors & Awards Stowe Story Lab Connemara – CHASING SHAKESPEARE – 2025 IWC Best of List – CHASING SHAKESPEARE and BIG LIFE -- 2025 Austin Film Festival - Second Rounder - CHASING SHAKESPEARE and NANO – 2024 Non-WGA Female, Over 50 CHASING SHAKESPEARE Feature - YA Action-Adventure When a teenage girl's father disappears amid accusations that he stole one of the Shakespeare's First Folios, she must find him and retrieve the Folio by solving a series of Shakespeare-themed clues he left behind. NANO Feature - horror-thriller When a scientist specializing in nano technology pushes her research too far, too fast in order to save her dying husband, she inadvertently creates a monster. A monster one thousand times smaller than a raindrop who learns faster than any A.I. on the planet and quickly has the power to destroy millions. SUKIE & JESSIE’S PUBLIC PARKS TENNIS TEAM Pilot - sports comedy - BAD NEWS BEARS meets GLOW A parks and rec women's' tennis team, misfits all, will be disbanded to make room for pickleball courts if they don’t have a winning season. Female-centric, Crime, Thriller, YA Female, Over 50 unrepped

< Back Dani Hanks danihanks@danihanks.com https://www.danihanks.com Dani Hanks (they/she) is a disabled writer/director based in NYC. Their workplace comedy pilot, THE G.Y.M., won the 2024 Austin Film Festival and will be featured on Table Read at the official podcast stage of SXSW 2026. Dani grew up elbow-deep in human organs at their mom’s pathology lab in Porterville, California. A direct result of inhaling too much formaldehyde in their formative years, they dove headfirst into the entertainment industry and received a BFA in Drama at NYU Tisch. Drawing from their experience as the only purple-haired snowflake in a deeply conservative family, they promote empathy for underrepresented identities through offbeat stories centered around diverse found families. Dani approaches the taboo with both levity and nuance and loves finding humor in the mundane. Dani has worked on projects in development at FilmRise and RKO, and is a fellow of Stowe, Disability Belongs, and the WGAE SSTP. They are a full-time meme connoisseur, part-time AD, former member of Mensa, and have 10 years of experience cutting animal tissue for medical research (much to the dismay of their pet rats). Honors & Awards Winner, Roadmap Coletta Preacely-Garcia Diversity Fellowship - KNOTTY - 2025 ISA's Top 25 Screenwriters to Watch in 2025 - 2025 Winner, Austin Film Festival - THE G.Y.M. - 2024 Non-WGA/Caucus-only Member Female, Non-binary, LGBTQ+, Disabled THE G.Y.M. 1/2 Hour Workplace Comedy – ABBOTT ELEMENTARY in a Planet Fitness When a neurotic woman spends her life savings to rescue her hometown’s infamous gym, she and her ragtag employees must turn their shithole into shinola to compete with the fancy fitness chain across the street. KNOTTY 1-Hour Dramedy Determined to discover what caused her taboo fantasies, a sexually-repressed PhD student infiltrates the BDSM scene under the guise of “research,” but unexpectedly falls in love with this wholesome world of lustful LARPers, Pokémon perverts… and one of her professors. MYSTERY SISTERS 1-Hour Female-led Crime Procedural A reclusive techie with a mysterious past and a crime-junkie wannabe actress hit the road in a ramshackle Winnebago, racing to solve abandoned cases before the trail goes cold. Character-driven, Female-centric, Queer, Medical, Crime, Procedural, Dark, Snarky Female, Non-binary, LGBTQ+, Disabled unrepped