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< Back Nerris Nassiri nerrisnassiri@gmail.com Nerris is a first-generation writer/director committed to crafting bold, original musical films that celebrate his Latino and Asian heritage. Beyond writing, Nerris was the director and host of the Aputure YouTube channel, which, after surpassing 200,000 subscribers, earned the YouTube Creator Award for education in filmmaking. His short films have screened at numerous festivals, and his commercial collaborations with Disney, Cirque du Soleil, The Hype House, and The Mighty have amassed over 750 million views. A UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television graduate, Nerris was the founding president of the university's chapter of Delta Kappa Alpha, the nation’s premiere cinematic arts fraternity. He has been awarded fellowships with The Disruptors, the Minorities in Film Branded Lab, a bespoke fellowship with The Black List, and is a Theatre Now Musical Writing Lab Fellow. Beyond filmmaking, Nerris has lived many lives—piloting airplanes, serving as the photographer for the Mayor of L.A., and performing stand-up at The Comedy Store (where he once opened for John Mayer). Driven by a vision to push the boundaries of musical storytelling, Nerris is redefining the coming-of-age genre with films that spotlight women, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ protagonists overcoming adversity. See more of his work at www.nerrisnassiri.com. Honors & Awards IWC Best Of Selection - 47 Hafez Street - 2026 Winner, Black List Musical Film Fellowship - NO TE OLVIDES Finalist, Austin Film Festival - THE TEACHER Semifinalist, 1497 Lab - KEY CHANGE non-WGA BIPOC, Latinx, Indigenous/Native American, Middle Eastern, Asian, Multi-Ethnic, Disabled NO TE OLVIDES (Latinx Family Musical — MAMMA MIA! meets THE FAREWELL ) When a timid closeted Chicana takes her rambunctious dying grandmother back to their ancestral Mexican village, they both get more than they bargained for when they each start unusual romances that will reveal long-held secrets. KEY CHANGE (Family Dramedy — TICK TICK BOOM meets INSTRUCTIONS NOT INCLUDED ) While preparing for the biggest moment of his career, an overly ambitious and immature music manager is forced to choose between his dreams and his family, when the sudden death of his estranged father leads to the adoption of a sister he never knew he had. THE TEACHER (Coming-of-age Family Drama — THE BREADWINNER meets THE FAREWELL ) To escape her impending arranged marriage, a brilliant Muslim teenager assumes a false identity as a teacher to obtain an American visa and escape the morning of her wedding. Character-driven, Female-centric, BIPOC-centric, Queer, Romantic, Coming-of-Age, YA BIPOC, Latinx, Indigenous/Native American, Middle Eastern, Asian, Multi-Ethnic, Disabled unrepped

< Back Tracy Held tracyheldconsulting@gmail.com https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6326686/ Tracy Held (she/they) is an award-winning, multi-racial Chinese/Eastern European American writer for stage and screen. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Tracy has a background in nonprofit fundraising and conservation science. She is a do-gooder with a heart of puns who writes like Rachel Bloom on PBS. Tracy uses her writing to defeat pessimism and to inspire collaboration and connection. Winner of an Alfred P. Sloan Screenwriting Award, she is a co-founder of Erosion films, founder of All Terrain Theater, and served as a former Executive Director of the nonprofit Play Cafe. She is the Vice-Chair of the Writers Guild of America West Asian American Writers Committee. Tracy has a BS in Conservation and Resource Studies from UC, Berkeley and an MFA in Dramatic Writing from Carnegie Mellon. non-WGA Female, BIPOC, Asian, Multi-Ethnic SCIENCE FAIR (Coming of Age Musical Feature) All Katie wants to do is save the world, and she has a step-by-step plan to do it, but first she needs to win her high school science fair which means accepting the hard-to-believe truth that she may not always be right. NATURE ORGANIZATION (Comedy, Pilot) Theresa Chin's first act as the new Executive Director of the struggling nonprofit Friends of the Local Parks is to eliminate the office hierarchy, but the human and animal staff fall apart without their beloved structure, and the newly-hired horse just wants to stop being stuck in the door. Character-driven, Female-centric, BIPOC-centric, Queer, Science, Coming-of-Age, YA Female, BIPOC, Asian, Multi-Ethnic unrepped

< Back Matija Šraj matijasraj@gmail.com Coverfly Matija Šraj is an Australian/Slovenian screenwriter from Melbourne, Australia. With a lifelong obsession for storytelling, Matija has had a circuitous pathway to screenwriting – from working in an Aboriginal school in the outback, to working as a refugee and conservatorship lawyer, to working as a fitness instructor. Immediately prior to screenwriting, Matija worked for the Australian Greens political party, including as an adviser to senators and a lead adviser during Australia’s marriage equality campaign. As an LGBTQIA+ person and the child of an immigrant, Matija writes mostly queer multicultural stories. Matija works in the Australian screen industry as a production assistant and writers’ assistant, including on Amazon's global hit, DEADLOCH. Honors & Awards IWC Best Of Selection - QUEENMAKER - 2026 CineStory Foundation TV Competition - Fellowship Winner QUEENMAKER - 2024 CineStory Foundation Feature Competition - Semifinalist/scholarship winner - THE RIP - 2023 Page International Screenwriting Awards - Honorable Mention QUEENMAKER - 2025 non-WGA Non-binary, Multi-Ethnic, LGBTQ+ ANONYMOUS Action thriller - THE BOURNE IDENTITY meets RED SPARROW After being double-crossed in a black ops mission gone wrong in Europe, a queer American spy must uncover an international conspiracy to clear his name and save the anonymous hookup who’s inadvertently caught in the crossfire. QUEENMAKER Comedy - VEEP meets RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE After a cash-strapped, publicity-seeking drag queen who impulsively decides to run for Australian parliament is unexpectedly elected, he has to overcome childhood trauma, inept housemates-turned-staffers and constant battles with the Prime Minister to try and change politics for the better. Character-driven, Female-centric, Queer, Thriller, Sci-Fi, Horror, Dark, Snarky Non-binary, Multi-Ethnic, LGBTQ+ unrepped

< Back Jay Fingers jayfingers@icloud.com Jay Fingers is a Los Angeles-based screenwriter, novelist, editor, and journalist. He writes genre-blending stories that center Black characters in sharp, emotionally layered, and often darkly funny ways. Whether a romantic comedy with a biting edge or a satirical thriller with a body count, Jay's stories crackle with wit, charm, menace, and cultural specificity. Jay attended the University of Miami, where he majored in motion pictures with a concentration in screenwriting. He is a native of Memphis, Tennessee, and also lived in Brooklyn for many years before trekking out west. He's still undecided about whether to stay. 😅 non-WGA Male, Black, 40+ AZALEA Drama When a rising journalist returns to his hometown for what should be a routine visit, he discovers that a manipulative family friend has taken control of his aging mother’s finances and life. Forced into a legal and emotional war to protect her, he risks losing not only his career but the fragile relationship that defines him. FLEWED OUT RomCom During the madness of NBA All-Star Weekend in L.A., a young woman flies cross-country to finally meet the rapper she's been DMing — only to catch feelings for a smooth-talking local instead. Now, between shopping sprees, celebrity cameos, great sex, and questionable life choices, she’s got to decide: clout or chemistry? POTTER'S FIELD Comedy Horror Sent to a remote island to bury the recently deceased, a wisecracking young inmate finds his life in danger when the island is overrun by a horde of the undead — who had been murdered by the prison's guards. BIPOC-centric, Bittersweet, Silly, Slapstick, Snarky Male, Black, 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 Jennifer Dunn jennifer@copperheadmedia.com http://www.copperheadmedia.com The Black List Jennifer Dunn is a television writer and filmmaker who explores class, family legacy, and the cost of inherited power in rural America. Born between a cemetery and a trailer park in North Georgia, she brings authentic perspectives on Appalachian communities and the forces that shape them. Her first one-hour drama pilot, BIRDSONG, won the 2020 Atlanta Film Festival Pilot Competition and the 2021 Creative Screenwriting Unique Voices Competition in Drama. The pilot placed as a finalist in Screencraft, Cinestory, and WeScreenplay competitions. BIRDSONG follows a young Appalachian witch who must defy her family's scam faith healing ministry and embrace her bloodline's demanding destiny after years of using Oxy to reject her disruptive supernatural powers. Jennifer's work examines how institutions—whether family clans, religious organizations, or corporate entities—control individual lives. Her characters navigate impossible choices between loyalty and freedom, protection and truth, survival and authenticity. She's drawn to stories about people trapped between worlds: the powerful gifts they inherit and the systems that exploit them. Jennifer participated in the CineStory TV Writing Fellowship in 2020, the New York Women in Film Writer's Lab in 2021, and the Sundance Episodic Intensive in 2022. Jennifer's influences include Sally Wainwright, Dorothy Allison, Daniel Woodrell, and stories that honor the complexity of rural communities. Honors & Awards Winner, Atlanta Film Festival Best Drama Pilot - BIRDSONG - 2020 Fellow, The Writer's Lab, BIRDSONG - 2021 Fellow, Sundance Episodic Intensive, DOUBLE FAULT - 2022 non-WGA/Caucus only Female, LGBTQ+, 40+ BIRDSONG Drama After years of abusing Oxy to reject her disruptive supernatural powers, a young Appalachian witch must defy her family’s scam faith healing ministry to embrace her bloodline’s demanding destiny. DOUBLE FAULT Sports Drama A Florida dropout battles his way into the classy, cutthroat world of elite professional tennis, unaware that the brutal sacrifices he made just to set foot on the court are only the beginning of his problems. MURDER BALLADS Detective procedural A thrice-widowed Appalachian PI obsessed with the decades-old mystery of her sister's death must battle her coal town's political machine while defending her son from a murder charge. Character-driven, Crime, Procedural, Psychological, Dark, Bittersweet, Naturalistic, Magical Realism Female, LGBTQ+, 40+ repped

< Back Brooke Muschott brookemuschott@gmail.com http://brookemuschott.com Brooke Muschott is a writer, artist and roller skater. She’s been losing sleep to good books since she discovered the Boxcar Children, and watching too much television since the premiere of Pretty Little Liars. She’s fairly certain there is no greater high than a story that gets so deep into your heart it keeps you up at night, dreaming about it. At sixteen, she walked into her favorite author’s book signing with a list of the inconsistencies in his books and walked out with a job as a continuity editor. She’s gained more tact since then, but is still the writer who will remember that Kara said she hated cats twenty-eight episodes ago. She pivoted from publishing to television during the pandemic, and most recently has worked as a production coordinator on an Apple show. Her favorite genre to write is older kids to older young adult contemporary fantasy, and her second favorite is anything anyone will pay her for. She has a bachelor’s in creative writing with double minors in studio art and multimedia design from Pepperdine University. She writes stories with enough detail to swim in, about characters in extraordinary situations dealing with ordinary problems. Her superpower is organization, her Achilles heel is cooking, and her vice is sweet tea. She can almost land an axel on roller skates, but don’t throw something at her and yell ‘catch’. It won’t be caught. Honors & Awards Quarterfinalist, The Script Lab - TSL Free Screenplay Contest - INK AND ASHES - 2024 non-WGA Female, LGBTQ+ INK AND ASHES (Hour TV - Contemporary Fantasy - Sharp Objects meets Spiderwick Chronicles ) Eight years ago, Ava fled her hometown after her best friend went missing and the town blamed her for the crime. When her old boss goes missing on the night she returns, she’s swiftly dragged back into a world of danger - and magic. CULTDOM (Hour TV - Contemporary - The Eras Tour meets Waco ) Marie, whose life revolves around being a superfan of international pop star Elli Augusta, starts a fan blog that accidentally turns into a cult. HOW TO ROLLERSKATE THROUGH THE APOCALYPSE (Half Hour TV - Kids Contemporary Fantasy - Kipo meets Gravity Falls ) When magic appeared overnight and turned Steph and Jess’s suburban middle-school lives upside down, they rolled with it. But with the world this unstable, even skating to the store can be more of a quest than they bargained for. Female-centric, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, YA, Children's, Animation, Magical Realism Female, LGBTQ+ unrepped

< Back Tiffany Yarde yarde_tiffany@yahoo.com https://www.tiffanyyarde.com/ Coverfly Tiffany Yarde is a Caribbean-American screenwriter whose upbringing in the Walt Whitman Public Housing of Brooklyn, NY, by Bajan immigrants deeply influences her exploration of culturally diverse characters grappling with self-acceptance. Tiffany wrote the culturally inclusive TV movie Dress for Success, which recently premiered on Tubi. She also co-wrote the short film Bon Voyage, showcased in NYC as part of the Women’s Weekend Film Challenge. As a fellow in the inaugural Creative Corridor Program, a transatlantic industry initiative by Independent Film Trust and Roadmap Writers, Tiffany has honed her craft alongside global talent. She holds a B.A. in English with a concentration in Creative Writing from Bryn Mawr College and is currently pursuing an MFA in Screenwriting at the David Lynch School of Cinematic Arts, with her graduation slated for summer 2025. non-WGA Female, BIPOC, Black, 40+ AINSWORTH (One-Hour [Serialized] TV | Psychological Crime Thriller, YOU meets HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER ) When a criminology professor with dissociative identity disorder becomes the main suspect in a series of student murders, he teams up with a persistent detective to find the real killer, not realizing the true danger might be within himself. VEINS OF DECEIT (Feature | Crime Thriller Drama, ZODIAC meets THE NIGHTCRAWLER ) A detective frames a suspect in a brutal murder case, but as the lies unravel, he risks becoming the next victim of his own deception. DEADLY STREAM (Feature | Horror | Thriller, SPREE meets HUSH ) Trapped in a department store with a serial killer, a group of aspiring social media influencers must escape before their livestream turns into a deadly one. Character-driven, BIPOC-centric, Crime, Thriller, Procedural, Psychological, Horror Female, BIPOC, Black, 40+ unrepped

< Back Candace Egan prof.candace.egan@gmail.com https://candaceegan.com/ Candace Egan is a Professor of Film and Media Arts at Fresno State and a screenwriter with a journalism and corporate media background. She’s had a long career as a non-fiction visual storyteller, exploring stories about a breadth of people, such as the first Hmong women to go to college, Portuguese-Americans in California, the first man to trek and photograph the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and competitive wheelchair tennis players. She began her career by falling in love with the camera and the power of visual storytelling and now enjoys bringing her vision to life in the screenplays she writes. Tapping into her own adventurous life, she is inspired to write female-driven stories about mature, authentic women who seek to reinvent themselves no matter how old they are. Her feature and TV pilot scripts have received numerous accolades, including a Stowe Story Labs Fellowship, finalist in Stage 32’s Grown Up Movies Contest, semifinalist in the Page International Screenwriting Awards, twice selected for the CineStory Feature Lab and an alumni of the first CineStory Residency. Honors & Awards Semi-finalist, Page International Screenwriting Awards - DESERT BELLES - 2024 Winner , Action Adventure Feature Hollywood Storytellers Festival & Genre Script Competition - DESERT BELLES - 2024 Winner , Stowe Story Labs 2023 Law Firm of Stacy A Davis Fellowship - SECOND SET pilot - 2023" non-WGA Female, 55+ DESERT BELLES Action-Adventure Feature NYAD meets F1 A veteran off-road racer facing financial ruin competes in a grueling 8-day 4-wheel drive desert auto rally for the prize money, only to battle deadly conditions, sabotage, and a shady former racing partner to claw her way to the win." SECOND SET Drama Feature In the tone of TED LASSO After her husband retires and upends her complacent life, a newly rebellious middle-aged woman jumps at the chance to play for the short-handed local community college tennis team, only to face resistance from her family, coach and the University President who wants her and the team to fail. Character-driven, Female-centric, Romantic, Horror, Naturalistic, International Female, 55+ unrepped

< Back Garret Williams garretwilliams@hotmail.com 323-854-1893 https://pro.imdb.com/name/nm0930621 Born and raised in Minneapolis, Garret began making short films in college before attending the American Film Institute's Master's program. His feature SPARK (writer/director), starring Terrence Howard and Nicole Ari Parker, was a Sundance Filmmakers Lab project. It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to Berlin (Berlinale) and many others around the world. Garret won Best Director at the Urbanworld Film Festival. Multiple film organizations have supported Garret’s screenplays. HYENAS was a Sundance Screenwriters Lab project. MUDPUPPY was a Film Independent Screenwriters Lab Project, was selected for Tribeca All Access, and was optioned by Sly Dog films. His screenplay LOST DOG was chosen for the Film Independent Screenwriters and Directors Labs, was a Fast Track project at the LA Film Festival, and was nominated for Best Screenplay and the Gordon Parks Award at the IFP Film Market. LOST DOG was also selected for the WGA Feature Writer's Access Project. Garret’s work as a Writer/Director/Producer of shorts screened at SXSW (THE RISE), New Directors/New Films at the MOMA & Sundance(Short SPARK), and a long list of festivals, domestic and international, earning multiple awards. His shorts (SPARK and BB GUN) aired on Showtime Networks. He is a member of the DGA and is a Sundance Institute Fellow, Film Independent Fellow, and Tribeca Film Institute Fellow. Garret serves as an Adjunct Professor at Occidental College, teaching Advanced Screenwriting. non-WGA Male, BIPOC, Black, Multi-Ethnic LOST DOG (Dramatic Thriller) Lost Dog is a character-driven thriller, set in 90s Minneapolis, about a black, jaded, Animal Control Officer and his young trainee, as they follow the twisted trail of a racist serial dog abuser and killer. MUDPUPPY (Dark Comedy) A brown comedy about a lost and lonely man who finds love in the toilet. Character-driven, BIPOC-centric, Crime, Thriller, Sci-Fi, Limited Series, Dark, Naturalistic Male, BIPOC, Black, Multi-Ethnic 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 Jibreel Turner jibreel.turner@gmail.com James Moorer, One Moorer Media & Management As an optioned and repped writer Jibreel Turner writes stories about heroes dealing with tremendous external pressures. Based in Los Angeles and half of a writing duo, they focus on protagonists who must stay grounded to fulfill their inherent responsibilities usually involving family and relationships. As a devoted single dad, he writes gritty TV and Features about strong-willed intelligent fathers with a moral compass, taking drastic measures and creative steps to achieve their goals. Jibreel's experience as a disabled combat veteran from Philly allows his stories to speak not just to the multifaceted black experience, but the greater humanity that resonates in us all. Honors & Awards GREEN OR GO: CHASING THE HOLLYWOOD DREAM Docuseries (Writer, Director, Producer) - In Post Production. THE PRYOR ENGAGEMENTS Feature Optioned by Tecknology Enterprises - 1/2024 Stage 32 - THE HARD WAY - TV Pilot Top 1% included in the “Best of Stage 32” Lookbook (2022). non-WGA Male, Black, Disabled, 40+ FAMILY OVER EVERYTHING TV Drama - POWER meets THE SOPRANOS \After his rap phenom little brother is murdered due to his involvement with a criminally financed record label, a streetwise single dad from the Bronx and his daughter are forced into witness protection in Cleveland, to unravel what led to his brother’s death. THE HARD WAY One-Hour [Serialized] TV | Sports / Period Drama | Basic Cable - HEELS meets ENTOURAGE It’s 1985 and a small-town wrestling prodigy must fight his way to the top of the biggest league in America while dodging the pitfalls of stardom in order to care for his sick mother and pregnant girlfriend at home. THE KANDAHAR PROJECT (Working Title) Feature Sci-Fi, Horror, Military Drama - LONE SURVIVOR meets TRAIN TO BUSAN When a highly skilled Recon team becomes trapped in a labyrinth of Afghanistan caves they must confront a mythical tribe of giants in order to make it out alive. Character-driven, Crime, Thriller, Sci-Fi, Psychological, Horror, Dark, International Male, Black, Disabled, 40+ repped