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  • Nicola Pittam | IWC List 2026

    < Back Nicola Pittam Alexander Robb -Insignia Entertainment alex@insignia-ent.com As a British journalist, best-selling author and screenwriter, Nicola has worked in the entertainment and media industries for 35 years, starting as a reporter for Rupert Murdoch’s The Sun newspaper. After moving to Los Angeles in 1997, she covered some of the biggest stories across America, including the Columbine School shooting and 9/11. She has interviewed every major star from Jack Nicholson and Anthony Hopkins to Christian Bale and Renee Zellweger. As well as running her own news agency, Nicola is Director of Author Services at OneMoorer Media, where she helps authors and screenwriters create their own IP. She is also the COO for indie publishing companies Dark Anthem Press and One Anthem Press. Dark Anthem publishes horror, sci-fi, thriller, dark gothic and dystopian YA while One Anthem, will focus on romance, drama, children’s books and non-fiction. Nicola is the author of 4 best selling books including the Sunday Times Top 10 Bestseller, Vow of Silence, and The Rebel Pianist of Majdanek, which she adapted from her own script and which hit Number 1 on Amazon’s Jewish category and won an award in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards. Nicola also writes TV and feature drama screenplays that feature strong female characters that have placed in contests including the Bitch List, The Grey List’s Top 40 Writers Over 40 in 2023 and 2025, Shore Scripts, Atlanta Film Festival, Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards, Table Read My Screenplay and Austin Film Festival. Honors & Awards The Grey List - Official Selection- House of the Rising Sun - 2023 The Bitch List - House of the Rising Sun - 2019 Top 100 Table Read My Screenplay - House of the Rising Sun - 2023 The Grey List - Official Selection - The Rebel Pianist of Majdanek - 2025 " HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN - One Hour TV Drama Harlots meets Underground Railroad An influential New Orleans’ Madam secretly joins forces with Queen of Voodoo Marie Laveau to ensure the South loses the Civil War and abolishes slavery forever. THE REBEL PIANIST OF MAJDANEK - Feature Schindler's List meets The Pianist Based on True Story When a captured piano virtuoso refuses to play for Nazi entertainment in the concentration camp, she’s faced with a heartbreaking choice - share her music or suffer crippling torture. 10 DAYS IN A MADHOUSE - Feature The Mad Women's Ball meets One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Based on true story. In 1887, journalist Nellie Bly, working for Joseph Pulitzer, pretends to be crazy to go undercover as a patient in notorious women’s insane asylum Blackwell’s Island in NY to expose corruption, abuse and even murder.

  • Candace Egan | IWC List 2026

    < 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" 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.

  • Shirley Miller | IWC List 2026

    < Back Shirley Miller shirleymillerdigsyou@gmail.com After lying to his parents that he was “just visiting” LA, Shirley worked for years on film and TV productions such as Interstellar and Silicon Valley, before graduating with an MFA in Writing for Screen and Television from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts. While there, he received a scholarship for graduating with the highest grade-point-average (4.0) and he was also awarded the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship worth $17,500.00 for his first-ever attempt at hour-long television. Since then, he’s won and placed in multiple fellowships, including a fresh stint on Ken Kesey’s farm in May, where he was accepted into a writing workshop led by Ronald D. Moore. His favorite color is pink, he loves to make pottery even though his skill level hasn’t much improved, he’s a formerly-licensed English teacher and currently-licensed scuba diver, and – perhaps most importantly – he’s terrified of bees because he’s never been stung by one. Honors & Awards Kesey Farm Writing Workshop (led by Ronald D. Moore) - 2025 ScreenCraft Drama Pilot - Finalist - DRY - 2023 Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship Award - NERVE - 2018 DO THE WORK Dark comedy Comp: BARRY An ignoramus is inadvertently recruited by an LBTQIA+ rights activist group and he quickly learns that they don't just fight for justice – they kill for it.

  • Justin Douglas | IWC List 2026

    < Back Justin Douglas https://www.justin-douglas.com/ Justin Douglas is a screenwriter, comedian, and retired Mascot based in Los Angeles. After diving into Sketch Writing and Stand Up at Arcade Comedy Theater in Downtown Pittsburgh, he studied at The Second City Training Center in Chicago and earned his MFA in Screenwriting with a Concentration in Comedy from DePaul University. In 2023, he was a Sesame Street Writer’s Room Fellow as well as a Finalist at the Austin Film Festival and was a Finalist for the Fred Rogers Productions Writers' Neighborhood the following year. Justin writes both television and features that are comedic and range from grounded to borderline absurd. His original sitcom pilot, “The Nuthouse” borrows heavily from his experience as a mascot for a Major League Baseball team while his animated pilot, “The Presidential Hamburger Hut” is his own way of trying to make sense of the political landscape of the last decade, but with cheeseburgers and a side of fries. Justin also works in the hour-long space with his co-writer, Corinthian Maldonado, which has seen Quarterfinalist and Semifinalist placements at ScreenCraft as well as Second Rounder placements twice at Austin Film Festival. Together, they’ve written pilots that take place in the Wild West, Victorian London, and modern-day Brooklyn, all focusing on sibling relationships, but with bounty hunters, vampires, werewolves, and the occasional New Yorker. Honors & Awards Fellow, Sesame Workshop Writer’s Room – 2023 Finalist (Comedic Spec Script) , Austin Film Festival – “Ghosts: Isaac & Nigel: A Lobster Tail” – 2023 Finalist, Fred Rogers Productions’ Writers’ Neighborhood – 2024 THE NUTHOUSE TV Pilot - Comedy - BRING IT ON meets EASTBOUND & DOWN When the Head Mascot of a Major League Baseball team announces his upcoming retirement at the end of the season, his assistant knows he’s a lock for the job, but when the team hires a second assistant, the two engage in a season-long battle to win the crown. PROMOTED Feature - Comedy - FIGHTING WITH MY FAMILY meets A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN When his favorite football team is relegated to the lowest tier of English soccer, a middle aged man dedicates himself to getting in shape for the team’s open tryouts. His trainer: his former Olympian sister, banned from professional sports due to her anger issues. THE PRESIDENTIAL HAMBURGER HUT Television - Animation, Comedy - BOB'S BURGERS meets VEEP Former Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama ponder their post-political purposes while operating a fast food joint, but when President Trump threatens to close them down, the three must do what they can to save an American Institution.

  • 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

  • Shauna Ray Ratapu | IWC List 2026

    < 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 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.

  • 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. 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.

  • Mike Roe | IWC List 2026

    < Back Mike Roe https://mikeroe.net LinkedIn The Black List Mike Roe auditioned for American Idol, but was neither good nor bad enough to make it to national TV. But what a gift to Hollywood's karaoke nights. He's a multiracial Hawaiian-Puerto Rican writer who grew up all along the West Coast. A childhood custody battle cut him off from his mom's side of the family and the culture that came with it. He's spent his adult life fighting to reclaim that, with the wreckage of families still trying to love each other running through everything he writes: crime, faith, identity, and the people history skipped over. Mike came up in L.A.'s comedy scene, graduating from UCB's Improv and Sketch programs before being selected for house sketch teams at the Pack Theater and iO West. He's also a journalist with more than a decade at LAist/KPCC, Southern California's NPR affiliate, followed by stints covering entertainment at TheWrap and LateNighter. His L.A. Press Club Award-winning oral history of 30 Rock's "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah" led to writing _The 30 Rock Book_ for Abrams. He originally planned to attend seminary after college but decided he didn't want to spend his life preaching to people already inside the faith tent. He's been trying to reach everyone else since. Mike is a fellow in Fuller Seminary's Resilient Artist Project and has developed work through Roadmap Writers and Script Anatomy. He lives with his wife and occasional writing partner Kristiana in Burbank. Honors & Awards First Place Entertainment Reporting, Los Angeles Press Club - "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah: An Oral History" - 2019 Selected, The Grey List 2025 - THE PEOPLE'S KINGDOM - 2025 Selected , DAF x The Onion Diverse Writers Workshop - 2026 MAIN EVENT MONEY Heist/Comedy-Drama — OCEAN'S ELEVEN, HELL OR HIGH WATER When a pro wrestling company's top star gets blackballed for organizing a union, he recruits a crew of fellow wrestlers to rob the casino hosting the company's biggest show of the year, using the live event as cover and wrestling skills as heist skills. NET ASSESSMENT Drama/Thriller — HOMELAND, PERSON OF INTEREST The secretary of state assembles a covert ops unit tasked with restoring America's global reputation through missions guided by predictive government AI, but the team soon discovers the line between shaping the future and controlling it is thinner than anyone promised. THE PEOPLE'S KINGDOM (co-written with Kristiana Roe) Crime Drama — THE SOPRANOS, YELLOWSTONE In 1970s Oʻahu, a Native Hawaiian enforcer seizes his crime boss's assassination to spark a revolution and build a Natives-only mafia, putting him on a collision course with his journalist sister and cop cousin. Inspired by true events.

  • Nerris Nassiri | IWC List 2026

    < 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 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.

  • 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 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.

  • Jibreel Turner | IWC List 2026

    < 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). 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.

  • Kristina Castillo | IWC List 2026

    < Back Kristina Castillo kristina.cooper@gmail.com Born and raised in South Carolina, Kristina now writes from the jungle in Costa Rica. She spent over a decade working as a lawyer in a big firm in New York and for several federal district judges. Although she occasionally writes about the law, she spends most of her time writing screenplays and novels about women kicking ass later in life. She was a 2025 Stowe Story Labs Fellow for her dystopian thriller feature JANE. JANE also earned her a spot in the 2024–2025 Athena Film Festival Writers Lab. Honors & Awards Winner, Law Firm of Stacy A Davis Fellowship, Stowe Story Labs - JANE - 2025 Athena Film Festival Writers Lab, JANE - 2025 JANE Thriller - CHINATOWN x THE HANDMAID'S TALE On the eve of shuttering her underground business that helps wives gather evidence of adultery, a sharp, Black feminist in her 60s takes on one final case—the wife of a powerful conservative senator—and finds herself entangled in a moral and political reckoning that could cost her everything. ALWAYS YOU Romance - THE BEST OF ME After the death of her grandmother, a 40-year-old New York lawyer returns to her hometown to bury the past, but instead, she reconnects with her best friend, her one true love.

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