Our 25th Annual Screenwriters Lab took place over the weekend, where we were thrilled to welcome our outstanding fellows Aliza Brugger, Pepi Ginsberg and Keaton Ventura, our talented mentors Dan Janvey, Justin Kuritzkes and Rachel Shukert, and all the guests who celebrated these new voices with us.
Mentors and fellows arrived at the Maidstone Hotel on Friday, getting to know each other over cocktails before sitting down to a welcome dinner hosted by Board Vice Chair Kim Brizzolara at Nick & Toni’s.
By Saturday morning, they were ready to dive into a busy day of productive and enlightening one-on-one mentor sessions, where each screenwriting fellow was able to intensively workshop their screenplay with each mentor.
That evening, our gracious HIFF patrons Alan Ceppos and Frédéric Rambaud hosted the annual celebratory Lab dinner in their beautiful home, where our fellows were able to mix and mingle with local members of the Hamptons artistic community, previous mentors including Michael H. Weber, Celine Song, and Jeff Sharp, and various board members and special guests, all while enjoying Alan and Frédéric’s remarkable art collection.
The Lab concluded on Sunday afternoon with a lively, thoughtful, and collaborative group session, while the writers remain in East Hampton to enjoy a few more days of writing time. We offer our many thanks to our generous mentors for the invaluable insights they provided to these young artists! And now we are all rooting for our screenwriters as they take their excellent scripts on their next steps towards production. Stay tuned…
This year’s recipient of the Melissa Mathison Award is Pepi Ginsberg and her project The Mirex, which includes a live screenplay reading of the work. Established in 2016 and named for the late, beloved Oscar®-nominated screenwriter, the Fund strives to foster the continued development of female writers in the industry. Previous recipients include Lana Wilson (PRETTY BABY: BROOKE SHIELDS, 2023 Sundance Film Festival), Cathy Yan (DEAD PIGS, 2018 Sundance Film Festival), and Annabelle Attanasio (MICKEY AND THE BEAR, 2019 SXSW Film Festival).
• • Learn more about the Melissa Mathison Award and find out how you can contribute.
The three screenplays selected for 2025:
- Lullaby, by Aliza Brugger
- The Mirex, by Pepi Ginsberg
- Halloween 1999, by Keaton Ventura
The 2025 mentors:
- Dan Janvey (NOMADLAND, BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD)
- Justin Kuritzkes (CHALLENGERS, QUEER)
- Rachel Shukert (Nine Perfect Strangers, The Handmaid’s Tale, Glow)
• • Full bios of all Lab participants can be found here.
Learn more about the HIFF Screenwriters Lab.
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