HamptonsFilm Announces Attendees for 21st Screenwriters Lab – Awardsdaily

East Hampton, NY (March 29, 2021) – HamptonsFilm, home of the Hamptons International Film Festival, today announced the fellows, screenwriters, and mentors selected for the 21st annual Screenwriters Lab, taking place March 9-11. April 2021. The Lab pairs up-and-coming screenwriters with established creative writers, directors and producers for a weekend of one-on-one mentoring sessions. Given the current COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s lab will take place virtually.

“We are committed to celebrating 21 years of the HamptonsFilm Screenwriters Lab by continuing this early spring tradition virtually. We so appreciate that our mentors James, Jesse and Sara have agreed to dedicate their time to this program and work with these writers. It’s a fitting announcement in Women’s History Month that the three screenwriters selected are women for the second time in three years. said Anne Chaisson, General Manager.

The three scenarios selected for 2021 are “Back Seat” by Lana Wilson, “Bear Lake” by Zoë Maltby and “Samir, the accidental spy” by Charlotte Rabate.

“Since the lab was founded just over two decades ago, more than fifty screenplays have been developed in our lab, many of which have been produced, presented and awarded at festivals such as Sundance, Cannes, SXSW and more, in more to be screened in theaters around the world,” said David Nugent, Artistic Director of HamptonsFilm. “This year’s selected artists bring diverse, unique and personal stories about people from all walks of life. to continue their journey with them.

This year’s mentors include James Ponsoldt, winner of the Independent Spirit Award, screenwriter of THE END OF THE TOUR, THE SPECTACULAR NOW and SMASHED; Jesse Andrews, award-winning screenwriter and New York Times bestselling novelist whose works include ME, EARL AND THE DYING GIRL as well as Pixar’s upcoming LUCA; and Sara Colangelo, whose three feature films had world premieres at Sundance and released worldwide, including LITTLE ACCIDENTS and WORTH, as well as THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER, which served as the opening film of the International Film Festival of Hamptons 2018. Colangelo (2013) and Ponsoldt (2008) are both HamptonsFilm Screenwriters Lab alumni.

This year’s lab is funded with support from the Melissa Mathison Fund. Previous recipients of support from the fund include Cathy Yan (DEAD PIGS, 2018 Sundance Film Festival) and Annabelle Attanasio (MICKEY AND THE BEAR, 2019 SXSW Film Festival). The fund was established in 2016 and named after the late, beloved Oscar®-nominated screenwriter, and strives to foster the continued development of female writers in the industry.

Highlights from the past two decades have included THE SOUND OF SILENCE by Michael Tyburski and Ben Nabors, starring Peter Sarsgaard and Rashida Jones, which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival; Ísold Uggadóttir’s AND BREATHE NORMALLY and Christina Choe’s NANCY, both of which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and received awards for directing and screenwriting, respectively; SHORT TERM 12 by Destin Daniel Cretton, starring Oscar®-winning actors Brie Larson and Rami Malek, which won the Grand Jury and People’s Choice Award at SXSW in 2013; THE DISCOVERERS by Justin Schwartz, starring Griffin Dunne, which had its world premiere at HIFF 2012; Sara Colangelo’s LITTLE ACCIDENTS, which premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, starring Elizabeth Banks and Chloe Sevigny; and FORT BLISS by Claudia Myers, starring Michelle Monaghan and Ron Livingston, released in 2014.