Valerie Grant

• ISA Top 25

Valerie spent her first six years of life in Chicago, until her parents uprooted her to a small Oklahoma ranch without her permission. She eventually made her way to Los Angeles to work as a game designer and digital artist, where she made the terrifying realization that she wanted to be a screenwriter when she grew up. She has been writing ever since. She's a UCLA Diane Thomas Award Winner and...

Timo von Gunten

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Born 1989 in Zurich, Timo von Gunten has established himself as an autodidactic filmmaker. In 2005 he established his own production company label, BMC Films. In 2017, his short film LA FEMME ET LE TGV, starring Jane Birkin, he has been nominated for an Academy Award®. Since then, Timo is in development of feature films. He carries a master degree in screenwriting at the university of arts in Z...

Patrick Holden

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Pat was chosen for the ISA ‘Top 25 Screenwriters to Watch in 2018 and is an alumni of the ISA Fast Track Fellowship Programme 2017. Pat is short-listed for the Bell Media TV Programme in 2021. His feature biopic FASTER THAN BULLETS won the Writers Guild of Canada Jim Burt Prize 2019, the Script Lab Screenplay Competition 2020, and was Creative Screenwriting Magazine s Unique Voices 2020 biopic ...

Mark Grisar

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Mark Grisar was selected as an ISA top "25 Screenwriters To Watch" after his script CLEANING HOUSE won the Grand Prize in the London TRMS Competition! Prior to this victory, Mark's other scripts have won, placed, or showed in the most prestigious contests in the country. In one year, his comedy BAD RAP placed in 10 out of 12 major competitions including Austin FF (top 10), Script PIMP (top 10),...

Lily Mercer

• ISA Top 25

Lily Mercer began life as a dichotomy. Her father, one of twelve children from a family in the hills of Kentucky, went on to become a prominent politician. As a result Lily grew up a cross between Honey Boo-Boo and Kate Middleton: one week she d be visiting her cousins and using the outhouse; the next she d be meeting the governor. She was very close to three of her “spinster” aunts, who lived ...

Madelyn Curley & Brooke Buffington

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Maddy Curley is a writer, actress and producer, who has been in numerous films and television shows, including: Stick It with Jeff Bridges, CSI:NY, Party Down, The Office, Cold Case and Casual. She most recently co-wrote and co-produced the feature film Chalk It Up with her writing partner, Brooke Buffington. Chalk It Up became a financial success when Netflix licensed it for both domestic and ...

Hennah Sekandary

• ISA Top 25

I was born and raised in Southern California. My family - the parents, grandparents and aunties - immigrated to the U.S. from Kabul, Afghanistan during the Soviet Invasion. I studied screenwriting at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, whereupon graduating I received the 2014 Michael Collyer Memorial Fellowship in Screenwriting for a proposed script about the L.A. Riots. The finishe...

Andy Byrne

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Born in London, UK, I grew up in Dublin, Ireland and Luxembourg. Today, home is Sydney, Australia with my wife and son. I grew up in a house of books and cinema. My earliest cinematic memory is Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris on BBC. Years later, after a stint in journalism (including two published non-fiction books) fiction drew me back, specifically screenwriting. After picking up awards for my (n...

Denise Meyers

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Denise Meyers is the inaugural recipient of a 2019 Sloan Foundation Development Grant in partnership with the Athena Film Festival and Barnard College for her screenplay, THE WIDOWMAKER, about the Women's Air Force Service Pilots in World War Two. THE WIDOWMAKER was also a Top Ten Feature Finalist for the Creative Screenwriting Awards and earned a place on the Grey List, celebrating writers ove...

Benjamin Maraniss

• ISA Top 25

I'm a writer, director, and journalist based in New York and Los Angeles. My recent work has been on the one-hour series drama pilots, SECRET AND CONFIDENTIAL, WEIMAR, and IVAN'S HAMMER. Each of these pilots has placed in an array of high profile competitions including The Launch Pad Pilots Competition, the PAGE Awards, Cinequest, Emerging Screenwriters, ISA Fast Track, and ScreenCraft's Pilot ...

Travis J. Opgenorth

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

A conqueror of fears, Travis has taken his acrophobia to the top of a 108-foot-tall Mayan temple, swam with sharks, hunted ghosts, and attended a mixer where he knew no one. In the last six years, he's finished at the top of over 20 contests with 11 different scripts. He currently has feature film projects in development with Eclectic Pictures and Papa Octopus Productions, as well as a forthcom...

David Baugnon

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

David Baugnon is an award-winning filmmaker and screenwriter. His feature screenplay “Trip” finished in the Top 50 of the 2017 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting and the International Screenwriters' Association s announced David as one of the Top 25 Writers to Watch in 2018. His hour-long pilot, “The Messiah Project”, won the International Screenwriters' Association Fast Track Fellows...

RB Ripley

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

R.B. Ripley is an award-winning writer whose pilots and feature film scripts have been optioned and produced. His scripts have won the Final Draft Big Break, Script Pipeline s First Look Contest and Finish Line Script Competition, twice won the ISA Table Read My Screenplay grand prize and been finalists in the Page International Drama Pilot. He has also been an ISA s Fast Track Fellow and a War...

Jamie Anderson

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Jamie Anderson was recognized as "The New Female Director to Watch Out For" by Viva Glam Magazine, and "Top 25 Writers to Watch" by The International Screenwriters' Association. She recently wrote, directed, and produced her comedy pilot, "Pumas". She directed the 2023 Telly Award winning commercial, "Don't Just Suck It Up", starring Iliza Shlesinger, as well as a spot for Craig's Vegan to the ...

Christopher DeWan

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Christopher DeWan writes grounded sci-fi, horror, and horror-adjacent dramas for TV, film, and videogames. He loves stories that explore the failed promises of the American Dream. He has created television projects with AwesomenessTV/Viacom, the Chernin Group, Electric Entertainment, and Omnifilm Entertainment, and has collaborated on video game properties for Bad Robot, Paramount, Universal, a...

Rob Burke

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Rob Burke got his start in the world of make believe as a drama major at Colorado College. He then went on to law school and became a partner in a law firm where he specialized in defending clients in catastrophic loss cases. Recently, however, he left the legal world behind in order to pursue his true passion - creative writing. As both a playwright and screenwriter, he has created works that ...

Ted Campbell

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, Ted Campbell is an award-winning screenwriter and director specializing in thoughtful, character-driven thrillers. Most recently, Ted wrote and directed the supernatural thriller "THIS NEVER HAPPENED" for Tubi. Ted is represented by Cameron Cubbison at Zero Gravity. He is a member of ISA s Development Program and was named to ISA s Top 25 Screenwriters To ...

Phil Parker

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Phil Parker is a dual-citizen American/Aussie screenwriter based in Sydney. His screenwriting assignments include CATSAWAY, which is in production at Image Nation Abu Dhabi; FORTE, which attracted a six-figure investment based on Phil's first draft; FLY GIRLS, which has a BAFTA-winning producer attached; and KINDRED, which signed multiple shopping agreements. Phil also wrote the WWII spec scrip...

Lucy Luna

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Lucy Luna is a Mexican writer. Her multi award-winning feature script, Sophie & Valentina, has led her to the beginning of her professional journey, having won the HBOAccess Writing Fellowship, the ScreenCraft Fellowship, and placing on the Young & Hungry List.Her written and directed short horror film, We re All Here, found success in the festival circuit garnering multiple awards. She s penne...

Kent Williams

• ISA Top 25

Attorney by day, screenwriter by night (and on weekends). One produced screenplay, and several others that have placed in prominent competitions. Period dramas, action, and suspense are my fortes. Hard-working and very self-motivated. Easy to work with. Hit me up if you need info on a "legal" story, scene, procedure, etc. I have litigated in dozens (maybe even hundreds) of state and federal cou...

Chelsea Watkins

• ISA Top 25

A Los Angeles native, Chelsea Watkins received her MFA in screenwriting from USC's School of Cinematic Arts. She has been published in the Los Angeles Times and her plays have been produced by The Open Fist Theatre Company and Enrichment Works. As an actor and dancer, she has performed in television, film, Off-Broadway, and 99-seat theatre. She also has business industry experience, having work...

Derek Asaff

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Derek, a Bostonian of Middle Eastern and Native American (Sioux) descent, graduated from Harvard University majoring in Creative Writing & Literature in 2011. He then spent a year teaching Beginner s Screenwriting at Grub Street before receiving his Masters Degree in Screenwriting from the American Film Institute in 2014. After AFI, Derek quickly found success at their Screenwriter s Showcase, ...

Vin Morreale, Jr.

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Vin Morreale, Jr. is an award-winning screenwriter, published author and internationally-produced playwright. He was selected as one of The Blacklist s Top TV Writers in THE BLACKLIST S 2015 TV WRITERS STAFFING BOOK over thousands of other writers whose material is reviewed by the organization. Morreale has sold material to national TV shows, and has had a number of screenplays optioned, with t...

Jeff York

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Jeff York was named one of the International Screenwriters Association s 25 top screenwriters for 2018. He s figured in the finals of over 70 screenwriting contests and counting thus far and has won several of them too. He took the Grand Prize for his western “The Scoundrels Club” at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival s "Table Read My Screenplay." His horror tale “Incurable” was named the best spe...