Alan Mah Baxter

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Alan Mah Baxter is a Chinese-American writer whose grandparents entered the country illegally by boat. He grew up in a mixed-race family in the desert town of Valencia, California. Inspired by his grandparents stories, he discovered a love for writing and attended Chapman University earning a BFA in Film/TV Production. His work at a local bank provided great fodder for his scripts such as catch...

Alan Jenkins

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Alan Jenkins is a law professor, screenwriter, and advocate who has devoted his career to the intersection of storytelling and social justice. Jenkins seeks to engage broad audiences with shared values and new ideas and believes diverse and inclusive storytelling is especially important at this critical time in our nation s history. Descended from African-American migrants from the South and im...

Alex Sarrigeorgiou

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Alex Sarrigeorgiou is an actor, writer, and filmmaker based in New York City. She's half Greek, half Romanian, and grew up in Athens, Greece. Her multilingual and multicultural upbringing allow her to bring an authentic perspective to characters from diverse backgrounds. Alex brings her love of poetry to her work as a filmmaker, telling lyrical stories about personal transformation and existent...

Alishan Valiani

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

I focus on meek men and women who cowardly wade through the absurdities of life. Beaten down by the world and holding their heads down devoid of any hope or confidence, my characters are real people, and my stories are real experiences. Raised in rural Memphis, I came from an immigrant family. I always had the vision to write and make movies, but pursuing an artistic endeavor was deemed a fanta...

Brittany Kelly

• ISA Top 25

Brittany Suzanne Kelly (she/they) is a Caymanian writer and script doctor who strives to highlight the hilarity in their character's heartache. Brittany writes comedies that viciously yet accessibly challenge societal norms and dialogue driven hyper-realistic dramas. Brittany s focus on introspective character driven storytelling aims to bring Caribbean, queer and neurodivergent female narrativ...

Bruna Pias

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Hi! My name is Bruna, I'm a Portuguese writer/director and editor based in London. In 2018 I packed my dreams and moved to London where I completed my Master's Degree in Film Directing at MET Film School. I have directed a few cool short films in the past but I am also an award winning screenwriter (Ew! I know it's pretentious but I have to!). In 2021 I was a finalist in the CANNESERIES UNLIMIT...

Carlos Gutierrez

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Carlos Gutierrez and his writing partner Michael Goldenberg specialize in television comedies that bring both depth and levity to colorful worlds parallel to our own. Their comedy Asians Can't Play Jazz was awarded best comedy pilot in the Creative Screenwriting Unique Voices Competition and a finalist in WeScreenplay's Diverse Voices. It s currently listed in the top 2% on Coverfly. Together w...

Chris Pittas

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Chris Pittas writes the dark/funny shows and movies that make you laugh harder than you should at a particularly awful moment and make you doubt your own moral compass. Chris feature script "SCORPIONS" is on Coverfly's Red List, Big Break's Top 10, Second Rounder in Austin Film Festival 2021, won Honorable Mention in ISA's Fast-Track and earned him a spot on ISA's Development Slate. His drama p...

Elena Perez

• ISA Top 25

After building a successful career in tech and marketing startups, Elena Perez decided it was more fun (and faster) to shape the future in stories than in real life. Taking inspiration from her multicultural heritage and her background in tech, Elena's work often explores how personal context (culture, gender, economic status, time, etc.) influences identity. Her dark-but-heartfelt portfolio is...

Jennifer Giacalone

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Jen Giacalone is a former rock star, a graphic artist, a parent, a baker, amateur plumber and a timelord. She toured much of the east coast of the U.S. as a musician in her 20s, spent her 30s in corporate boardrooms of fortune 500 companies as a graphic artist, and in her 40s, became a published author. Her script "VERITY'S GAME", a queer take on the Mr. and Mrs. Smith trope, is the winner in t...

Kate Beacom

• ISA Top 25

Kate Beacom is an award-winning writer, director, and producer based in Portland, Oregon. REHAB CABIN, which Kate wrote, co-directed, and produced won Best Comedic Feature at Manhattan Film Festival and Outstanding Screenplay at Tallgrass Film Festival in 2021. Rehab Cabin is distributed by Gravitas Ventures and available on Tubi, Apple TV, Amazon, YouTube, and more. Kate's writing has been rec...

Katie Crone

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Katie Crone writes about the important things in life: cults, hot teachers, signs from god, sexual neuroses, uncomfortable car rides, half-assed disguises, and screaming women. She firmly believes that every female character should get to scream. At least once. Otherwise, what are we even doing here? She grew up in rural Minnesota, where she attended thirteen years of Catholic school and was a ...

LaDarrion Williams

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

LaDarrion Williams is a playwright by heart, a filmmaker, television writer, and now novelist hailing from a small town of Helena, Alabama. His first play, Katrina, won first place at the Alabama State Thespian Conference and was performed internationally in 2013. After buying a one-way ticket and packing up three suitcases and a dream, he headed out to Los Angeles in May 2015 to pursue his dre...

Laurie Weltz

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Laurie Weltz's debut film, WRESTLING WITH ALLIGATORS, premiered at Sundance, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize, and went on to play many other festivals, winning awards at several. Alligators starred Joely Richardson, Aleksa Palladino, Claire Bloom, Adrienne Shelly, Sam Trammel, and Jay O. Sanders and was released theatrically and on video and television. Laurie s second feature f...

marcus stricklin

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Marcus writes both comedies and dramas across different genres. He primarily focuses on exploring the oddities of complex relationships between people in every day walks of life. He is a writer because the passion and desire to write didn t kick in until his 30 s. He is an Army Brat who was born in Germany and raised around the globe. Marcus grew up in a small town in Alaska, where everyone kno...

Michael Goldenberg

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Michael Goldenberg is a writer from the great city of Munster, Indiana (no, not like the cheese) who currently resides in Los Angeles, California. He began his writing career with his partner, Carlos Gutierrez, scripting televison pilots which have been described as "cute" and "fun stuff" by his own mother. On his own, Michael graduated from the UCLA Professional Screenwriting Program, and has ...

Neer Shelter

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Neer Musa Shelter is a writer of Egyptian-British descent who grew up on cargo ships around the world. He s ex-military, a 3rd Dan Black Belt, and a film school graduate with a bachelor's degree. Neer's life experiences give him a unique multicultural insight that informs his writing. This resulted in a multi-award winning slate of specs that appeal to a global audience. He is a semi-finalist i...

Nicole Landau

• ISA Top 25

Nicole Landau is a Tajik-Afghan screenwriter, born in Dushanbe, and living in London. In 2018 She received the Michael Collyer Memorial Fellowship in Screenwriting from The Writer s Guild Initiative (WGAE) with her screenplay Wolf Girl. In 2021 she was selected for ISA s Development Slate. She uses her life experience to write diverse female driven, complex, family centred stories. Written from...

Qaseem Fazal

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Qaseem is a Muslim, gay, comedy writer and one of the ISA s Top 25 screenwriters to watch in 2022. He recently finished working as a Jr. Story Editor on the second season of Family Law (Global TV/The CW) in Vancouver, B.C. Qaseem is also a graduate of the Netflix funded Pacific Screenwriting Program, The BIPOC TV & FILM: Showrunner Bootcamp and The Reelworld E20 Program. His queer coming-of-age...

Rachel McClard

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Rachel McClard is a gay TV writer who tells drama stories about women challenging the status quo with themes centered around flawed relationships, independence, and identity. She grew up in the deep South in a strict Christian household. So strict, in fact, her mother was convinced Rachel was destined to marry a Baptist preacher. Among other awards, she was named a Top 25 Writer to watch in 202...

Robert Wooldridge

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

After meeting Robert, you realize he was raised right- right inside a movie theater. His childhood happy-place was escaping to the cinema and the magic that came alive on screen. After trying his hand on an independent film, he realized his greater passion was writing. He s inspired by visual storytellers, the art of the process, and movies with an emotional punch. At the core of his scripts is...

Sam Thompson

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

You want enthusiasm? Well, you've come to the right place. My name is Sam Thompson, and god damn, I love writing movies. Anything from short films, to features, if it can be filmed it can be written! SO, I guess you're reading this because you want to know more about me, right? Awesome! Well, strap in, and get ready for the unofficial weirdest Bio on this website. Originally hailing from New Je...

Shayna Weber

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Shayna Weber is a screenwriter, producer and director who loves defiant characters who refuse to be put in a box (much like herself) and her focus is in the genres of horror, comedy and a combination of both. Shayna and her writing partner, Clarissa Jacobson, under their Rebel Minx banner, recently sold their first horror feature, Bruha, which is in post-production. She also produced the award-...

Vandon Gibbs

• ISA Development Slate,
• ISA Top 25

Vandon Gibbs is an award-winning writer and director who enjoys telling intimate stories with big themes. His love for visual arts was apparent at an early age as he placed in numerous art competitions for drawing throughout high school. His passion for the arts was only matched by his love for movies. As a child, his favorite show on Saturday morning wasn t a cartoon, it was Siskel and Ebert. ...