Dani Hanks (they/she) is a Webby-award winning writer/director who challenges the status quo through quirky stories with a bit of comedic flair. Their Banff-nominated web series, “Fake News Writer,” was optioned in 2019 after winning the Webby against Hasan Minhaj and James Corden for Best Entertainment Series. Their short films and web series have also been showcased at DC Web Fest, Sicily Web Fest, Seoul Web Fest, and the Manhattan Film Festival. After receiving their BFA in drama at NYU Tisch, Dani finally “came out” as a writer/director, according to friends who had “known since high school.” Major themes in Dani’s work include gender, sexuality, mental illness, and disability. A direct result of inhaling too much formaldehyde as a kid in their parents’ pathology lab, the stories they’re drawn to are often weird, darkly humorous, and off-the-beaten-track. In their spare time, Dani co-hosts a podcast, “Can We Save the Cat?” where three screenwriters beat out an original series or movie idea weekly. Dani daylights as a laboratory technician cutting animal tissue at NYU Langone, much to the dismay of their pet rats. They love baking from scratch, playing board games, writing and singing #basic indie songs, and chatting in American Sign Language.