Heidi Hornbacher is a writer, director, and instructor who writes stories of misfits struggling to find their place and themselves. Her rescue horse film, Arrow, won best short doc at the Malibu Film Fest 2021. Her short, Washed Away, about a struggling artist’s encounter with Picasso is streaming on Amazon Prime. Her animated family feature, Gristle, made the Grey List for 2023 and 2024, won 2023 Industrial Scripts Titan Awards, is a top 10 Finalist for 2025 Cinequest, and is in the top 1% on Coverfly.  A UCLA Screenwriting alum, she cofounded the Slamdance Script Clinic as well as PageCraft Writing and loves working with other writers to elevate their craft. She’s a frequent lecturer on craft at Slamdance, Roadmap Writers, Alameda International Film Festival, Coherence Education, and Eastern New Mexico University. As a kid she hid in her room to write stories about animals. This had the dual benefit of playing in imagination and avoiding chores. She is repped by Zero Gravity.