Screenwriting

IFP Minnesota is proud to announce the WINNERS
of the 2010 McKnight Screenwriting competition!

The 2010 Screenwriting Fellows and their stories:

Shelli Ainsworth, “STAY THEN GO”

Synopsis: Stay Then Go tells the story of one mother's sacrifice and what lies beyond. Marion and her husband have a child, Eddie, who has autism. Just at the point where Marion can envisage a positive life for Eddie, an unlikely event occurs, dramatically altering the relationship between them.
Like the protagonist of her screenplay, Stay Then Go, Shelli Ainsworth has a child with autism. She is the recipient of grants and fellowships from ITVS, The Bush Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Jerome Foundation, and the Minnesota State Arts Board. Her films have been seen at festivals and in museums in the United States and Europe.

David CC Erickson, “BILL-LAND”

Synopsis: When a 4th grade history teacher in Davenport, Iowa - facing foreclosure - discovers his home and property is its own sovereign nation, he decides to recreate the American dream of freedom on his eighth of an acre, incurring the wrath of the United States when he declares his independence.
David Erickson is a Minnesota-American from Minneapolis. He enjoys his family, writing, filming, and long walks to the copy machine. He would like to add more action verbs to his screenplays and hopes to someday take the hero's journey himself - without all the hassles.

Three panelists selected the 2010 Fellows from the 6 finalists:

Jerome Gary
Jerome created, executive produced and directed "On the Road in America," a 12-part series about three young Arab men and an Arab woman traveling across America with an American film crew. The series aired in the Middle East on MBC 1 and on the Sundance Channel in the U.S. The second season (5 hours) with a new cast is in post production. He also executive produced "Muslim Women" and "Life After Death," both of which aired in the Middle East and are currently in release. Other credits include "Pumping Iron," the Academy Award-nominated documentary that launched the career of Arnold Schwarzenegger; "Stripper," the critically acclaimed feature documentary distributed by Twentieth Century Fox; "Old Boyfriends," starring John Belushi and Talia Shire; "The Russians," an eight hour television series for TNT that won a Cine Golden Eagle; the award winning "Laughs" series for HBO with P.J. O'Rourke; "The Gathering" (Miramax); "Rebel Highway" (Showtime); "Double Switch" (an interactive game for Sega).

For 13 years Jerome was a senior lecturer in screenwriting and directing at the American Film Institute Center for Advanced Film and Television Studies and was, for ten years, on the directing faculty at the University of Southern California School of Cinema and Television. He has also taught directing, screenwriting, storytelling and digital filmmaking at the Los Angeles Film School, Esalen Institute, Yale University, Dartmouth, The University of Hawaii and in numerous foreign countries.

Darrien Michele Gipson
An M.F.A. recipient from the Peter Stark Producer’s Program at USC, as well as a USC President Samples Fellows, a university honors program for Community Service, Darrien was formerly the Vice President of Production for DEF Pictures, where she shepherded such films as Gridlock’d and How to be a Player. Darrien began her career at SAGIndie as the Event Coordinator, where she traveled throughout the country to festivals, educating filmmakers on SAG’s low budget contracts and all ensuing budgetary and distribution concerns. She visited more than 25 states, 3 countries, and over 55 festivals to consult with independent filmmakers. As the National Director of SAGIndie, Darrien is responsible for the strategic planning and oversight of SAGIndie, including administration, sponsorship negotiations, national advertising campaigns, and SAGIndie.org – the organization’s online resource for independent filmmakers.

Michael Clark
Michael B. Clark is currently the creative executive at Big Beach, an independent development, production and finance company based in NYC. At Big Beach, he has worked on the films LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, SUNSHINE CLEANING, IS ANYBODY THERE?, AWAY WE GO and the upcoming JACK GOES BOATING, directed by and starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Michael is a graduate of the Dramatic Writing Program at NYU's Tisch School of The Arts.

The finalists and their stories:

Alvin Easter, “GRAYHOND”

Two wounded soldiers, returning from World War II, meet on a Greyhound bus in Montana, and find their lives becoming curiously intertwined.

Patricia Fox, “ANATOMY OF A TOWN”

A woman has been murdered and the Chief of Police, Leonard Shepherd, uncovers all the dirty secrets of his small town including one about himself. The victim might be his half-sister, which complicates the investigation, because he slept with her.

Shawn Lawrence Otto, “RED LAKE”

A small town banker is hired to secretly sabotage the creation of a new Native American bank on a nearby reservation, but quickly gets in over his head.

James E. Taylor, “MALE ORDER”

A nerdy newspaper reporter feels his biological clock ticking, but can’t find a mate. He journeys to a remote island to meet his mail-order bride, accompanied by his nemesis, a female photojournalist. A political uprising turns their plans into chaos and they discover the island has a ridiculous secret.

ABOUT THE MCKNIGHT SCREENWRITING FELLOWSHIPS

The McKnight Artists Fellowships for Screenwriters has grown to be the most prestigious screenwriting competition in the Upper Midwest, with one of the largest cash awards offered in national screenwriting competitions.  Administered by IFP Minnesota for 12 years, the monies awarded recognize and support resident screenwriters of Minnesota who have excelled in the artistic discipline of writing for cinema. Each applicant submits one narrative feature screenplay, which is judged by professional screenwriters, directors, producers, development executives, and literary agents/managers outside Minnesota. Each of the two winning Fellows will receive a $25,000 cash award for excellence in the art of screenwriting.

These first-panel judges chose the six finalists from 67 submitted screenplays:

GORDY HOFFMAN
Gordy Hoffman founded the BlueCat Screenplay Competition in 1998 and remains its sole judge. Winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the Sundance Film Festival for LOVE LIZA, Gordy Hoffman made his feature directorial debut with his script, A COAT OF SNOW, which world premiered in 2005 at the Locarno International Film Festival. The movie would go on to win the Domani Vision Award at VisionFest, held at the Tribeca Cinemas. He has taught screenwriting all over North America, including the USC School of Cinematic Arts and the University of Kansas, and in Europe. He’s serving as a panelist for the 2010 IFP Script to Screen Conference in New York City. He's attached to direct CORDELIA, written by Melissa Brandt, a love story inspired by KING LEAR, and he's writing a comedy set in the Gaza Strip. He is the brother of Philip Seymour Hoffman.

JANET JEFFRIES
Janet Jeffries began her career working at Paramount Pictures in the mailroom. That gig led to a job with Mirage Enterprises as an office assistant for Sydney Pollack and the producers at Mirage.  
 
She joined Lawrence Bender Productions/A Band Apart over six years ago and is currently a Development Executive actively looking for new material and developing the scripts the company is producing. The company has a number of scripts set up at studios or with independent financing.
 
Lawrence Bender is best known for his work in the past with Quentin Tarantino, producing the films Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Good Will Hunting, and Kill Bill. They also have an active TV division creating both cable and network programming.

CRAIG KESTEL
Craig Kestel was raised in Long Island, New York and attended St John's University in Queens.  In his early twenties, Craig was an intern at The Shooting Gallery and Good Machine, which led him to a period of work at Lions Gate Film's New York office.  
 
In the early spring of 2000, Craig moved to Los Angeles and began work as an agent trainee at the William Morris Agency.  After spending two and half years assisting SVP and William Morris Independent co-head, Cassian Elwes, Craig was promoted to Agent in the Motion Picture Department.  
 
Since becoming an agent, Craig balances his focus between the independent and studio worlds, working with clients that include Bill Condon, Michael Dougherty, Justin Marks, Dito Montiel, Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden, Chase Palmer, Cary Fukunaga, Peter Sollett, Frank E. Flowers and Jarrett Schaefer.

MICHAEL MARTIN
Michael Martin, screenwriter of Overture Films 2010 feature film BROOKLYN’S FINEST, was born and raised in Brooklyn New York.  He received his Bachelors Degree in Film Production from Brooklyn College.  His thesis film, “What Happened,” was an official selection to the Hollywood Film Festival and Spaghetti Junction Film Festival. He was a finalist in the 2004 IFP New York screenwriting contest and Gordon Parks Award. He is a staff writer for the critically acclaimed Showtime series "Sleeper Cell.” Currently, Michael has several film projects in development and a TV pilot at a major television network.

TOOCHIS MORIN
Toochis Morin has been with Brant Rose Agency for three years representing writers and directors for film & tv and broadband.  

Prior to that, she worked for Eric Idle (Monty Python) on the Broadway musical SPAMALOT and CAN'T BUY ME LUNCH, sequel to the ‘MEET THE BEATLES’ satire THE RUTLES.  She facilitated dealmaking in Business Affairs at Mandalay Pictures under Darrell Walker.  Toochis was selected for the Sundance 2000 Native American Screenwriting Workshop, the 2001 Squaw Valley Conference of Writers - Screenwriter Program, and the Fox Network's 2001 Diversity TV Writers Program where she focused on comedy.  She attended USC Cinema & Television School where she studied Filmic Writing and Still Photography.  Her mentors at USC include Nelson Gidding and Frank Daniel.  

Prior to film school, Toochis performed Off-Broadway and worked in TV and film as an actor.  She studied under Stella Adler and Robert Lewis in New York.

TAMIR MUHAMMAD
Tamir Muhammad currently serves as Director of Tribeca All Access, a year round artist professional development program of the Tribeca Film Institute. He started his career with Tribeca in the office of Founder Jane Rosenthal during the inaugural year of the Tribeca Film Festival. Since that first year he has held a number of positions at numerous other festivals including The New York International Latino Film Festival and Urbanworld. Earning his B.F.A. at New York University (Tisch School of the Arts), Tamir also went on to serve as an international staff member for the University, traveling to such countries as South Africa, China, Brazil, and Cuba. He currently serves on the board for Firelight Media and Moving Mountains, Inc. along with consulting for other art organizations. Tamir also has several years of film and television production experience to his credit and has aided and scouted the careers of several filmmakers.

ADAM NEUHAUS
Adam Neuhaus started his career at IFP New York as the Networking Coordinator.  Afterwards, his path took then him to the famed mailroom at the William Morris Agency and onto the Paradigm Agency working at both in the Motion Picture Literary Department with some of the leading talents in independent film.  

Adam then came to Original Media, a Film/TV Production Company based in NYC  with films such as The Squid and the Whale, Half Nelson & A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. As the Director of Development, he develops, casts and produces a variety of projects for networks such as Discovery Channel, TLC, Sundance, Bravo, HGTV, Versus, E! and the History Channel.
 
Adam is also the Founder and CEO of Headsets and Highballs, an invitation only media membership comprised of industry leaders across all platforms of media.

Adam also established a chief partnership with the Ghetto Film School where he created the H&H Fellows Program and teaches Industry classes.  In addition, Adam works extensively with the Hamptons International Film Festival serving on the Screening Committee and as a judge for the Screenwriters Lab.

Adam resides in TriBeCa near DeNiro and Jay Z.

MATTHEW PARKER
Matt was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee where his love of film began with his weekly Sunday trip to the movies with his Dad. Matt is a producer with The Group Entertainment. He was an associate producer on “Loggerheads” (Sundance ’05) and producer on “Find Love” (Slamdance ’06) and “Just Like the Son” (Tribeca ’06). He also produced the multi award winning short “Facechasers” and the independent television pilot, “Nicky’s Game” starring Burt Young (Rocky) that was selected for the first annual New York Television Festival. In the past year, he Produced “The War Boys” with Peter Gallagher and Victor Rasuk as well as “Peter and Vandy” (Sundance '09),was an associate producer on FLOW (Sundance ’08) and Familiar Strangers (LAIFF ’08) and just wrapped Beware the Gonzo, Restless City, and Chlorine.  Matt is also partnered with producer Gill Holland in sonaBLAST! Records (Mark Geary, Kelley McRae, The Old Ceremony), which saw its first two releases (Mark Geary’s ‘Ghosts’ and ‘3 1/3 Grand Street’) go Gold in Ireland.

JOSH PEARL
Josh is a NY-based Agent, representing clients across Film, TV, Theater and Comedy in both Talent and Literary. He went to the George Washington University. International Creative Management (ICM) is one of the world’s largest talent and literary agencies, with offices in Los Angeles, New York, and London.

DAWN PORTER
Dawn Porter is a Vice President at the A&E Television networks ("AETN"). AETN includes such properties as The History Channel, Lifetime, The Biography Channel, and A&E. In her current role, Dawn develops the ethical standards and practices to be followed by A&E. She is responsible for reviewing the content on all of the A&E networks including the documentary and reality genre programming. In 2007, Dawn formed Trilogy Films, a film and television production company to produce social impact documentary and feature films. As a Principal at Trilogy Films, Dawn is the Executive Producer of four documentaries, including Gideon’s Army and Spies of Mississippi for which she is also a writer/director.

Dawn is also an Executive Producer for Shoot The Messengers, a feature describing the experiences of David Halberstam, Neil Sheehan, Peter Arnett, Malcolm Browne, and Horst Faas, and Terra Antarctica a feature documenting the expedition led by writer/director and five time National Geographic grantee Jon Bowermaster.

Dawn is an Executive Producer of the feature film Serious Moonlight, written by award winning screenwriter Adrienne Shelley, writer and director of the hit movie Waitress.  Serious Moonlight stars Meg Ryan, Timothy Hutton, Justin Long, & Kristin Bell. Serious Moonlight debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival and was released theatrically in December, 2009.

Other film projects in development include Red Orchestra, a feature film by award winning writer Anne Nelson, and Relativity, by Adrienne Lusby and Emiliana Monahan, a finalist in the Austin Film Festival Screenwriting competition.  

MARY TOBLER
Mary Tobler, a New York-based screenwriter, is currently working on the original romantic comedy SOMETHING TRUE for Rowboat Pictures, as well as an untitled original screenplay for Armian Pictures.  In addition to these projects, she is developing an original treatment for SekretAgent Productions.

Prior to her work on these projects, Tobler adapted THE GIANT'S HOUSE for Armian Pictures from the award-winning book by Elizabeth McCracken and worked on another adaptation project for CineMosaic.  She has also adapted the romantic comedy BEHIND EVERYMAN, from the novel by David Israel, for producers Michelle Sy and Beth Elise Hawk.  Her original project LAME DUCK, a political comedy, is also currently in development.

In addition to her writing work, Tobler’s many production credits include such films as RACHEL GETTING MARRIED, and she has consulted on numerous original content development projects for web-based platforms.  She was also Script Editor on THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE and THE TRUTH ABOUT CHARLIE, and served as Director of Development at Clinica Estetico, Jonathan Demme's production company.  A graduate of Yale University, Tobler has also taught screenwriting at the New York Film Academy in conjunction with their Intensive Workshop Program.

CRAIG WRIGHT
Mr. Wright received an Emmy nomination for his Six Feet Under episode “Twilight” and a WGA nomination for his episode “Falling Into Place.”  He has contributed to the series Lost, Brothers & Sisters and The United States of Tara. He was the creator and Executive Producer of his own series, “Dirty Sexy Money” on ABC.

His plays have been produced in New York City and around the country and include The Pavilion, Orange Flower Water, Recent Tragic Events, Molly’s Delicious, Melissa Arctic, Grace, Lady, The Unseen and Blind. He has been nominated for the Drama Desk, the Helen Hayes, the Ovation and the Jeff Award and received a Helen Hayes Award for Melissa Arctic and the LA Drama Critics Award for Best Play for Grace. He received the 2009 Horton Foote Excellent in American Playwriting Award.

The Minnesota based McKnight Foundation provides funding and counsel to local arts organizations administering its multiple artist fellowships in the areas of ceramic arts, composition, dance choreography, music, photography, theatre, screenwriting, filmmaking, visual art, and writing.

McKnight Screenwriting Fellows    
  
1997 Karl Gadjusek, John Olive, Jeffrey Williams
1998 Jim Berg, James Byrne, Jim Christensen
1999 David Grant, Shawn Lawrence Otto
2000 William Eigen, Jeane Moore
2001 Jane O'Reilly, Doug Pfeifer
2002 Steven Larson, Ron Stover
2003 Michael Starrbury, Bob Yates
2004 Susan Arakawa, Brad Pecelj
2005 Patrick Coyle, Bob Yates
2006 Steven Larson & Gary Jenneke, Zach Hammill
2007 Michael Starrbury, Wenonah Wilms
2008 Daniel Laurence, Alan W. Porter
2009 Nicole Brending, Karen Frank

For information about the 2008 and 2007 McKnight Fellows, click here.