With the opening of submissions for another year of the Cassian Elwes Independent Screenwriting Fellowship, we’re pleased to bring you reflections on the remote 2022 Sundance Film Festival experience from last year’s Fellowship recipient, Leslie Nipkow, writer of SALT OF THE EARTH! When I answered the phone to hear Cassian Elwes say, “You are the winner of my fellowship,” I went from invisible to seen. I dumped a thousand-pound backpack of doubt. I sat up straighter. I probably also said some ridiculous things because, eighteen months into the global pandemic and five…

Today, we talk with Ximena García Lecuona about her first feature as a screenwriter, the 2020 annual Black List and 2019 GLAAD List script ANYTHING’S POSSIBLE (fka WHAT IF?) Ximena tells us about the script’s journey from page to screen, what it was like working with Billy Porter on his directorial debut, and much more! What was the genesis of ANYTHING’S POSSIBLE? Ximena García Lecuona: ANYTHING’S POSSIBLE started out with a Reddit post that I saw. Basically, it was this kid saying that he liked a trans girl, didn’t know what to do, didn’t want to be insensitive, didn’t want to be judged.

Today, we Kate talks with Lauren Hadaway about her debut film, THE NOVICE, which is now nominated for five Independent Spirit Awards including Best Feature, Best Female Lead, and Best Director. Lauren discusses how the film came together, her personal background as a rower, how the Black List has factored into her journey, and much more. I loved this film, I think it’s an incredibly accomplished debut — you’ve created such a vivid and immersive world around this kind of central queer POV that we really haven’t seen in a sports movie before. …

Writing…my escape. The answer to the question “why we write” is a million different things to a million different people. Some of us write to live, others write to maintain our sanity, or even as we watch it slowly slip away. …

Today, we talk to screenwriter Van Billet about how the past, present, and future have shaped his life as a writer. Van’s script, SAVING PARADISE (fka PENCIL TOWN) was discovered via the Black List website in 2018 and arrives in a theater or VOD platform near you on September 3rd — cheers to you, Van! The Past What was the first film that had a major impact on your life? Growing up in Philadelphia in the 1960s, there was a theater close to my home that showed classic older movies. Every Saturday, I would buy a ticket early in the morning, and sit in the theater until…

When I was 12 years old, I wrote and directed my first “film.” …

The decision to dedicate my life’s work to writing didn’t come easy. As the child of a successful businessman, I found myself trying to live up to what I thought my father’s expectations were. He jump started my working career at the ripe old age of 12 and I’ve been…

Today we talk to Tom Levesque about how the past, present, and future have shaped his journey as a writer. Tom has found success on the Black List website, including an option for his script THE TELEVANGELIST — cheers to you, Tom! The Past What was the first film that had a major impact on your life? It would have to be when Dad took me to see Terrence Malick’s THE THIN RED LINE. It was the first time I had seen any of Malick’s work and although I was only 10 years old…

I remember the first time it hit me. My eyes hadn’t adjusted to the light outside the theater yet, but something inside me was different. I felt lighter. I felt funnier. A movie screen had just administered the visual equivalent of nitrous oxide. …