EXCLUSIVE: The Black List has named the six projects and seven screenwriters invited to its annual laboratory for 2023. In its eleventh year, the program offers creative mentorship and career support to promising screenwriters as they advance their screenplays in a weeklong workshop in Ojai, California.
This year’s writers are Jake Burnstein and Brandon Verdi (extra pulp)Anne Hollister (The housekeeper), Chris Hwisu Kim (ESL.), Kathryn Prescott (EMA), Jainaba Seckan (But some of us are brave) and Lisabelle Tay (MOMO). The Black List selected these writers from over 1,300 screenplay submissions on blcklst.com.
During the lab, each writer will develop his/her script in peer workshops and one-on-one sessions with professional screenwriting mentors, including Andrew Ahn (Fire Island), Steve Desmond (Knock on the cabin), Stephanie Folsom (Toy story 4), Kiwi Smith (naturally blonde) Jonathan Stokes (El Gringo) and Scott Myers of Go Into The Story.
The Blacklist is also pleased to announce the expansion of its feature programme. From 2024, the Black List Annual Lab will serve twelve film writers and projects annually, in two parts: the Writers Lab and the Projects Lab. Those selected for the Writers Lab track will go on to develop feature scripts that they plan to sell and/or use as voice samples. Those selected for the Project Lab track will further develop the major projects they wish to lead. Both editions continue to focus on the goal of ensuring that all twelve writers emerge with the best possible script and the knowledge of how to progress in their careers, no matter what direction they take.
Starting today, writers can sign up for the expanded lab via the Black List website (www.blcklst.com). The Blacklist is looking for the strongest scripts for both subjects – material with strong characters and a strong concept – and for writers with strong professional instincts who want to build a long-term career in the entertainment industry.
Annual Lab graduates have gone on to successful careers in both film and television, both as writers and screenwriters and directors. Previous Black List Lab graduates include Minhal Baig (writer/director of HelloBlacklist 2016), Tom Dean (Time Travelers La Ronde, Blacklist 2016), Noga Pnueli (Meet Nice Blacklist 2018 and Higher circlesBlacklist 2020), Ben Mehlman and Filipe Coutinho (WhittierBlacklist 2021) and Jimmy Keyrouz (Key brokens, Official Selection, Cannes Film Festival 2020).
Annual Lab Authors and Projects 2023
Extra pulp by Jake Burnstein and Brandon Verdi
September 2007. It’s Randy’s first day at high school radio – unfortunately for him, it’s also his last day at the station. As the newest member of the now-defunct late-night show Extra Pulp, he and the Saturday crew must decide what’s worth saying on the mic in the final hours.
Jake Burnstein and Brandon Verdi are best friends in high school and decided to make movies together after a midnight showing of THE DARK KNIGHT. Informed by their childhood in a Detroit suburb and their four years at the University of Michigan, the two tell stories about growing up at any age, the struggle for truth and fast food.
The housekeeper by Anne Hollister
A broke, obsessive artist invades a beautiful woman’s apartment and will do anything to convince those around her that her life is the perfect picture of success.
Anne Hollister is a writer, actress, producer and development director at HappyBad Bungalow. As a writer, she enjoys writing and telling stories about driven women who question their deepest desires and is currently developing a feature film, Sarah Jessica Parker’s Pretty Matches.
ESL. by Chris Hwisu Kim
When Molly Cho’s mother is diagnosed with terminal cancer, she relearns her native language, Korean, so they can communicate again before she dies. But as she progresses in her studies, a long dormant evil awakens.
Christopher Hwisu Kim is a filmmaker and video producer for The New Yorker based in Brooklyn, NY. His work focuses heavily on the Korean diaspora and explores themes of belonging, heritage and family through a genre lens. His screenplay “ESL” is on the blacklist for the Cassian Elwes Independent Screenwriting Fellowship at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.
EMA by Kathryn Prescott
A 14-year-old girl living in poverty on the outskirts of London has three days to raise money for the morning-after pill before it stops working.
Kathryn Prescott began her career as an actress on the British television show SKINS. She has been writing, directing and acting for 15 years and currently lives in Brooklyn.
But some of us are brave by Jainaba Seckan
Inspired by true events in 1976, courageous students and a fiery professor at a conservative black women’s college take the school’s board of trustees hostage and demand a black female president for the first time in its nearly 100-year history.
Jainaba Seckan is a screenwriter specializing in historical dramas that focus on women’s experiences. She is also a diversity, equity and inclusion expert with experience in higher education, technology and entertainment.
MOMO by Lisabelle Tay
When a troubled woman and her double fall in love with the same man, their symbiotic relationship collapses with devastating consequences.
Lisabelle Tay is a Singaporean writer who works in various genres including poetry and short stories. Her current projects include an upcoming podcast for the National Gallery Singapore and a film script produced by Little River Entertainment, the company behind Banjong Pisanthankun’s Metal Casket for Amazon Studios.
Source: Deadline
Bernice Bonaparte is an author and entertainment journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a passion for pop culture and a talent for staying up-to-date on the latest entertainment news, Bernice has become a trusted source for information on the entertainment industry.
