Screenwriters Lab

3pm Fri Mar 15
Upstairs at Whiskey Jacques 251 N Main St.

The Screenwriters Lab, presented by Variety, is an intimate conversation with a screenwriter where they share their journey, present their latest work during a live table read, and take questions from the audience. It’s an incredible glimpse in the process of storytelling, an experience for writers with unmatched interaction. This raucous event is a Festival favorite and features award-winning actors and surprise guests. Previous hosts include Award-winning screenwriters Mark Duplass (The Puffy Chair) , Charles Randolph (The Big Short) and Craig Borten and Melissa Wallack (Dallas Buyer’s Club).

This year’s host is Phil Johnston, a writer-director whose most recent film, Ralph Breaks the Internet, received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Feature.  Previous credits include the Oscar-winning Zootopia, Grimsby, Wreck-It Ralph and Cedar Rapids.  Among other things, he is currently developing the long-awaited adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, A Confederacy of Dunces.

The High Scribe Award, announced by the judge during the Screenwriters Lab is presented to an emerging voice in screenwriting. The 2019 Judge is Trevor Groth, Head of the Financier/Production company 30WEST, and former Director of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival.

Learn more about the submission process.

Witnesses by David Eisenberg and Jon Higgins

Clare by Lauren Minnerath

The Graveyard Shift by Max Andrew Dubinsky and Matthew Carpenter