HamptonsFilm Screenwriters Lab

Celebrating its 24th Anniversary, the HamptonsFilm Screenwriters Lab (April 5-7, 2024) champions the artistic visions of up-and-coming filmmakers from around the world. An intimate gathering taking place each spring in East Hampton, NY, the Lab fosters emerging talent by pairing selected fellows with established writers and creative producers for a weekend of one-on-one mentorship. Over the course of the weekend, these film industry veterans advise the participating fellows on their feature length projects in a series of individual and group development sessions. Additional events include nightly salons, roundtables, master class, and happy hours with industry guests, board members, alumni of the Lab, and members of the local artistic community.

Since its inception, over 100 screenwriters have taken part in the Lab. Recent projects include Andrew Semans’ Resurrection (IFC Films, Sundance 2022), Annabelle Attanasio’s Mickey and the Bear (Utopia, SXSW 2019), Michael Tyburski and Ben Nabors’ The Sound of Silence (IFC Films, Sundance 2019), Cathy Yan’s Dead Pigs (Film Movement, Sundance 2018), Christina Choe’s Nancy (Samuel Goldwyn Films, Sundance 2018) and Ísold Uggadóttir’s And Breathe Normally (Netflix, Sundance 2018).

Other selected highlights include Destin Daniel Cretton’s Short Term 12, starring Academy Award®-winning actors Brie Larson and Rami Malek, which won the Grand Jury and Audience Award at SXSW in 2013; Justin Schwartz’s The Discoverers, starring Griffin Dunne, which made its world premiere at HIFF 2012; Sara Colangelo’s Little Accidents, which premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, starring Elizabeth Banks and Chloe Sevigny; and Claudia Myers’s Fort Bliss, starring Michelle Monaghan and Ron Livingston, which was released in 2014. With projects from participating fellows produced year after year, the Screenwriters Lab continues to be an inspiring and safe space for artists to find and hone their creative vision.

Recent Screenwriters Lab Mentors and Master Class participants include Samuel D. Hunter (The Whale); Ekwa Msangi (Farewell Amor); David Hinojosa (Past Lives, Bodies Bodies Bodies); Debra Granik (Winter’s Bone, Leave No Trace); Tamara Jenkins (Private Life, The Savages); Jim Taylor (Sideways, Election); Mark Heyman (Black Swan); Michael H. Weber (The Disaster Artist, (500) Days of Summer); Oren Moverman (The Messenger, Love and Mercy); Michael Cunningham (The Hours, Evening); James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, Truth); Robin Swicord (When They See Us; The Curious Case of Benjamin Button); Alex Dinelaris (Birdman); James Pondsolt (The Spectacular Now), Nicole Perlman (Guardians of the Galaxy); Peter Hedges (What’s Eating Gilbert Grape); Darius Marder (Sound of Metal); Caroline Kaplan (producer: Boyhood, Sorry to Bother You), Sara Colangelo (The Kindergarten Teacher), Rob Siegel (The Wrestler, The Founder); Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (Captain Marvel, Half Nelson); Mollye Asher (producer: Nomadland); Sabrina Dhawan (Monsoon Wedding, Cosmopolitan); Jesse Andrews (Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl), David Siegel (What Maisie Knew); Alec Sokolow (Toy Story); Hawk Ostby (Children of Men, Iron Man); Alice Wu (Saving Face, The Half of It); J. Robin Baitz (People I Know, The Substance of Fire); Ted Griffin (Ocean’s Eleven); James V. Hart (Contact, Hook); Whit Stillman (Metropolitan, Love and Friendship); Ira Sachs (Frankie, Love is Strange); Andy Bienen (Boys Don't Cry); Jeff Sharp (producer: Boys Don’t Cry, Evening); Lawrence Konner (The Sopranos, Boardwalk Empire); Maria Maggenti (The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love); Gregory Widen (Highlander, Backdraft); Mark Christopher (54); Maggie Greenwald (Songcatcher, Ballad of Little Jo); Laurie Collyer (Sherrybaby); Lawrence Lasker (Sneakers, War Games); and Dylan Kidd (Roger Dodger, P.S.).