Diane Joy Schmidt’s career as an award-winning writer, journalist and photojournalist has taken her around the world and into a deeper dive with screenwriting following an MFA at Antioch University, 2020. Her dramatic feature screenplay TURQUOISE MOUNTAIN set in Chicago and the Navajo Nation, has received WRITER: RECOMMEND (Coverage) at Austin Film Festival, Second-Rounder at Launch Pad, Semi-finalist at Santa Barbara ISA, Quarterfinalist at Scriptapalooza and Screencraft Feature, and Semi-finalist at L.A. International and San Francisco Independent Festival. Her short screenplay MAKING THE NUT has garnered FINALIST at the SF Indie and the Shorts4U competitions, and Quarter-finalist at WeScreenplay.