Hamptons International Film Fest Hosts 11th annual Screenwriters’ Lab

The Hamptons International Film Festival will host its 11th annual Screenwriters' Lab co-sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation April 15 - 17 in East Hampton, NY. HIFF, as part of their year-long screening events and programs, is proud to continue the series and play host to emerging screenwriters who are looking to refine their scripts.

The Lab has screenwriters meet for one-on-one mentoring sessions with established screenwriters, a group whose credits include such films as HALF NELSON, BLACK SWAN, and MADAGASCAR. This prestigious group of mentors will advise the writers on how to develop their scripts and move their projects closer to production. HIFF provides an environment in which participants are able to share and discuss their projects during the day and in the evening meet with board members, sponsors, and the local artistic community.

"The Screenwriters' Lab is one of our most important programs as it allows us to be involved with creative talent at an early stage," states Director of Programming, David Nugent. "The Lab promotes a relaxed exchange of ideas and creative energy, and it allows us to support emerging artists which has always been so important to the work we do."
Following the Lab, the festival will assist writers in making contact with influential members of the industry to continue to support the writers as they revise their scripts. According to Executive Director, Karen Arikian, "Thanks to the continued support of the Sloan Foundation, several of the screenwriters will join us in October at the Festival itself to refine and advance their projects. This is one of a number of our programs that we think is so important to nurturing the next generation of artists."

2011 Screenwriters' Lab Participants, Screenplays and Project Descriptions:

1) DESTIN DANIEL CRETTON - SHORT TERM 12
Based on the Sundance award-winning short film, SHORT TERM 12 follows Grace, a young supervisor at a foster care facility, as she struggles to look after her teens while desperately avoiding the residue of her own dark past. When Jayden, a new arrival, is placed in her care, Grace is forced to confront her own scars in order to help the teenage girl with whom she has been charged to look after.

Writer's Bio:
Destin Daniel Cretton was born and raised in Maui, Hawaii, where he spent three of his summers picking pineapples in the fields near his home. He has a BA in Communications from Point Loma Nazarene University and is finishing his Masters in Film at San Diego State University. He's written and directed four award-winning short films: LONGBRANCH: A SUBURBAN PARABLE (Premiered at the 2002 Tribeca Film Festival), BARTHOLOMEW'S SONG (2006 Student Academy Finalist), DEACON'S MONDAYS (2007 Student Academy Finalist, 2007 Angelus Winner, HBO Films Best Student Film Award), and SHORT TERM 12, which won the U.S. Jury Prize at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, followed by top awards at Seattle International, Aspen Shorts Fest, Independent Film Festival Boston, CineVegas, GenArt, and was short-listed for the 2010 Academy Awards. Along with his narrative work, Destin has also directed two feature-length documentaries. DRAKMAR: A VASSAL'S JOURNEY premiered on HBO Family in 2007 and won the Best Documentary Award at the 2006 Comic Con. BORN WITHOUT ARMS premiered on TLC/Discovery in 2009.

2) SHERYL GLUBOK - THE PRISONER AND THE PROFESSOR
THE PRISONER AND THE PROFESSOR is based on a true story. When an uneducated prisoner in Alcatraz discovers he has an aptitude for mathematics, a straight-laced professor from Stanford University agrees to tutor him. With a love of mathematics as a common language, an unlikely friendship evolves and the prisoner is given one last shot at redemption.

Writer's Bio:
Sheryl Glubok is a graduate of Stanford University and has a MFA from the Writer's Seminars at Bennington. She studied film at FAMU, the film academy in Prague, working with Academy Award-winner Jiri Menzel among others in honing her storytelling craft. Her first short film, ALEXIA, screened at festivals in North America and Europe including the Seattle International Film Festival. Her short fiction has been published in literary magazines NightTrain and The Queen City Review. She currently teaches screenwriting at Burlington College in Vermont.

3) CLAUDIA MYERS - FORT BLISS
In FORT BLISS, a female Army medic and single mom returns from an extended combat tour in Afghanistan to find she must now win back the love of her five-year-old son.
When news of another deployment threatens the fragile balance she has achieved, she is forced to choose between her role as a mother and her obligations as a soldier.

Writer's Bio:
Claudia Myers is a filmmaker whose work spans both fiction and documentary genres. Claudia's feature script, WILD OATS, which won 2nd place at the Slamdance Screenwriting Competition, is currently in development to be directed by Scott Marshall. Claudia also produced the independent comedy BELOW THE BELTWAY, which is currently on Showtime. Claudia previously wrote and directed the feature KETTLE OF FISH. The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was cited as one of the standout films in David Carr's festival overview for The New York Times. It was released theatrically in 2007 then acquired by Showtime. Prior to this, Claudia wrote and directed the short film BUDDY & GRACE that won several awards and screened at the 2001 Sundance film festival. Outside of narrative fiction, Claudia has worked with veterans and active duty soldiers to make several films about the military community. She produced and directed the documentary THE LONG ROAD BACK about soldiers who were severely injured in Iraq, which won two Telly Awards, an Aurora Award, and was nominated for a Regional Emmy. Last year, Claudia produced and directed a second documentary, WOMEN AT WAR which looks at the evolution of women's roles in the military since World War II. Claudia also wrote and directed the interactive role-playing feature OUTSIDE THE WIRE for use by the U.S. Army, which won a 2008 Codie Award and a Brandon Hall Excellence in Learning Award. The film pushes the boundaries of traditional narrative by melding fiction film, gaming, and educational training into an interactive format that enhances viewer identification. Claudia subsequently wrote THE WAR INSIDE another large-scale interactive, role-playing film that deals with the psychological impact of war and aims to build resilience in soldiers. It is planned for Army-wide distribution in 2011. Claudia is a professor in the Film & Media Arts division of American University's School of Communication.

4) EUGENE RAMOS - NEWTON'S LAWS OF EMOTION
Isaac Newton and his friend, Edmund Halley, travel to London to present before the Royal Society, England's brotherhood of scientists, in the hope of becoming members. Unbeknownst to Newton, Halley is a spy for the English crown and is tasked with stealing an equation discovered by Newton that may be able to predict the future and thus prevent a costly war between England and its archenemy, the Dutch Republic. Newton, meanwhile, meets Sophia, a beautiful Prussian royal who has her own aspirations to become a Society member. As he pursues Sophia's affections, Newton makes his greatest discoveries: calculus, the laws of motion, and love.

Writer's Bio:
Eugene Ramos graduated from Columbia University with an MFA in Film. He wrote, directed, and produced a number of shorts, including THE CONCOCTION and DANDELION FALL both of which received awards and honors at several film festivals. While at Columbia, he also received a comedy fellowship from Comedy Central. As an undergraduate, Ramos attended Northwestern University, earning a degree in British Literature of the 1500s after reading many, many Shakespeare plays. Since graduating from Columbia, he has won a handful of officially sponsored writing competitions for the sci-fi TV shows BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, PAINKILLER JANE, and STAR TREK. His spec scripts for SUPERNATURAL and THE BIG BANG THEORY have also placed in TV script competitions. In 2009 he completed the NATPE Diversity Fellowship Program and was invited to participate in NAMIC's Writers' Workshop. Because of his penchant toward Shakespeare and science fiction, some of his friends refer to him as the "Sci-Fi Shakespeare Guy."

2011 Screenwriters' Lab Mentors
1) and 2) ANNA BODEN and RYAN FLECK have collaborated as a filmmaking team since 2002, when they began co-writing and directing short films and documentaries. Their first feature, HALF NELSON, world-premiered at the Sundance Film Festival before going on to win numerous prizes. HALF NELSON lead actors Ryan Gosling and Shareeka Epps both earned Spirit Awards for their portrayals, and Mr. Gosling also received Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award nominations. HALF NELSON was honored with Gotham Awards for Breakthrough Director, Breakthrough Actor (for Ms. Epps), and Best Film. Their second film, SUGAR, world-premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. SUGAR received a Gotham Award nomination for Best Ensemble Cast; a Spirit Award nomination for Best Screenplay; and an American Film Institute (AFI) Award as one of the year's 10 most outstanding achievements in film. Their most recent film, IT'S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY, was released by Focus this past October.

3) BILLY FROLICK is the co-writer of Dreamworks Animation's MADAGASCAR, which stars the voice talents of Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith and David Schwimmer, and grossed over a half a billion dollars worldwide during its 2005 theatrical release. His journalism has appeared in The New Yorker, Movieline, TV Guide, The Huffington Post, and The Los Angeles Times. Frolick's 1995 Dutton book What I Really Want to Do is Direct tracked seven film school graduates over three years. Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh wrote, "If you are reading my words right now, you need to buy this book. Billy Frolick has produced the definitive text on what it's like to make a start in the film business. I found it absolutely riveting." And from Publishers Weekly: "Essential reading." He is preparing to direct LOW NOTES, from his own original screenplay, to be produced by Jamin O'Brien (HANDSOME HARRY). Eyde Belasco (HALF NELSON, [500] DAYS OF SUMMER) is the film's casting director. In addition to moderating and appearing on many international film school and festival panels, Frolick is an adjunct professor at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he teaches Screenwriting.

4) Mark Heyman was born and raised in New Mexico, and graduated from Brown University in 2002. After attending NYU's graduate film program for writing-directing, Mark began working as director of development for Protozoa Pictures, the Production Company of filmmaker Darren Aronofsky. He was a co-producer on the first film he developed with Aronofsky, THE WRESTLER, which was released by Fox Searchlight in 2008. The film won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival and garnered numerous award nominations and wins, including two Oscar nominations, two Golden Globes, and three Independent Spirit Awards. Following THE WRESTLER, Mark decided to turn his focus to writing and began work on BLACK SWAN. The film marks his first produced screenplay and was also released by Fox Searchlight. It was nominated for four Golden Globes, five Academy Awards, twelve BAFTAS, four Independent Spirit Awards, and a WGA award for best original screenplay. Currently, Mark is working on two screenplays, another for Aronofsky entitled MACHINE MAN, and one for director Marc Webb entitled AGE OF RAGE. He lives and works in New York.

Past Screenwriters' Lab mentors include Michael Cunningham (THE HOURS, EVENING); James Vanderbilt (ZODIAC); Whit Stillman (METROPOLITAN, THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO); Ira Sachs (FORTY SHADES OF BLUE, THE DELTA); Jeff Sharp (Producer, YOU CAN COUNT ON ME); J.D. Zeik (RONIN); Maggie Greenwald (SONGCATCHER); and Dylan Kidd (RODGER DODGER).

The 2011 Hamptons International Film Festival will take place October 13-17, 2011. Now entering its 19th year, The Hamptons International Film Festival continues to thrive as a prestigious forum for independent and international film. The Festival is traditionally held for five days in mid-October in theatre venues from Montauk to Southampton and attracts roughly 15,000 visitors annually. At least twenty countries are represented in the slate of roughly 100 films that are showcased each year, with an awards package worth over $150,000. The festival continues to grow as a precursor to the awards season, with films from the 2010 edition earning 33 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture winner THE KING'S SPEECH (East Coast Premiere), BLACK SWAN (East Coast), BLUE VALENTINE (East Coast), 127 HOURS (East Coast), and BARNEY'S VERSION (US). Other past highlights include the 2009 edition earning 17 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture nominee UP IN THE AIR (US), THE MESSENGER, and THE YOUNG VICTORIA (US); 2008 Academy Award and Golden Globe Best Picture winner SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (East Coast), 2008 Independent Spirit Award Best Feature winner THE WRESTLER, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (US), TWO LOVERS (North American), VALENTINO: THE LAST EMPEROR (US), SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK (US), NOWHERE IN AFRICA (US), THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY, THE SAVAGES (East Coast) and OPEN WATER (World). Last year's guests of the Festival included Darren Aronofsky, Carter Burwell, Anne Carey, Jessica Chastain, Joel & Ethan Coen, Vlade Divac, Stuart Dryburgh, Edie Falco, James Franco, Paul Giamatti, Alex Gibey, Jane Goodall, Davis Guggenheim, Marcia Gay Harden, Sally Hawkins, Peter Hedges, Tom Hooper, Holly Hunter, Neil LaBute, Amir Bar Lev, Doug Liman, Frances McDormand, Brittany Robertson, Isabella Rosselini, Julian Schnabel, Stanley Tucci, John Turturro, and Lee Unkrich. We are also an Academy Award-qualifying festival for short live-action and animated films.