Submissions for HIFF 2017 Screenwriters Lab Now Closed

Update 1/17/2017:
Submissions have now closed for the 2017 Screenwriters Lab.
Please look for our announcement of the selections in early April! 
Oscar® winner Alexander Dinelaris talking with attendees at the 2016 HIFF Screenwriters Lab Master Class in East Hampton, NY. Photo: Chloe Gifkins

Oscar® winner Alexander Dinelaris talking with attendees at the 2016 HIFF Screenwriters Lab Master Class in East Hampton, NY. Photo: Chloe Gifkins

The Hamptons International Film Festival’s Screenwriters Lab, going into its 17th year, is an intimate gathering that takes place each spring in East Hampton, New York (2017 dates: April 7–9). The Lab develops emerging screenwriting talent by pairing established writers and creative producers with up-and-coming screenwriters (chosen by HIFF in collaboration with key industry contacts).

Learn more about recent mentors and projects, and find out how the lab works.

Mike Jones (mentor), Davy Rothbart (writer) and Michael H. Weber (mentor) at the 2016 HIFF Screenwriters Lab in East Hampton, NY. Photo: Chloe Gifkins

Mike Jones (mentor), Davy Rothbart (writer) and Michael H. Weber (mentor) at the 2016 HIFF Screenwriters Lab in East Hampton, NY. Photo: Chloe Gifkins

We seek a broad selection of screenplays addressing a wide subject matter. The mentors advise in a one-on-one creative laboratory setting, while additional events bring the participants together with board members, sponsors, the local artistic community, and other friends of the Festival. With scripts from past writers produced year after year, the Lab continues to be an inspiring and safe place for artists to find and hone their creative vision.

Anne Chaisson, Michael H. Weber, Shane Andries, Mike Jones, Cathy Yan, Judy Licht, Marshall Curry, Davy Rothbart, Debra Granik, Alexander Dinelaris, David Nugent at the 2016 HIFF Screenwriters Lab. Photo: Chloe Gifkins

Anne Chaisson, Michael H. Weber, Shane Andries, Mike Jones, Cathy Yan, Judy Licht, Marshall Curry, Davy Rothbart, Debra Granik, Alexander Dinelaris, David Nugent at the 2016 HIFF Screenwriters Lab. Photo: Chloe Gifkins

A number of recent projects in the Lab have gone on to be produced and distributed and to screen at festivals around the world such as Sundance, South by Southwest, Karlovy Vary, Locarno and the Los Angeles Film Festival. Selected highlights include Destin Daniel Cretton‘s SHORT TERM 12 with Brie Larson and John Gallagher, Jr., which won the Grand Jury and Audience Award at SXSW; Justin Schwartz‘s THE DISCOVERERS, starring Griffin Dunne; Sara Colangelo‘s LITTLE ACCIDENTS, featuring Elizabeth Banks and Chloe Sevigny; Claudia Myers‘s FORT BLISS, starring Michelle Monaghan and Ron Livingston; and 2010 Sundance Film Festival Closing Night film TWELVE, written by Jordan Melamed and starring Ellen Barkin and Emma Roberts.