HamptonsFilm, home of Hamptons International Film Festival, has announced the selected fellows, screenplays, and mentors for the 22nd edition of its annual Screenwriters Lab, which will take place April 8 to 10. The Lab, which will be held in an in-person setting for the first time since 2019, pairs rising screenwriters with established screenwriters, directors, and creative-producers for a weekend of one-on-one mentoring sessions.
“This signature event of our year-round programming is in many ways defined by the intimacy of the mentorship that takes place,” said HamptonsFilm Artistic Director David Nugent. “While we are thankful to have found our way virtually through our 20th and 21st editions, returning to an in-person setting this year with such unique and compelling scripts means so much to us as an organization and a film-loving community.”
The three selected screenplays for 2022 are “Marilou is Everywhere” by Jimmy Goldblum, “The Leftover Ladies” by Farida Zahran, and “In Search of Time” by Jamil McGinnis and Pat Heywood.
This year’s mentors include Academy Award-winner Mollye Asher, producer of Chloe Zhao’s Best Picture-winning film “Nomadland,” Peter Hedges, a novelist and screenwriter whose work includes “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,” “A Map of the World,” “The Same Storm,” and the Academy Award-nominated “About A Boy,” and Alice Wu, whose most recent film “The Half Of It” won the Founders Award at the Tribeca Film Festival and received a nomination for Best Screenplay at the Independent Spirit Awards. Hedges also previously served as a Screenwriters Lab mentor virtually in 2020.
“It is an honor and a privilege to once again welcome our distinguished mentors back to East Hampton after two years of virtual labs,” said HamptonsFilm Executive Director Anne Chaisson. “This year, it is safe to say our mentors’ talent speaks for itself, and we are so grateful to Mollye Asher, Peter Hedges, and Alice Wu for generously making the time to work with our lab participants to help develop their brilliant pieces of work.”
HamptonsFilm also announced that Zahran and her project “The Leftover Ladies” is the recipient of the 2022 Melissa Mathison Fund. Previous recipients include Lana Wilson’s “Back Seat,” Kelly O’Sullivan’s “Mouse,” Kirsten Tan’s “Higher,” Aemilia Scott’s “The Birthday Suit,” Annabelle Attanasio’s “Mickey And The Bear,” and Cathy Yan’s “Dead Pigs.” The fund was established in 2016 and named for the late, beloved Oscar-nominated screenwriter, and strives to foster the continued development of female writers in the industry.
Highlights of the Screenwriters Lab over the past 22 years have included Andrew Semans’ “Resurrection,” starring Rebecca Hall and Tim Roth, which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival; Michael Tyburski and Ben Nabors’ “The Sound Of Silence,” starring Peter Sarsgaard and Rashida Jones, which premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival; Ísold Uggadóttir’s “And Breathe Normally” and Christina Choe’s “Nancy,” which both premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and received awards for directing and screenwriting, respectively; Destin Daniel Cretton’s “Short Term 12,” starring Academy Award-winning actors Brie Larson and Rami Malek, which won the Grand Jury and Audience Awards 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.
For more information on this program, visit the HamptonsFilm website.
