HIFF Selects Screenwriters for 16th Annual Screenwriters Lab

The Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) announced this week the mentors and screenwriters for the 16th annual Screenwriters Lab, which will take place April 8 through April 10 in East Hampton. The Lab pairs up-and-coming screenwriters with established screenwriters, directors and producers for a weekend of one-on-one mentoring sessions.

“The Screenwriters Lab is a highlight of the year-round work that HIFF does as we bring together a wide range of artists from the industry and pair them with a new wave of writers and filmmakers who are at crucial junctures of their developing careers,” states Artistic Director David Nugent. “Our submissions were up over 40 percent this year, and these three projects really represent some of the most exciting voices we had the pleasure of reading.”

The three selected screenplays for 2016 are Shane Andries’ "The Delegation", Cathy Yan’s "Dead Pigs", and Marshall Curry and Davy Rothbart’s "Biggz". This year’s mentors include Debra Granik, the writer and director of the Oscar-winning film "Winter’s Bone"; Michael Weber, the co-writer of "(500) Days of Summer" and "The Fault in Our Stars"; Pixar writer Mike Jones, who wrote the English adaptations of the Oscar-nominated films "The Wind Rises" and "The Tale of Princess Kaguya"; and Master Class participant Alexander Dinelaris, a recent Academy Award winner for "Birdman: Or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance" and co- producer of last year’s "The Revenant".

HIFF is also featuring a screenwriting Master Class, open to the public, with last year’s mentor and Academy Award Best Original Screenplay winner for "Birdman: Or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance,” Alexander Dinelaris. Mr. Dinelaris will take participants through all the stages of a critically acclaimed project, from the original writing phase to how a film’s script changes and morphs through to the final edited picture. He will use film clips to detail all that goes into writing an Oscar-winning script like “Birdman.” The class will take place at 5:30 p.m. on April 9 in East Hampton.

"With the support from the inaugural Melissa Mathison fund, we are thrilled to be able, for the first time, to share with the public the experience and talent of visiting artists such as Alex. We hope to do this each April for years to come," said Anne Chaisson, Executive Director of the Hamptons International Film Festival.

For more information, visit hamptonsfilmfestival.org.