Lab US-2015

2015

The inaugural Writers Lab took place in upstate New York from Friday, September 18th, through Sunday, September 20th.

Wiawaka
New York

We kicked off our inaugural Lab with a magical rooftop cocktail party hosted by TWL collaborator The Writers Guild of America, East in New York City. The next morning, 8 mentors and 12 writers (below) traveled together to Wiawaka (far right), the oldest continually operating retreat for women in America, founded by Mary Fuller on the southeastern edge of Lake George.

Over the course of three cool, late-summer days on Lake George, Lab participants met in various configurations: one-on-one; in panel discussions; in small groups; over cocktails; and throughout meals. Discussion topics ranged from crafting strong openings for films to tips for pitching to producers. The writers quickly connected, and the attachments have continued beyond the retreat itself.

Our accomplished mentors shared knowledge and camaraderie generously, offering candid and insightful wisdom and experience about the commerce of screenwriting and the business of the film industry, as well as honest writing and skillful storytelling. In the private, serene environment of Wiawaka, every person was put at ease to focus, listen, learn, and contribute.

The 2015 writers

Sarah BirdVanessa CarmichaelTracy CharltonKellen HertzAnna HozianLyralen KayeJan KimbroughBillie Jo MasonPeres OwinoGretchen SomerfeldJanet StilsonKim Turner
2015 lab participantSarah Bird
DAUGHTER Based on the true story of Cathy/Cathay Williams, the only woman to serve with the legendary Buffalo Soldiers and the first to enlist in the peacetime U.S. military.
2015 lab participantVanessa Carmichael
THE AMERICAN African-American hotshot attorney Gail Lindsey is in Lagos, Nigeria on business when the country erupts into civil unrest. Stranded in hostile territory, Gail must depend on an unlikely ally and adopt the ways of war in order to survive.
2015 lab participantTracy Charlton
RAISED UP A young woman from the barrio decides to break away from her gang of jewel thieves – and her family – to live straight on her own in an edgy, contemporary, urban drama with a streak of black comedy.
2015 lab participantKellen Hertz
ASHBURN A NYC book editor follows a lead to Mexico, where he discovers much more than the lost manuscript he sought in this macabre Day of the Dead literary thriller.
2015 lab participantAnna Hozian
ANCHOR BABY After witnessing his father nearly beat a Mexican immigrant to death while patrolling the desert border, a 13-year-old boy growing up in the Arizona Border Militia finds solace in the last place he ever thought he would — the arms of the new migrant girl in town. (In pre-production)
2015 lab participantLyralen Kaye
ST. JOHN THE DIVINE IN IOWA An Episcopal priest who always goes the extra mile for her congregation struggles to keep up her commitments when her newly out daughter comes home demanding attention for her own troubled relationship.
2015 lab participantJan Kimbrough
THE GLASTONBURY COW PARTY The true story of two of America’s most delightful 19th century heroines; a pair of 70-something spinster sisters who fight City Hall in Glastonbury, Connecticut, in a battle to save their principles, their money and their beloved pet cows.
2015 lab participantBillie Jo Mason
THE CARGO In 2152, as mankind loses an interplanetary war against mysterious aliens, a female pilot leads the crew of a salvage vessel on a mission to retrieve top-secret cargo from a derelict warship, only to be stranded, while trying to outrun – and outwit – the aliens.
2015 lab participantPeres Owino
THE BASKETWEAVER Seven years after being abducted by rebel soldiers, a young African woman and her six year old son return to her husband only to find that it is impossible to truly come home when ghosts have followed you from the jungle.
2015 lab participantGretchen Somerfeld
FACE VALUE Hedy Lamarr – “the most beautiful girl in the world” and the first woman to appear fully nude in a legitimate motion picture – was the inventor of a device that facilitated frequency hopping, the visionary concept that guides U.S. Army torpedoes and became the forerunner to all wireless communication today.
2015 lab participantJanet Stilson
JAGUAR TRAIL At a time when human life is facing extinction, a gifted journalist with a troubled past goes on a beat-the-clock quest to find a mysterious solution to the extreme climate changes, facing off against an alluring spy who ruined his life years before.
2015 lab participantKim Turner
CHRISTY’S GOT CANCER! When Kate’s hypochondriacal mother gets the kind of news no one (but her) wants, Kate must marshal her family’s collective dysfunctional superpowers to come up with a care plan and resolve their relationship in time. (In pre-production)

The lab has continued to open doors for me that otherwise would have stayed closed.

Lyralen Kaye
TWL US 2015

The 2015 mentors

Darnell Martin
Lydia Dean Pilcher
Gina Prince-Bythewood
Kristin Smith

Mary Jane Skalski
Meg leFauve
Caroline Kaplan
Jessica Bendiger

Industry Insights

The Boxed In Report found that shows with at least one woman creator featured more female characters in speaking and major roles, and employed higher percentages of women as directors, writers, and editors.

Previous labs
in the US

2015
2016

2017
2018

2019
2020

2021
2022

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