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ALUMNI
2024 Talent USA Participants
Enoch Mailangi:
Hannah Barlow and Kane Senes
Hannah Carroll Chapman
Imogen McCluskey
Michelle Brasier and Sam Lingham
Noora Niasari
Paddy Macrae
Tristram Baumber
2022 Talent USA Participants
Julietta Boscolo
Lucy Campbell
Beck Cole
Vonne Patiag
Samuel Nuggin-Paynter
Renée Webster
Rachele Wiggins
Thomas Wilson-White
2021 Women in screen workshop
Leah Patterson
Australian director Leah Patterson works in theatre and film. In 2020 she had her first foray in television. She was selected for Ryan Murphy’s Half Initiative and shadowed Producing-Director David Grossman on 9-1-1 Lone Star. She was named one of 2019’s
Top 10 Women In Film To Watch by Diversity In Cannes. Her work is emotionally resonant, often focusing on real-life and intimate relationship
based stories.
Her film Bridget and Iain was based on the play of the same name by Norelle Scott. At the Short+Sweet Festival the play won Best Play and the People’s Choice Award presented by the City of Los Angeles. Leah was awarded Best Director out of the 60+
play festival. The film’s actor, Damian Sommerlad, was awarded Best Actor at Diversity in Cannes.
She directed Oracles & Miracles a play written by Norelle Scott based on the bestselling novel Oracles and Miracles by Stevan Eldred-Grigg. The production marked the
30 year anniversary of this powerful novel and the North American debut of
the play, which won an Encore Producers Award at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Leah was the Literary Manager for Los
Angeles based Australian Theatre Company, curating and producing its popular annual Summer Reading Series.
She graduated from the University of New South Wales with a BA in Theatre/
Film & Philosophy. She graduated from William Esper Studio, an acting
conservatory in New York City. She and her sister were the first in their family to attend university. Leah had a previous career in finance on Wall Street.
Top 10 Women In Film To Watch by Diversity In Cannes. Her work is emotionally resonant, often focusing on real-life and intimate relationship
based stories.
Her film Bridget and Iain was based on the play of the same name by Norelle Scott. At the Short+Sweet Festival the play won Best Play and the People’s Choice Award presented by the City of Los Angeles. Leah was awarded Best Director out of the 60+
play festival. The film’s actor, Damian Sommerlad, was awarded Best Actor at Diversity in Cannes.
She directed Oracles & Miracles a play written by Norelle Scott based on the bestselling novel Oracles and Miracles by Stevan Eldred-Grigg. The production marked the
30 year anniversary of this powerful novel and the North American debut of
the play, which won an Encore Producers Award at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Leah was the Literary Manager for Los
Angeles based Australian Theatre Company, curating and producing its popular annual Summer Reading Series.
She graduated from the University of New South Wales with a BA in Theatre/
Film & Philosophy. She graduated from William Esper Studio, an acting
conservatory in New York City. She and her sister were the first in their family to attend university. Leah had a previous career in finance on Wall Street.
Jingjing Tian
Jingjing is a Chinese American filmmaker based in NYC. A Sundance Uprise Grantee, she is working on her first feature film, Kid C. Her short films have screened at Nitehawk Cinema with MoMA, Cleveland International Film Festival, Bentonville Film Festival, Seattle Asian American
Film Festival, and Museum of the Chinese in America. Her work has been profiled in Paper Magazine, AM New York, BuzzFeed, High Country News, South China Morning Post + more.
Film Festival, and Museum of the Chinese in America. Her work has been profiled in Paper Magazine, AM New York, BuzzFeed, High Country News, South China Morning Post + more.
Rebecca Ingram
Rebecca Ingram is a Welsh-Australian Writer and Creative Producer who creates compelling high-end drama series set in particular worlds. Rebecca’s work has been optioned by some of Europe’s and Australia’s prominent production companies, and currently has an international series in development with a leading German production company. She has just been shortlisted for the BBC and World Productions 2021 Scriptwriting Award for her Welsh community drama Grounded, and her crime police drama Undercurrent, was recently shortlisted for the Australian Writers Guild’s 2021 premier Monte Miller Award - now in development with production company Sweetshop & Green.
In 2017 her work scored an Australian Directors Guild Fellowship to attend the U.S Stowe Story Lab, as well as shortlisted for the AWG’s ‘Prime Time’ TV series competition, where she was inducted into the Pathways Program for her gritty, female juvenile justice series ‘Dog Box’.
In 2019, two of Rebecca’s crime series (Dog Box & Secret Threads), received significant development funding from Screen Australia and Screen NSW. Rebecca also received a travel grant in 2019 from Screen NSW to attend Content London with the project Dog Box.
2018 saw Rebecca selected to be part of Screen Producers Australia’s ‘Ones to Watch’ program as a Creative Producer for her slate of work, as well as Dame Changers ‘Mentor to Market’ program, and Bunya Productions ‘Hollywood Showrunner Talent Lab’.
Her TV production credits as a Producer’s Assistant include shows such as the 2019 reboot of Seachange (Channel 9), and the AACTA winning series, Deadlock (ABC TV). Rebecca also works as a Creative Producer for Australian production company Magpie Pictures.
In 2017 her work scored an Australian Directors Guild Fellowship to attend the U.S Stowe Story Lab, as well as shortlisted for the AWG’s ‘Prime Time’ TV series competition, where she was inducted into the Pathways Program for her gritty, female juvenile justice series ‘Dog Box’.
In 2019, two of Rebecca’s crime series (Dog Box & Secret Threads), received significant development funding from Screen Australia and Screen NSW. Rebecca also received a travel grant in 2019 from Screen NSW to attend Content London with the project Dog Box.
2018 saw Rebecca selected to be part of Screen Producers Australia’s ‘Ones to Watch’ program as a Creative Producer for her slate of work, as well as Dame Changers ‘Mentor to Market’ program, and Bunya Productions ‘Hollywood Showrunner Talent Lab’.
Her TV production credits as a Producer’s Assistant include shows such as the 2019 reboot of Seachange (Channel 9), and the AACTA winning series, Deadlock (ABC TV). Rebecca also works as a Creative Producer for Australian production company Magpie Pictures.
Candy Bowers
Candy Bowers is a radical mischief-maker, writer, creator and musician. Born of South African political refugees, Candy has created an extraordinary cross-disciplinary body of work that shakes and tickles audiences in equal measure. The original producer and co-creator of global phenomenon Hot Brown Honey, Candy and her sister Kim Busty Beatz Bowers ran the international production house Black Honey Company from 2008-2018. Candy worked as a contributor, actor and sketch writer for the Comedy Channel and the ABC including Tonightly with Tom Ballard and Get Krack!n. In 2017 Candy stepped across to development via Screen Australia’s Developing the Developer lab and continued studying in the field under Louise Gough at Arena Media. In 2018/19 she was named as one of four recipients of the Screen Australia/ Australians In Film MentorLA initiative and took part in the Talent USA/LA program. Candy attached to Peter Saji on family sit-com Mixedish (abc/Disney) and signed with Hollywood literary agent WRIT-Large. Over the last 18 months Candy has plied her trade via a number of proposed Aussie comedy and kids series, including: Dirty Thirties (Screen Australia) Fresh! (Freemantle) The Back Room (SBS/ Film Victoria) and Joy (Mischief Media). Candy is currently working on turning her On Air 2020 winning scripted-audio pitch Bottlo2560 into a comedy series for TV and developing her feature film for young adults Elastic Tribe.
Lindsey Ryan
Lindsey is a filmmaker originally from Long
Island and is currently based in Brooklyn, New York. She started her freelance career at the early age of thirteen, where
she interned as a camera PA on the MTV Show One Bad Choice. Her credits have since grown to include Oscar nominated documentaries, several network and streaming
series, major brand commercials and several short form narrative productions.
After graduating from Hofstra University with a BS in Film and Television, she began working for critically acclaimed director
Reed Morano. Lindsey is now directing commercials and developing narrative projects for a New York based production
company, Rebel Motion.
Her most recent credit SEASICK, an LGBTQ short film about a ferry deckhand who sends a love-confessing text message,
was shot entirely on a moving boat on the Great South Bay. The film stars Pauline Chalamet and has gone on to play festivals such as Outfest, Newport Beach, Nantucket and has
won several awards including Best 1st Time Director, Best
Actress, and Best LGBTQ Short.
Island and is currently based in Brooklyn, New York. She started her freelance career at the early age of thirteen, where
she interned as a camera PA on the MTV Show One Bad Choice. Her credits have since grown to include Oscar nominated documentaries, several network and streaming
series, major brand commercials and several short form narrative productions.
After graduating from Hofstra University with a BS in Film and Television, she began working for critically acclaimed director
Reed Morano. Lindsey is now directing commercials and developing narrative projects for a New York based production
company, Rebel Motion.
Her most recent credit SEASICK, an LGBTQ short film about a ferry deckhand who sends a love-confessing text message,
was shot entirely on a moving boat on the Great South Bay. The film stars Pauline Chalamet and has gone on to play festivals such as Outfest, Newport Beach, Nantucket and has
won several awards including Best 1st Time Director, Best
Actress, and Best LGBTQ Short.
Sunday Emerson Gullifer
Sunday Emerson Gullifer is an award-winning film director and screenwriter from Sydney, Australia.
With the support of Screen New South Wales, she is currently developing her debut feature, HELMUT,
inspired by her acclaimed short film, TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW (2017).
In 2020, she was a Writer in Residence at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris while she worked on
the project.
TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW premiered internationally at Telluride Film Festival, was Highly Commended in the Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films at Sydney Film Festival, won Best Screenplay at Munich International Festival of Film Schools, Best Performance at Flickerfest, Best Masters Narrative Production at the Victorian College of the Arts, and was nominated for an Australian
Directors’ Guild Award. The film later premiered online as a Vimeo Staff Pick and was featured on Short
of the Week, with Women and Hollywood calling it “a must-watch for anyone who is invested in the
#MeToo and Time’s Up movements”.
Prior to that, she received Metro Screen Breaks funding to make her short film, MEAT (2015). The film
was nominated for an Australian Directors’ Guild Award and won an Australian Cinematographers’
Society Silver Award, screening at festivals across Australia and internationally. In 2018, Sunday was awarded the Lexus Australia Short Film Fellowship. The $50,000 fellowship funded
production of her latest short film, BROKEN LINE NORTH (2019), and saw the film premiere at Sydney
Film Festival.
Sunday holds a Master of Film and Television (Narrative) from the Victorian College of the Arts, a Master
of Media Arts and Production from the University of Technology Sydney, and a Bachelor of Arts
(Performance Studies, American Studies) from the University of Sydney.
Originally hailing from a background in theatre, she is drawn to bold stories told with heart.
With the support of Screen New South Wales, she is currently developing her debut feature, HELMUT,
inspired by her acclaimed short film, TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW (2017).
In 2020, she was a Writer in Residence at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris while she worked on
the project.
TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW premiered internationally at Telluride Film Festival, was Highly Commended in the Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films at Sydney Film Festival, won Best Screenplay at Munich International Festival of Film Schools, Best Performance at Flickerfest, Best Masters Narrative Production at the Victorian College of the Arts, and was nominated for an Australian
Directors’ Guild Award. The film later premiered online as a Vimeo Staff Pick and was featured on Short
of the Week, with Women and Hollywood calling it “a must-watch for anyone who is invested in the
#MeToo and Time’s Up movements”.
Prior to that, she received Metro Screen Breaks funding to make her short film, MEAT (2015). The film
was nominated for an Australian Directors’ Guild Award and won an Australian Cinematographers’
Society Silver Award, screening at festivals across Australia and internationally. In 2018, Sunday was awarded the Lexus Australia Short Film Fellowship. The $50,000 fellowship funded
production of her latest short film, BROKEN LINE NORTH (2019), and saw the film premiere at Sydney
Film Festival.
Sunday holds a Master of Film and Television (Narrative) from the Victorian College of the Arts, a Master
of Media Arts and Production from the University of Technology Sydney, and a Bachelor of Arts
(Performance Studies, American Studies) from the University of Sydney.
Originally hailing from a background in theatre, she is drawn to bold stories told with heart.
Marisa Nathar
Marisa Nathar is a screenwriter and children’s book author with an extensive background in film and television production. Marisa’s screen credits include MUSTANGS FC (Ep 8 series 3) for Matchbox Pictures/ ABC ME/ NITV. Most recently, she wrote multiple episodes for live-action teen series ROCK ISLAND MYSTERIES for Viacom CBS Nickelodeon/ Fremantle Australia.
Previous credits include short film EAGLEHAWK (2016) directed by Shannon Murphy and produced by Dollhouse Pictures. A finalist in the Sydney Film Festival Dendy Short Film Awards 2016, EAGLEHAWK went on to screen at Melbourne International Film Festival, St Kilda Film Festival, Flickerfest, Cinefest Oz, Aesthetica (UK) and FilmForum (Poland) and Provincetown International Film Festival among others.
She has been awarded two Film Victoria Key Talent writers’ placements, including for MUSTANGS FC (series 2) with Matchbox Pictures and has participated in a wide range of television story rooms as well as being a story researcher for numerous TV series.
Marisa is developing several projects for television and film including original drama series Carmenta with co-creator/writer Holly Alexander which received development funding from Film Victoria and was in the final round for the Sundance Episodic 2020 Lab. A Malaysian-Australian creative, Marisa is passionate about authentic storytelling and representation both on-screen and behind the camera.
Previous credits include short film EAGLEHAWK (2016) directed by Shannon Murphy and produced by Dollhouse Pictures. A finalist in the Sydney Film Festival Dendy Short Film Awards 2016, EAGLEHAWK went on to screen at Melbourne International Film Festival, St Kilda Film Festival, Flickerfest, Cinefest Oz, Aesthetica (UK) and FilmForum (Poland) and Provincetown International Film Festival among others.
She has been awarded two Film Victoria Key Talent writers’ placements, including for MUSTANGS FC (series 2) with Matchbox Pictures and has participated in a wide range of television story rooms as well as being a story researcher for numerous TV series.
Marisa is developing several projects for television and film including original drama series Carmenta with co-creator/writer Holly Alexander which received development funding from Film Victoria and was in the final round for the Sundance Episodic 2020 Lab. A Malaysian-Australian creative, Marisa is passionate about authentic storytelling and representation both on-screen and behind the camera.
Monique de Groot
Monique de Groot (BMedia) was recognised as the “Breakthrough Filmmaker” from the State of New South of Wales by
the Screen Producers Association of Australia (SPAA) and the Motion Picture Association of Australia (MPAA). She is the
producer of some award-winning short films, and has worked in production on various feature films in Australia. Monique
has had a long association with, and mentorship from Australian producers Al Clark and Andrena Finlay, producers of some
of Australia’s most successful films. She was one of few creative teams to be selected to participate in SPAA’s international film financing market, and Aurora - an intensive feature film script development program for screenwriters. Through this
initiative, she was mentored for one year by American producer Christine Vachon and Syd Field, leading screenwriting
consultant and author of “Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting”.
Monique has been backed by the Australian Government film funding bodies, where they have supported her film projects
in development as well as her as an individual. She received a competitive Screen Australia talent grant for an industry
placement. Until recently, Monique has been based in Mexico City developing predominately Spanish-language feature
films, and now resides in the United States.
the Screen Producers Association of Australia (SPAA) and the Motion Picture Association of Australia (MPAA). She is the
producer of some award-winning short films, and has worked in production on various feature films in Australia. Monique
has had a long association with, and mentorship from Australian producers Al Clark and Andrena Finlay, producers of some
of Australia’s most successful films. She was one of few creative teams to be selected to participate in SPAA’s international film financing market, and Aurora - an intensive feature film script development program for screenwriters. Through this
initiative, she was mentored for one year by American producer Christine Vachon and Syd Field, leading screenwriting
consultant and author of “Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting”.
Monique has been backed by the Australian Government film funding bodies, where they have supported her film projects
in development as well as her as an individual. She received a competitive Screen Australia talent grant for an industry
placement. Until recently, Monique has been based in Mexico City developing predominately Spanish-language feature
films, and now resides in the United States.
2021 WFH Screenwriting workshop
2021 talent usa participants
2020 WOMEN IN SCREEN WORKSHOP
2020 WFH Screenwriting workshop
2019 WOMEN IN SCREEN WORKSHOP
2019 talent usa participants
2018 talent usa participants
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