Hamptons International Film Festival Hosting 12th Annual Screenwriters’ Lab

The Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) will host its 12th annual Screenwriters’ Lab co-sponsored by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Friday, April 12 through Sunday, April 14, 2013.

The Screenwriters’ Lab gives up and coming screenwriters a chance to meet for one-on-one mentoring sessions with established screenwriters, directors and producers. During the sessions, the mentors advise the screenwriters on how to develop their scripts and move their projects closer to production. HIFF provides an environment in which participants are able to share and discuss their projects during the day, and in the evening meet with members of the local artistic community, HIFF board members, and friends of the Festival. For the third year in a row at least half of the selected writers are women.

In the last few years, three projects from the Lab have gone on to be produced. These projects include Destin Cretton’s “Short Term 12”, which recently won both the Audience and Grand Jury Prize at the South by Southwest Film Festival, and Justin Schwartz’s “The Discoverers” which had its world premiere at HIFF and continues to play at Festivals around the world. Lastly, Claudia Myers’ film “Fort Bliss” is currently in Post Production.

Artistic Director, David Nugent explains, “The Screenwriters’ Lab is one of the highlights of the year for us as an organization, allowing a wide range of celebrated talent in the industry to engage with the next wave of artists that will help to shape the landscape for years to come.” He goes on to say, “The Lab is the perfect example of the sort creative energy that the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation helps to discover, support and develop.”

The 2013 Hamptons International Film Festival will take place Thursday, October 10 through Sunday, October 14, 2013. HIFF is currently open for submissions online at www.withoutabox.com.