Talton Wingate is an award-winning writer and professional screenwriter. He was honored for his first script Norman, named one of the “Top 10 Scripts of 2005,” alongside other screenwriting luminaries that year such as Aaron Sorkin (with Charlie Wilson’s War), Diablo Cody (with Juno), and David Benioff (with The Kite-Runner). Norman was released in 2011 as a feature film starring Richard Jenkins, Dan Byrd, Emily Van Camp and Adam Goldberg.

Talton has experience with all aspects of the business from selling specs, adapting original properties, rewriting and pitching. He has also been featured in scr(i)pt magazine. Talton is a graduate of Northwestern University’s Film Program and Creative Writing Program, where he was awarded Best Fiction Writer of 2003. He hails from Atlanta and currently resides in Los Angeles.

Danny Reckart is a LA-based screenwriter and playwright. A graduate of NYU Tisch, Danny wrote numerous plays and musicals that were performed throughout New York City, including writing for Broken Box Mime Theater for which he won a New York Innovative Theater award. His screenplays have been recognized by the Nicholl Fellowship, the Sundance Screenwriting Lab, and the BlueCat Screenwriting Competition. He is currently in development at Dreamworks working on an animated TV show he co-created with his brother based on their childhood road trips.

Kate Gray is a professional screenwriter and script consultant. Originally from Tucson, AZ, she has since lived around the world, including Seattle, Los Angeles, Charleston, Chile, and the UK.

In 2021, Kate sold her project Thinkies, an animated dark comedy based on her time in the tech industry, to YLE Finland. In 2022, she was brought on to co-write the adaptation of a young-adult animated web series for YLE. 

Before jumping into the world of screenwriting, Kate worked in animation production for Sony Pictures and Warner Bros Animation. She also served as marketing director with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra and Microsoft. 

A lifelong fan of both film and television, Kate is particularly drawn to drama and dark comedy series. Some of her favorites include Fleabag, Succession, Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, the Americans, and 30 Rock. She is an alumnus of the Corey Mandell Professional Screenwriting Program, and could not be more grateful for everything she has learned as both a student and an instructor of the courses.

Erika is a writer based in Los Angeles. She previously lived in Oakland, where she worked in Creative Development at Pixar Animation Studios on films such as SOUL, TURNING RED, and the upcoming ELEMENTAL. Prior to that, she resided in Chicago, where she studied theatre at Northwestern University and the School at Steppenwolf and worked at the Michelin-starred Spiaggia Restaurant, plus various survival jobs (ask her about her time as a Standardized Patient).

In addition to holding a degree in Fiction Writing from Northwestern, Erika has studied at StoryStudio Chicago and with Tom Jenks of the San Francisco-based Narrative Magazine, where she is currently an Assistant Editor. Erika is a past contributor to the film magazine Bright Wall/Dark Room and a recipient of the Chicago Tribune's Nelson Algren Short Story Award. She most recently worked as a Writers' Assistant on THE WILDS.

Simona Kessler is an LA native with a background in producing for film & video. A graduate of USC's School of Cinematic Arts, she has produced works that have screened nationally and internationally at festivals including Cannes, SXSW, Slamdance, Fantasia Int. Film Festival, and more. Simona is now pursuing her career as a writer, specifically in the screenwriting, podcasting, and creative nonfiction fields. Her most recent project is a multimedia exploration into the creation of community in the post-pandemic world.