Alec Silberblatt is an actor and writer originally from Pittsburgh, PA.  As an actor he's worked with George Street Playhouse, Ivoryton Playhouse, Off the Wall Theater, Hatch Arts Collective, Quantum Theater, PICT Classic Theater, Lake Dillon Theater Company, Pittsburgh Public Theater, and Hartford TheaterWorks.  His plays include The Angel of Allegheny County, Rosemary, The Mon Valley Medium, A Body in the Allegheny Valley, Ashes in the Allegheny, and The Patriots.  His work has been produced/developed by Playhouse on Park, New Wave Theater Collective, Middle Voice Theater Company, Greenhouse Theater Company, Rising Phoenix Rep, and the NYU Steinhardt School.  His short films and screenplays have been featured as part of festivals such as Independent Film Festival Boston, Pittsburgh Shorts Festival, the Peace on Earth Festival, New York Short Tuesdays, the Cindependent Film Festival, and the Hollywood Just for Shorts Film Competition.  Training: BFA, Acting CCM.

HELENE TAYLOR

Helene Taylor writes projects ranging from short film, to full length feature and TV series. Recent writing projects include the short films, Bureau 121 (Top 25 Table Read My Screenplay Hollywood, Quarter-Finalist ScreenCraft, Winner, Diversity Feedback Film Festival, Winner, Script to Screen Summit, Winner, The Crime List), Sucker (Best Drama, Hollywood Just4Shorts, Best unproduced script, London International Film Festival), the play  #YOUTHREE and tv pilots ALL THE RAVE (accepted Austin Revolution Film Festival) and FAIRWATERS (co-writer Jax Smith).

Helene has worked as  a script reader, researcher, PSA writer and award-winning TV producer (Canadian Cable Television Award for Best PSA).

She studied at Carousel Theatre, Simon Fraser University , Vancouver's William Davis Centre and Capilano College's Film Production Program. She graduated LAByrinth Theater Company's Master Program (co-artistic director Philip Seymour Hoffman) in 2004 sharpening her playwright skills with teachers such as George C. Wolfe, Stephen Adly Guirgis John Patrick Shanley, Jose Rivera. Alumni of Atlantic Theater Company Acting School. Student of Second City and Upright Citizen's Brigade. Her work behind the scenes as the stand-in for TV series Nurse Jackie (Edie Falco), Prime Suspect (Maria Bello), Win-Win (Amy Ryan) and reader for ABC Studios. She continues her studies at Story Farm.

A student at CapU’s Creative Writing Associate Degree program her short stories have been published in the west coast LIAR literary magazine.

JAX SMITH

Jax Smith is co-creator of the branded-content series, ‘Turning the Tables’ for Shaftesbury Films Inc.

Three of her TV pilots have been optioned to production companies. Four of her projects placed as ScreenCraft Film Fund Quarterfinalists, and she’s earned a ScreenCraft Screenwriting Fellowship Quarterfinalist placement.

Jax directed and co-wrote the short film MENTAL. A BravoFACT recipient, it thrived in an extensive festival run, won several awards, and received five Leo nominations, including Best short drama and Best screenwriting. It garnered Jax the 2019 WIFTV Spotlight Image Award for, ‘an outstanding short work that shows production excellence or a unique, visionary approach.’

Jax also directed THE STAKEOUT, nominated for an EDA award for ‘Best Female-Directed Short’ at the Whistler Film Festival 2017.

She’s directed projects for First Star and the World Wildlife Fund, which have screened on CBS, The Knowledge Network, and Urban Rush TV.

Jax served on the Short Circuit Pacific Rim Film Festival jury and works as a story editor and creative consultant for JBA (Jeb Beach & Associates).

DISCORD

Jax Smith & Helene Taylor co-wrote, DISCORD. The short film script placed in the Top 25 Table Read My Screenplay Austin, is a finalist in the Filmmatic Short Screenplay Awards, an official selection of the Cindependent Film Festival and a Quarter-Finalist in both ScreenCraft’s Film Fund and Short Film Screenplay competition.

We thought it might be helpful to include some of the following social media handles for people and organizations that we recall mentioning in our interview with you. We very much believe in raising everyone up.

Ashley Alexander

Instagram - @livingfreeashley  

Twitter -  @livingfreeactor

Jeb Beach

Insta  - @teacherjeb

Twitter - @JebBeach

WIFTV (women in film & tv)

Insta - @WIFTV

Twitter - @WIFTV

www.womeninfilm.ca

Katelyn Harbert is a screenwriter from Arlington, Texas who is currently studying at the Vancouver Film School in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. She began dabbling in film back in high school in 2014. With her first official script, Rambling Minds, winning multiple awards back in 2018, she's hit the ground running ever since.

Her short script, THE CONVENTION, was recently read aloud by local Cincinnati actors, and nominated for Best Short Screenplay, at the 2019 Cindependent Film Festival (thanks, guys!). It also placed as a finalist at the Rome Independent Film Awards.

She is currently working on the next draft of her first full-length screenplay, a thriller and coming-of-age story, as well as an original pilot.

Twitter Handle: @HarbertKatelyn

Instagram Handle: @KatelynHarbert

Facebook: Katelyn Harbert

 Michael James Daly is from Charleston, SC and currently resides in Los Angeles, CA. He has been performing and getting rejected basically since he was a sperm. Some of his recent credits include A Nuns Curse, starring Felissa Rose and Damian Maffie, CBS's The inspectors, Valor, and CNN's United Shades Of America. 

Valerie Schwartfigure is a screenwriter and counselor from Mansfield, Ohio with a BA in Creative Writing and an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. She believes in the little things in life that keep people sane: rest, play, and caramel drizzle.
She is most known for her feature length family/fantasy script MELODY OF THE SEA, which has now been a part of more than ten film festivals and won multiple international awards.

Her TV Pilot, SUPER NANCY, the subject of the Script Shop podcast, won "Best Dialogue in a Short" at Action on Film Megafest in Las Vegas and has had table reads in Vegas, Cleveland and Cincinnati (thanks Cindependent!) Valerie's short script, JUST FOR ATTENTION, is also doing well in festivals internationally, and she will be directing/producing it this fall.

Valerie earned the Aristotle Award from Script Summit for being a writer who is always learning and growing. She was also a semifinalist for the FinalDraft fellowship to Stowe Story Labs, which she recently had the honor of attending.

Joe Milici began his career in film at a young age with stop-motion animation in 2010. Like most kids his age making videos, Joe took to YouTube to broadcast his skits to show friends and family. 5 years would pass before Joe would return to filmmaking once again. Joe returned to making various skits and short films, such as "Spencer's Story" and "The Boy on The Bike". He also began producing, with his first two credited producer roles scheduled for late 2018 and a directing/producing credit for late 2019.

Zak is an experimental filmmaker from Baltimore, MD and cofounder of the production company Unicorn Propaganda. As a filmmaker, he has won awards from around the globe for his experimental and narrative short films such as: In a Tree Full of Rain, Mother's Intuition, Projections, and Lucid Memories. When he is not working on his own films, Zak can be found in the credits of such work as Jackie, House of Cards, Leda, The Enemy Within, and American Ninja Warrior. He also works part time as a Freelance Videographer/Gaffer in the DMV area.

GoFundMe: www.gofundme.com/a9bjdu-crippled

Instagram: www.instagram.com/unicornpropaganda/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/UnicornPropaganda/

Vimeo:      vimeo.com/unicornpropaganda

Youtube:   www.youtube.com/channel/UCkASUl7jKigO5v79b7MhnHQ

Over dinner the Script Shop team talks about the last 99 episodes, some randomness, and nonsense - with a special treat hidden somewhere within. We dare you to listen!

Mary Alexandra Stiefvater was educated at The University of California at Los Angeles, where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Theater, she also studied French cinema and philosophy abroad at the Sorbonne Nouvelle (Paris III) and Le Centre Parisien d'Études Critiques.  After graduation, she moved to England to train at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

In order to sustain longevity in the ever-changing entertainment industry, she branched out from acting into producing and writing.  In 2006 she produced the award-winning short film, Bad Habits, with the production company she helped found, Habit Forming Films.  Stiefvater then produced Wedding for One and 11-44, both directed by Kristina Lloyd.  The two met in acting class at UCLA and have collaborated on several projects together.  After many years of co-writing, her first, solo, full-length script, Squaw, was nominated for Best Screenplay in two festivals.  In 2012, her first books, In My Contrary Garden (a photography book) and Cocoa For Saturdays (a poetry book) were published.  Her sophomore effort, On The Merry-Go-Round (a poetry book), was published in fall of 2013 followed by several other books including From Grace,  What Grief Stole, Of The Americas: West, Of The Americas: East and The May Project.

Mary Alexandra continues to work as a producer, actress, model, screenwriter, photographer and poet.  She has several films coming out in 2019 and 2020 including, You’re Fine, an untitled experimental and No Place Like Home.