
Leonora Anzaldua is a Chicana filmmaker driven to make art for social change and to amplify the stories of underrepresented peoples. Her projects include FLASHBANG, a digital docuseries and blueprint for social action; Por ti, a magical realist kids adventure movie about two girls in an ICE detention facility who outwit the guards to stage an escape; and Huaraches y chanclas, a darkly comedic series about working-class Latino students who start their own secret society at an elite university.
Leonora was a member of the 2025 New York Film Festival Artists Academy and was honored with an ASC Vision Award in 2020. Her films have been recognized with a Student Emmy nomination, a Student Academy Award nomination, and an Imagen Award nomination. She wrote, directed, and produced her MFA Thesis film “Madrugada quebradiza: The Break of Day,” which participated in the Palm Springs Film Market. Leonora trained in photography as an undergraduate at Yale University and earned her MFA in directing at USC's School of Cinematic Arts.
A graduate of Yale and Columbia Universities, Stephanie Wu grew up a daughter of Taiwanese immigrants in Chicago, Illinois. After earning her Bachelor’s degree in philosophy, Stephanie studied screenwriting in NYC. In addition to developing produced and award-winning screenplays and teleplays, Stephanie mentors emerging screenwriters and consults on scripts. She currently lives in Los Angeles and is writing a memoir about how being diagnosed with chronic illness in her 30s transformed her life.
The 14th Annual First Look Project searches for higher-concept material across MULTIPLE categories for film and TV, introducing select writers to reps and producers.
Well. What’s old is new again … It’s been over 15 years since Evan Daugherty (2008 Screenwriting winner) sold Snow White and the Huntsman to Universal—in what is still one of the biggest spec sales ($3.5m) from an unproduced writer in Hollywood history. So why not another fantasy script in 2026? Paramount Primal picked up […]
Scott Wagner, winner of the First Look Project (Drama) with his screenplay Intern of the Year signed with manager Aubrey Morgan at Adventure Media in 2026. Pipeline execs called Intern of the Year, loosely based on Scott's own experiences working in a hospital, as "one of the "most riveting dramas we've ever reviewed." The Pipeline […]
Screenwriting Competition winner Untitled Home Invasion Romance (formerly Getaway) was produced in the summer of 2024 released in 2026 and is now on streaming. Jason Biggs (American Pie, Orange is the New Black) makes his directorial debut with the crime/comedy. Stars Anna Conkle (Pen15), Arturo Castro (Broad City), Meaghan Rath (Hawaii Five-o), and Justin H. […]
