AFF IS HEADED TO NEW YORK ON WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5TH!
7:00PM – Panel
8:30PM – Reception
It is a truth widely acknowledged that no one goes into theatre to strike it rich as a playwright. As the creative landscape continues to grow within film, television, and new media, there are now more avenues for playwrights to truly make the world their stage. Join Austin Film Festival, the Writers Guild of America East, the Dramatists Guild of American, and The New School for a conversation featuring playwrights who have turned their passion for the stage into a valuable currency in other mediums.
Meet the Panelists
Diana Son
Diana Son is the Executive Producer of the upcoming Netflix series Thirteen Reasons Why. She has been Emmy-nominated twice as Co-Executive Producer of the ABC series American Crime. In 2015, she created and executive produced the pilot Love is a Four-Letter Word for NBC. She has also been a writer/producer for a number of series including Southland, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Do No Harm and started her TV career as a staff writer for The West Wing. Diana is also the author of the plays Stop Kiss, Satellites, BOY, R.A.W. (‘Cause I’m a Woman) and others. Stop Kiss was extended at the Public Theater three times making it the longest running straight play since A Chorus Line. It won the GLAAD Media Award for Best New York Production and Diana won the John Gassner Playwriting Prize and the Berilla Kerr Award for playwriting. She has taught playwriting at NYU’s Department of Dramatic Writing and the Yale School of Drama. She is currently Program Chair of the Dramatists Guild Playwriting Fellowship program.
Hannah Bos
Peter Hedges
Peter Hedges is a playwright, novelist, screenwriter, and film director. A 1984 graduate of the NC School of the Arts, Hedges founded the Edge Theatre in 1985 along with Mary-Louise Parker and Joe Mantello. Over a three-year period, he wrote 12 works for the company. His other plays include Baby Anger, Good as New, Imagining Brad, and The Girl in Pink. Hedges’ first novel What’s Eating Gilbert Grape was the basis for the 1993 film, which he also wrote. Hedges’ screenplay adaptations include Jane Hamilton’s A Map of the World and Nick Hornby’s About a Boy, for which he received a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar® nomination. Hedges made his feature film directorial debut with Pieces of April which garnered numerous awards including an Academy Award® nomination for Clarkson. Following the film, Variety named Hedges as one of the 10 Directors to watch in 2003. In 2007, Peter directed and co-wrote Dan in Real Life for Touchstone Pictures / Focus Features. In 2012, Peter wrote and directed The Odd Life of Timothy Green for Disney. Hedges grew up in West Des Moines, Iowa. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, the poet Susan Bruce, and their two children, Simon and Lucas.
Theresa Rebeck
Theresa Rebeck is a widely produced playwright throughout the United States and abroad. Ms. Rebeck’s first novel, Three Girls and Their Brother, was published by Random House/Shaye Areheart Books in April 2008. Her second novel, Twelve Rooms With A View, was published by Random House/Shaye Areheart Books in May of 2010. Her third and most recent novel, I’m Glad About You, was published by Putnam in February of 2016. In television, Ms. Rebeck has written for Dream On, Brooklyn Bridge, L.A. Law, American Dreamer, Maximum Bob, First Wave, and Third Watch. She was the creator of the NBC drama Smash. Her produced feature films include Harriet the Spy, Gossip, and the independent features Sunday on the Rocks and Seducing Charlie Barker, an adaptation of her play, The Scene. Ms. Rebeck is originally from Cincinnati and holds an MFA in Playwrighting and a PhD. in Victorian Melodrama, both from Brandeis University.
Check out our podcast from last year’s event in New York, “Playwrights in the Writer’s Room” featuring a panel of writers who have worked in both theatre and television. This discussion pulls back the curtain on how their experience as playwrights have positively affected their craft as writers for television. The podcast features Warren Leight, Adam Rapp, Beau Willimon, and Tracey Scott Wilson. Click here to listen.
This event is first come first serve therefore, this RSVP does not guarantee entry. Only the first 140 people on AFF’s RSVP list will be admitted. We recommend arriving at least one hour in advance in order to get into the event.
The RSVP's are now full. Please email RSVP@austinfilmfestival.com with any questions.
And if you’re on the other coast, join us at our Launching Your Writing Career event in Los Angeles in partnership with the Academy Education and Nicholl Fellowships Programs. For more information and to buy tickets, click here.