It’s back! First Three Pages Live! Presented by ColdTowne Theater
More than just a showcase of great films and writers, Austin Film Festival is committed to working within the community and bringing out the best writer in all of us. Well, there’s no better way to improve your writing than to–**shudder**–read your work out loud. To people! Sounds scary, doesn’t it? Luckily we’re partnering with ColdTowne Theater to provide a supportive, fun environment to share your baby with the world (baby being a new script, sketch, short story, you name it! Though I guess you can also Lion King your newborn to the audience if you’d like). Have a screenplay you’re working on? A play? A podcast? A web series? A sketch? Give it a test run with your peers!
Brave volunteers will share the first three pages of their written projects with the help of ColdTowne’s company of talented performers. Share your own work or just show up to admire and applaud the creativity of others. Submit your projects online prior to the event for the chance to be selected. Free alcohol will be served to calm all those nerves.
SEE THE LINE-UP
Hannah Feller & Lisa Belcher - #Olivia
HANNAH FELLER
Hannah is an award-winning screenwriter living in Austin, Texas. She’s written 7 feature and 2 short scripts. Her scripts have received many accolades: Top 50 at Nicholl, Quarterfinalist at Final Draft – Big Break, Semifinalist and Quarterfinalist at Austin Film Fest, Winner Best Original Screenplay 2013 & 2014 at Carmel International Film Festival, Top 10 at Page, and more.
LISA BELCHER
Lisa wrote, directed and produced award-winning short film The Gift. It’s had a successful worldwide festival tour, received an international distribution deal and is currently available On Demand. She has a full resume of acting credits both in Hong Kong and the US, is the founder of Austin based production company Jump Rock Pictures, and has held other production and crew titles during her career. She received the honor of Female Filmmaker of the Year at the Austin Revolution Film Festival, including several awards for The Gift during its festival run. Every Tuesday has won several awards as well and is currently touring the festival circuit. She recently finished short film Guest of Honor shot in Austin, which she wrote, directed, produced, and played the lead.
Spencer Magloff - Happy
Spencer Magloff has been writing screenplays for two years. His most recent work titled “The Escape of Robert Smalls” recounts the true story of a South Carolina slave whole stole a Confederate warship and sailed it to freedom across enemy lines. The screenplay most recently placed as a semifinalist in the Atlanta Film Festival and quarterfinalist in the ScreenCraft Screenwriting Fellowship.
Audrey Webb - Dead Name
Mary Mansfield - Best of Buds
Mary’s first words were “What’s that?” Always inquisitive, she gained deeper understanding and knowledge through books, music, and film. Since the age of twelve she has written short stories, poetry, song lyrics, volumes of dream journals, free-lance articles, a short screenplay, Boaring, and a teleplay, Best of Buds. She is currently working on a Civil War drama.
Over the past ten years, Mary has been an active member of a local screenwriting group, an online writing group, a reader for the Austin Film Festival script competition, and has attended several screenwriting workshops including The Screenplay Workshop by Jill Chamberlain.
Throughout her life, Mary has lived many incarnations and has come to the realization that life continually gives you what you need in order to move forward and grow. Austin has given her what she’s needed as she continues to travel along her writing journey.
Nicole Cortichiato - How to Grow a Man
Deana Ricks - Max Life
Deana is an an award-winning actor and writer who recently returned to Austin after several years performing improv and sketch in Hollywood at the UCB, Nerdist, iO West and Clubhouse theaters. She’s a graduate of the Upright Citizens Brigade’s sketch writing program and had a second-round sitcom spec script in the 2016 Austin Film Festival. In addition to her TV and film acting credits, she wrote, produced and performed in A Lot on Her Plate, an Austin-shot short film about a day in the life of a Mom with a special needs child. This summer Deana will be a speaker at the Applied Improvisation Network International Conference in Paris discussing her improv work with military service members and their families.
Meghan Ross - An Uncomfortable Woman
Meghan Ross is a writer, producer, and comedian living in Austin, Texas with her dog, Dreidel. She trained at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York, where she completed the Advanced Sketch and Advanced Improv programs. She hosts the ColdTownie Award-winning That Time of the Month, a late night show featuring female-identifying performers, which has been covered in Time Out New York, Time Out Austin, and CultureMap Austin. Her writing has appeared in Broadly, Reductress, The Toast, SundanceTV, IFC, Femsplain, and TV Without Pity.
She’s appeared on VICELAND and has performed at BABES FEST, BettyFest, Del Close Marathon, Diverse As Fuck Festival, Steelstacks Improv Comedy Festival, and the 50th Birthday Roast of David Ross (her dad). She’s also appeared in social media campaigns and digital content for Cinnabon, 7-Eleven, HID Global, Inspired eLearning, Capital One, and UPS.
This project is supported in part by the Cultural Arts Division of the City of Austin Economic Development Department and the Texas Commission on the Arts.