May 2022 in Arezzo
Sarah White
Sarah is a comedy writer, performer, and video creator with a focus on screenwriting, sketch, and satire. She is a contributor for satire publications like Reductress, and has placed in notable screenwriting competitions such as The PAGE Awards, the Austin Film Festival, and the Scriptation Showcase. Her character-driven TikToks have accumulated over 2M likes, and her parody sketches have appeared in festivals across the U.S. When she's not working on independent projects, she is also a writer for various sketch comedy YouTube channels. Sarah trained in sketch comedy writing at the Upright Citizens Brigade (Los Angeles), and graduated from Johns Hopkins University (2016) with a BA in Writing Seminars.
Laura Sweeney
Laura Sweeney is Screenwriter, director and actress. Her scripts have been official selections at Vail Film Festival, Nantucket Film Festival, HollyShorts, Screencraft Script Fund, Filmmatic, Toronto International Women’s Film Festival and Cascadia International Women’s Film Festival. Laura’s self-produced pilot MOMMY MAFIA won Best Comedic Pilot at Manhattan Film Festival and was a finalist at Chicago Amarcord Arthouse Television Awards. She had a feature film in development with Aloris Entertainment, had television projects optioned by North South Productions. She co-wrote the short film SOLSTICE, selected for Genre Lab at Pinewood Studios. She wrote a short film adaptation of John Milton’s PARADISE LOST now distributed by PBS. Also, she has created and starred in two different ongoing web series: The Mothership and Theater Bitches. Her short film ACROSS, about World War II widows is currently post-production. Laura is a proud member of SAGAFTRA, Georgetown Entertainment Media Alliance (GEMA), New York Women in Film and TV (NYWIFT) and FILMSHOP. Laura teaches screenwriting for Writers Boot Camp and is a script consultant. A graduate of Georgetown University and studied acting with the Moscow Art Theatre. www.laurasweeney.com www.mommymafia.tv
Muse Seymour
Muse Seymour is a filmmaker born in Green Bay, Wisconsin. His script for 'The Doughnut Admirer' has been nominated for several Best Screenplay awards winning at the Windy City International Film Festival in Chicago and the Miami International Short Cinefest in 2017. His previous short script, "Silent Melody" was produced by Capra Media and released in 2016. He was persuaded to make his on camera debut as, Chuck, in WPII Productions' comedy, "Just Kill It,” starting a long lasting collaborative partnership with Writer/Director Wayne Pombert II. Their short script, “Dessert & Dash” was in pre-production at the time the pandemic hit. In addition to his work in film, Muse has a non-profit, The Production Farm, with fellow native Wisconsinite and filmmaker, Wyatt Kuether, which provides mental and behavioural health services to help kids in need by striving to "reimagine mental health care with open spaces, with creativity, with play.”
Ryan Latchmansingh
Ryan Latchmansingh is a Trinidadian born writer/director based in Los Angeles, CA. He moved to the US at 19 years old to attend Loyola Marymount University, where he got his BA in Film and Television Production. His undergraduate thesis film, WHERE THE SUN SETS, was a finalist at the Los Angeles Student BAFTA Awards 2012, won Best Short Film and Best Actor at the Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival 2012 and won Best Director at the inaugural Conch Shell International Film Festival in 2021. After graduation, Ryan worked on several projects as a Key PA and an Assistant Production Coordinator for notable producers including Brad Weston, Jon Avnet, Rodrigo Garcia, Effie Brown and Couper Samuelson. He subsequently joined Creative Artists Agency starting in the mailroom and working his way up to the Motion Picture Talent Department as an assistant. With the connections made at CAA, he transitioned back to production as the Coordinator for Flavor Unit Entertainment, run by Queen Latifah and Shakim Compere, overseeing several projects for the company. Ryan is currently focused on developing his own creative body of work, including his first feature film, THE HONEYMOON.
Steve Blame
Steve Blame is multi-competition-award winning writer. He writes about issues to do with identity. He discovered his sexual identity against the backdrop of the rampant homophobia of the '70s and '80s, going from denial to acceptance in the climate of fear and oppression which today feeds his work. He believes the ground is ripe for untold LGBTQ+ stories and his aim is to bring a greater understanding of the LGBTQ+ contribution to history.
Although today a Screenwrite and Podcaster, his career started at MTV where he became one of the most iconic faces of the 80s and 90s in Europe. Steve has interviewed everyone from Madonna to McCartney, Gorbachev to the Dalai Lama, from Robert Pattinson to Jane Campion and about 500 others. He has an M.A. in Screenwriting from the University of East Anglia and a B.A. in Mathematics and Physics from the University of Exeter. Steve is the author of two books, the biography Getting Lost is Part of the Journey (2010) and Emotional Vaseline (2013). He is also the co-creator of Where is the Money? (Eyeworks/2STV) which was nominated for a Rose d'Or in 2005.
Obett Motuang
Obett Motaung holds a Masters in Film &TV from Wits university where he served as an SRC member during Fees Must Fall Movement. He won the Leon Gluckmen award for creative excellence and Golden Key award for academic excellence. He is a multidisciplinary artist who focuses on inclusivity. His photographic work has won a competition in the Market Theatre photography lab and it was displayed at the National Gallery in Bloemfontein.
His film work has allowed him the opportunity to travel across Africa in film festivals such Fesspaco (dub the Cannes of film festivals of Africa) and competitive arts residency In Benin and Italy.
As a writer, he has written articles around how the arts can be used as tool for social change and that work has been published in various publications and anthologies with the people like Prof Wally Serote.
His work on community development with a focus on theatre development in disadvantaged areas has been awarded top 100 young people by Inside Education.
He serves as the youngest board member for Assitej SA, an International organization that focuses on theatre of young audiences and the rights of children.
He also served as an adjudicator for the Naledi theatre awards and South African Music awards.
Due to his passion for advocacy of using the arts for social change he has been appointed as an Advisor for National Arts Council of South Africa.
Kevin Treacy
Born and raised in Belfast, Kevin studied politics and economics in France before switching paths to become a cinematographer. He has shot a wide range of feature films, documentaries and tv programmes, as well as dozens of TV and online commercials in Ireland, the UK and the United States. He won Best Cinematography in a Short at the Galway Film Fleadh 2018 and won Gold for Cinematography in a Short at the Kinsale Shark Awards 2018.
He has also written, directed and produced multiple short films and TV Pilots, including "Starz" starring Gerry McSorely which aired on BBC 1 NI in 2016. In 2018 he produced the feature film "Dive" which went from script to national cinema release in Ireland in just 66 days.
He founded Promenade Post Production in 2016, a business that combines all aspects of film post-production with cinematography services and camera rental to provide an end-to-end technical solution for filmmakers.
He took a break from filmmaking in 2019 to found Money Jar (https://moneyjar.ie/), a digital bank that helps people better manage their money. In his role as CEO, Kevin drove an experienced and diverse team of experts from banking, technology, human rights, and behavioural psychology to deliver an ambitious solution with ethics at its core.
Kevin returned to cinematography full time in late 2021 and is currently working on a feature script that he hopes to direct in 2022.
Larry Leinoff
I've always written. Now that I'm retired, I have even less time to do it. Perhaps a few weeks in Tuscany will change that.