Esperanza Benavides
Esperanza Benavides is a screenwriting graduate student at DePaul University who is devoted to uplifting Latine voices in TV and film by creating women-led sci-fi scripts. Esperanza and her team won the 65th Chicago/Midwest Emmy Award in Outstanding Achievement for Government News for the show On The Block with WCIU-TV & CW26. At Columbia College Chicago, Esperanza learned the technical skills of filmmaking and strengthened her knowledge in production by filming and editing at AOI Pro. in Tokyo, Japan. After graduating, Esperanza became a bilingual producer in Tokyo and worked on a variety of TV shows, commercials and films with international and local teams. Esperanza’s sci-fi short film she wrote and directed, Goodnight (2019), was accepted into film festivals and awarded the Best Writer and Best Film Award. Before graduating DePaul University, Esperanza will take part in an upcoming New Zealand Study Abroad Program for Cinematic World Building.
Annie Calhoun
Annie Calhoun is a passionate screenwriter who spends time in Chicago and Los Angeles. She holds an MFA in Acting from DePaul’s Theatre School. She has a background in sketch and improvisation and performed regularly at iO Chicago and LA. Annie also has experience working with The Second City and The Groundlings. Her writing is informed by her acting and improvisation background and she uses her professional theatre experience to create characters with humor, nuance and vulnerability. She currently has a short film in pre-production and was recently published in Lewis University’s Windows Magazine, winning first place. Annie also just gave a TEDx talk on arts integration - one of her favorite things to talk about! Her writing interests include youth, family, the inequity of the American education system, and finding humor in the day to day experience of being human.
Charles Cowan
Charles Cowan is a screenwriter who is currently based out of Chicago, Illinois. He received his BS in Digital Media/English from East Tennessee State University in 2020 and is currently enrolled in DePaul University’s MFA Screenwriting program, set to graduate in the spring of 2024. When not focused on writing, Charles works for Chicago’s Board of Education with at-risk youth in various communities.
Nathan Dills
Nathan Dills is a comedy writer and filmmaker from Washington who graduated from high school (homeschooled) in 2016. In 2020, he graduated with a bachelor’s in Cinema & Media Studies from the University of Washington. He has written and created comedy sketches/songs that have amassed dozens of views—and his dad says Nathan is easily in his top 10 “funniest people he knows.” Despite his comedic inclinations, Nathan recently digitized a collection of hundreds of rare 8mm and VHS tapes that feature unseen footage of many of the greatest players in golf history. With that said, Nathan’s primary area of interest is writing silly, goofy, and absurd comedy that provides an escape from the horrifyingly bleak reality in which we collectively exist.
Hannah Drum
Hannah Drumm is originally from Fishers, Indiana and graduated from Baylor University in 2020 with a degree in Apparel Design and Product Development. She also has a background in show choir and musical theatre choreography. Hannah started taking Second City classes during the pandemic in sketch writing and stand-up and fell in love with the craft. She is a lover of satire and cringe humor. As a recovering prude, she explores themes such as Christian guilt, religious trauma, sex, and self love. She lives her life on the silly side of cynicism. No matter what she’s working on, it’s going to be a little ridiculous. Hannah likes the over the top and has a flare for the dramatics. After struggling to find where she fits in the world, she hopes that her stories can energize her audience to find their passions in life.
James Figueroa
James Figueroa completed his undergraduate studies in Theatre and Creative Writing at Florida State University in 2021. This is also where he found a passion for comedy beyond his usual class-clowning: he became involved in the school’s improv comedy club, No Bears Allowed, working as the Marketing Director, workshop teacher and later President of the organization. He also found a love for stand-up comedy, first participating in and then creating his own open mic nights in the Tallahassee community. He focuses on character driven stories and describes his work as loudly queer and Floridian.
Daniel Friedland
If the potter’s medium is clay and the painter’s is paint, then Daniel Friedland’s medium is weird shit. After graduating DePaul’s undergraduate English program with an award in Outstanding Academic Achievement, Daniel took a year off from academia and became incredibly, soul-crushingly bored, resulting in their return to DePaul where they currently study screenwriting. As a feature writer, Daniel is interested in existentialist themes centered around gender, death, and purpose through a satirical, tongue-in-cheek lens. Daniel keeps their finger on the pulse of the ever-changing landscape of America and all its glorious absurdity, something that finds its way into their other creative endeavors as a composer, songwriter, and habitual ranter. Inspired by the likes of greats such as Wong Kar-Wai, John Schlesinger, and Gregg Araki, Daniel’s sarcastic, over-the-top hyperrealities are always counterbalanced with soft-spoken, poetic truths, seeking to blend the emotional world with the rational and physical.
Austin Jones
Austin Clay Jones is a screenwriter from Virginia. He graduated from Cornell University in 2021 with a major in Film and a minor in Creative Writing. He writes science fiction, fantasy, and horror, often including an exploration of underlying themes such as the complexities of familial relationships and interactions. In addition to screenplays, Austin’s works include poetry collections, and prose, including a self-published novel. Beyond writing, Austin engages in behind the camera work, such as cinematography, directing, and soundtrack composition for movies and video games. He has served as Assistant Camera Operator, Gaffer and Assistant Director, as well as sound engineer on several student films. He also interned at the Cannes Film Festival and was a production assistant at the Premier Film Festival in Chicago. Austin has an ardent interest in world history and international travel. To date he has been to countries on every continent excluding Antarctica and Australia. Austin primarily writes feature length films, but also is interested in writing for television and other narrative mediums.
Anna Kotecki
Anna Kotecki is an actor/filmmaker, conversational sadist, musical apologist, and really good kisser. Originally from Milwaukee, Anna attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she earned a BA in Film and English and was Editor-in-Chief of the satirical Madison Misnomer. Anna has performed with Manhole Sketch Comedy and is published in Reductress and Girlfriend Material, her own multimedia conglomerate. They completed production on their first feature Last Days in 2022 and most recently, her script Nessie Goes to Prom was produced by the Atlanta-based Couchtown Media. Anna writes dark absurdist comedy, romance, and coming-of-age features. They center characters who, much like herself, dive off the deep end into obsession and female rage; she also strives to explore queerness and mental illness in her work. Anna hates sterilized queer representation and wishes to bring the camp antiheroes of John Waters into the modern day. Their favorite films are
The House of Yes,
Scream, and 2023’s
Bottoms - which she instantly loved.
Brandon Ollio
Brandon Marshall Ollio is a self-taught screenwriter from a million different cities who thinks about death, and football, a little too much. He graduated from Michigan State University with a Comparative Cultures and Politics degree in 2016 with aspirations of changing the world, only to learn that it’s impossible. After graduating and spending some time reflecting during the COVID-19 quarantine, he uncovered his passion for storytelling. With interests in becoming a showrunner and desire to gain more experience in the field, he decided to take his talents to DePaul to hone his skills in dramatic and comedic screenwriting. Brandon’s voice can be described as “any Jake Johnson character” and is inspired by shows such as
You’re the Worst,
Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, and Succession. His writing explores the worlds of the mundane, sports, and places he’s lived through a cynical lens, while also incorporating themes of community, grief, and loneliness.
Parker Stocksdale
Parker Stocksdale is a queer screenwriter, currently studying at DePaul. Most recently, they interned as a script editor of the trans-focused and lead independent film
“Lee Baby”. Outside of their work in filmmaking, Parker has worked at a non-profit focusing on education. Helping the next generation not only by teaching but through bringing storytelling and creativity into the classroom. Their writing aims to explore social issues, primarily LGBTQ+ topics, and environmental concerns through the disguise of genre. Tackling very real and pertinent issues through fantastic worlds and surreal horror.
Mario Valdivieso
Mario Valdivieso is a Colombian-American filmmaker who graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Columbia College Chicago. He is currently seeking his MFA in Screenwriting at DePaul University. Since graduating from Columbia College Chicago, Mario has written five feature-length scripts and three full-length plays. His play How We Bleed, was a finalist in the ScreenCraft Stage Play Competition. While living in New York, he produced a workshop performance of his full-length play Be My Mirror at the Barrow House Theater. Aside from his playwriting work, Mario has also directed several shorts and plans to write and direct a short this year entitled
Sing Me To Sleep. In his writing, Mario is interested in the Latin-American experience, mortality, the complexities of relationships in all forms, and struggles with mental illness.