Yahoo Finance Variety Announces 10 Screenwriters to Watch for 2021
Variety has released this year’s list of 10 Screenwriters to Watch. A conversation with the honorees will take place on Oct. 17 at the Mill Valley Film Festival. The magazine will also honor Italian helmer-scribe Paolo Sorrentino (“Hand of God”) with the Creative Impact in Screenwriting Award.
The annual 10 to Watch program celebrates breakthrough screenwriters, actors, directors, comics, animators, producers and cinematographers. Some of the screenwriters are being honored for films that have already premiered and received critical acclaim, like “King Richard,” while others, like “Tick, Tick … Boom!,” remain highly anticipated. At least half of the selected films had their production schedules or release dates altered by the pandemic.
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The class of 2021’s 10 Screenwriters to Watch includes eight solo honorees and two pairs. Interviews with those being honored in 2021 will be featured in the Oct. 6 issue of Variety.
After taking place virtually in 2020, this year 10 Screenwriters to Watch will return to an in-person celebration in Mill Valley. The event will also feature a panel discussion Oct. 17 with the honorees, moderated by Variety‘s Malina Saval.
The Mill Valley Film Festival, founded in 1977, also hosted the 2019 and 2020 10 Screenwriters to Watch reception. During the seven previous years, the event was hosted by the Whistler Film Festival.
Last year’s list included Andy Siara (“Palm Springs”) and Emma Seligman (“Shiva Baby”), while previous years honored now-acclaimed screenwriters such as Charlie Kaufman (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”), Jennifer Lee (“Frozen”) and Julian Fellowes (“Gosford Park,” “Downton Abbey”).
Variety‘s 2021 class of 10 Screenwriters to Watch are listed below.
Jeremy O. Harris, “Zola”
Zach Baylin, “King Richard”
Camilla Blackett, “Queen”
Akela Cooper, “Malignant”
Randy McKinnon, “Notes from a Young Black Chef”
Steven Levenson, “Tick, Tick…Boom!”
Julia Cox, “Nyad”
Ron Mael and Russell Mael, “Annette”
Jessica Knoll, “Luckiest Girl Alive”
Mikey Day and Streeter Seidell, “Home Sweet Home Alone”
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