RESIDENCY PROGRAM The Screenwriters Colony is a month long, all expenses paid retreat that takes place each fall on the island of Nantucket. Writers live together at picturesque Almanack Farm, perched on the edge of Nantucket’s cranberry bog conservation land. They are provided with a workspace, imac and printer, a colony car, bicycles, a gourmet chef and unlimited movies rentals. Two industry mentors/ advisors are invited up each weekend to workshop the writers’ projects. In addition to intensive one-on-one feedback sessions, writers and advisors enjoy an informal and sociable colony experience over dinners and other island outings. The rest of the writers’ time is spent generating and refining their projects and sharing work amongst themselves.

The 2006 program will introduce a mentor-in-residence, inviting an established screenwriter to develop a risk-taking project of his or her own at the colony and to act as a touchstone for the resident writers’

progress throughout the month. The mentors/advisors pool is drawn from screenwriters, directors, producers and creative executives from both the independent scene and Hollywood establishment.

Recent mentors/advisors to attend the colony include PattyJenkins (writer/director ‘MONSTER’), Peter Sollett (writer/director ‘RAISING VICTOR VARGAS’), Campbell Scott (actor/director/screenwriter ‘SINGLES’, ‘BIG NIGHT’ ‘ROGER DODGER’, Oren Moverman (screenwriter) ‘JESUS’S SON’, Todd Haynes’ Bob Dylan project),
<bold>Bingham Ray</bold> (founder October Films, ex-president United
Artists), J.V. Hart (screenwriter Coppola’s ‘DRACULA,’ ‘HOOK,’ ‘CONTACT,’ ‘SAHARA’) Jeb Brody (Big Beach/Producer ‘EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED’ 'LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE'), Coleman Hough (screenwriter Soderbergh’s ‘FULL FRONTAL’ and ‘BUBBLE’), Ali Bell (Exec/Heyday Films 'HARRY POTTER').

WRITER SELECTION The Screenwriters Colony seeks out deserving nominees through industry nominations, approaching producers, festival programmers, screenwriters, filmmakers, past colony alumnus, development executives, industry journalists and film schools throughout the year. We seek writers with distinct perspectives and strong on-the-page voices who have shown a proven commitment to the craft and already laid the groundwork to their early career. All genres and budgets are welcome, but the writing and storytelling should be distinguished by an obvious experimental or socially exploratory nature and push the boundaries of the craft, taking risks where prototypical commercial product shies away.

Those writers invited to participate in the program by our selection committee are brought up to the Nantucket Film Festival the third week in June. They receive VIP passes and their selection announced at an

exclusive festival event. The colony occurs the following autumn over the course of four weeks/five weekends in October/November. If a project work-shopped at the colony is produced, we ask for the credit “Developed With the Assistance of The Screenwriters Colony”.

Quotes from 2004 writers and advisor participants:

“Nantucket is a wonderful and unique program: a very intimate group in a beautiful setting that seems to offer an effective combination of both space and support for their writers.”
- Tory Tunnell, advisor 2004

“You couldn’t ask for a more gorgeous setting. Beautiful crisp afternoon
skies. Velvet night skies jammed with stars. And cranberry bogs. Who knew there would be cranberry bogs? Or even that cranberries grew in bogs. We watched movies, dined on delicious gourmet meals, and spent evenings talking about film, politics, story ideas, conspiracy theories, and any thing else that came to mind. And yes, I almost forgot… lots of time to write.”
- Megan Holley, colonist 2004