FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES:

• McKnight Fellowships:

    • Screenwriting

    • Filmmaking

• Fresh Filmmakers Grant

• MNTV

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Screenwriting

The 2009 McKnight Screenwriting competition

FINALIST BIOS

Patricia Fox studied Creative Writing and Screenwriting at the University of Minnesota- Twin Cities. In 2000, she was a Selected Artist for her first feature-length screenplay, Dinah, at the Telluride Independent Film Festival. In 2002, she was a semi-finalist for two screenplays, Dinah and Prodigal Daughters, in the All She Wrote screenwriting competition. In 2008, Anatomy of a Town was selected for a partial staged reading in the MN Screenwriters Workshop's Leave 'Em Hooked Competition. To date, she has nine feature-length screenplays and spends her time writing, traveling and gardening whenever possible.

Co-writers Andrew Hunt and Jason Lausche have been working as a creative team for the past seven years.  During that time, the duo have written/directed a slew of short films and several feature scripts.  In the Summer of '07, Hunt was selected to participate in Steven Spielberg’s “On the Lot”.

 Writer/director Nicole Brending grew up in Minneapolis, attended the Perpich Center for Arts, and worked in the sex industry for over five years before studying screenwriting and directing in the M.F.A. Film Program at Columbia University in New York.  She is a two-time Jerome Foundation MN Media Artist Grant recipient, first for her short film "Rebel" and second for her short film "Grandpa," which is now in pre-production.   Her films have screened at over 30 festivals domestically and abroad and have received many awards, including “Best Short” at the Hamburg Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, “Best Short” at Q Cinema, and “Best of the Fest” at Palm Springs International Shortfest as well as a Student Emmy from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Her films have received distribution and sales representation from Frameline, UndergroundFilms, and Torch Films.  She is currently seeking financing to produce her first feature film, "Preservation."

Before turning her attention to screenwriting, Karen Frank was a playwright, a stand-up comedian and a professional graduate student.  She’s completed six feature screenplays, two stage plays, and several short film scripts, including the script for the film Beam, which was entered in the 2008 Screenlabs Challenge.  In 2008, her feature script Grave Matters was a McKnight Finalist, Blue Cat Screenplay Competition Semifinalist, and Page International Screenplay Competition Quarterfinalist.  She also writes freelance journalism articles for Ice-Dance.com and Ice Skating International.

David CC Erickson has lived in Minneapolis his entire life, except for years 6 through 10. His creative interests have ranged from the visual arts, theatre, and music to writing, website development and impersonating a Norwegian. He has found that film is the perfect medium in which to combine all his talents and interests, including screenwriting.

Elissa Elliott is a former high school teacher.  She has optioned her first screenplay, and her first novel Eve: A Novel of the First Woman was published by Delacorte in January of 2009.  She lives with her husband and daughter in Rochester, MN.

Migizi Pensoneau (Ponca/Red Lake Chippewa) was born, raised and writes from the icy climes of Minnesota.  His entrée into the entertainment industry began after attending the Institute of American Indian Arts' Summer Film and Television Workshop in Santa Fe, sponsored by Disney·ABC.   He was selected as a 2005 Disney·ABC Writing Fellow, after which he was staffed on ALIAS while writing specs for Desperate Housewives, Boston Legal, other primetime television shows.