Blacklist Names 2026 Writers Lab Participants

EXCLUSIVE: The Blacklist has announced the six writers and projects selected for its 2026 Writers Lab. They include: Elton D'Almeida (A Sign of Kin), Yasmin DeWinter (Guillaume), Scott Leddy (Night Watch), Marcel Pallas (One Last Summer), Alexander Seltzer and Kyle Jutkiewicz (Deep) and Emma Taylor Stock (Denial). This program, which is now in its 13th year, [...]

E XCLUSIVE: The Blacklist has announced the names of the six writers and projects selected for its 2026 Writers Lab. They include: Elton D'Almeida (A Sign of Kin), Yasmin DeWinter (Guillaume), Scott Leddy (Night Watch), Marcel Palais (One Last Summer), Alexander Seltzer and Kyle Jotkiewicz (Deep) and Emma Taylor Stock (Denial).

The program, now in its 13th year, offers up-and-coming writers creative advice and professional support as they develop their chosen project during a weeklong workshop in Ojai, California.

The Blacklist Lab's annual program supports two distinct groups: writers and filmmakers. Writers Lab focuses on the development of feature scripts to be sold into the studio system and/or used as audio samples. The Projects Lab, which will be introduced in November, gives writers and directors the opportunity to create the script they want to direct. Deadline News Watch the full SPIEGEL & GRAVE catalog on the Blacklist online platform at the Los Angeles Legal Summit Deadline in Los Angeles: Nina Shaw and Patricia Glaser honored on Big Ideas, Big Insights Day. Watch video presentations

During the lab, each writer will develop their screenplay through peer-to-peer workshops and one-on-one sessions with professional screenwriters, including returning mentors Travis Browne (One Night Only), Stephanie Folsom (Toy Story 4, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power), Kathy Silberman (Setting It, Victoria Dreyfins, Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, Victoria, will develop the script. Love, Finding Dory) and Christina Hudson (Birds of Prey, Bumblebee).

Annual Blacklist Lab Alumni Savion Einstein (A Cuban Girl's Guide to Tea and Tomorrow) will also join as session instructor. After the lab, the writing team will participate in a year-long mentoring program that includes monthly meetings with screenwriters, agents, directors, producers, and executives.

"We're thrilled to welcome the newest group of screenwriters to The Blacklist Labs. At a time when the industry seems especially challenging and tougher than ever, we're thrilled to be able to support projects that get us excited to go to theaters. These writers bring distinctive voices and stories to help us hear bold ideas and perspectives." Give them space to take risks, challenge themselves, and build community with other writers in Ojai and beyond.

Submissions for 2027 Labs are now open on the Blacklist website.

Past Blacklist Lab alumni include Claire Ayub (Empire Waist), Minhal Baig (Now We're Grown Up), Tom Dean (Carolina, Caroline), Gia Gordon (Law & Order), Danny Hogan (Pete), Jimmy Queiroz (Broken Keys), Dagny Looper (Resort), Alexandrasti J (Resort) and Jason Young (The Magic Flute).

Learn more about Writers Lab 2026 projects and the creative minds behind them below.

Haunted by his family's tragic past, a scheming con artist seeks revenge on the uncle who abandoned him decades ago - but finds himself trapped by an evil curse that feeds on his bloodline.

Paris, 1898. Two American brothers enter a brothel. The others draw knives. Within an hour, they owe a lady five thousand francs, which they don't have. Their ship departs at dawn. The elder has just had a seizure in an immersion seizure - and if anyone finds out, he will lose his wife, child and name.

In the midst of an apparent nuclear attack on NATO and the United States, a disconnect with the president puts the defense secretary in the hot seat of America's doomsday plane, but as the minutes draw near, a communications expert notices an anomaly that could change everything.

A restless and sharp-witted teenager, searching for meaning and adventure, flees to a rich coastal town only to be drawn to an attractive boy and his family's deadly secret. Adapted from NORTHANGER ABBEY by Jane Austen.

A former priest trapped in a US nuclear submarine must stop a Soviet defector before he heats up the Cold War.

When a health insurance giant refuses to treat their best daughter's cancer, three friends try to verify the claim themselves. But their plan comes together when they accidentally kidnap the CEO and must expose his fraud to save themselves.

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