in the NEWS

Austin Film Festival’s annual Screenwriters to Watch list has predicted the rise of today’s most celebrated screenwriters and  filmmakers. In 2025, we are excited to partner once again with MovieMaker to introduce you to the next 25 writers who are poised to make an impact. This year’s curated list showcases talent whose fresh perspectives and relentless hustle promise exciting careers to follow. 

We are thrilled to showcase these incredibly talented voices, celebrate their  commitment to the craft, and watch their careers flourish in the months and years to come.

The Independent Writers' Caucus is a diverse association of emerging, industry-vetted writers - many with  produced credits; optioned properties; experience in writers' rooms, and advanced degrees in screenwriting and filmmaking.

Mary Beth McAndrews at Dread Central interviews writer, director Marie Alice  Wolfszahn, along with producer extraordinaire and founder of Black Mansion Films,  Heather Buckley and writer, producer Elise Salomon to talk about #FolkHorror ... what it means to  them, what they're working on and new details about their upcoming project  URD | SKULD ... a present-day Austrian Christmas folk horror that's 𝔫𝔬𝔱  𝔎𝔯𝔞𝔪𝔭𝔰𝔲𝔰.

Heather Buckley and Elise Salomon joined Ryan Danley, Jonas Barnes and Graham Fahey at Another Goddamn Horror Podcast to discuss indie horror. The state of it.

They kind of liked hanging out with each other, so they wound up talking for a looooong time about...

Black Mansion Films, Heather's origin story, Elise's fears, creating community through BMF, and no spoilers but...tamales came up quite a few times.

They covered a lot of ground.

It's a rollercoaster ride, as any good story should be.