The 2024 Indigenous Screenwriters Lab Mentors
The PSP is thrilled to announce the participant-mentor pairings for our inaugural 2024 Indigenous Screenwriters Lab. This second phase of the program involves partnering seasoned industry veterans with each participant to work through the initial outline and first draft of their sci-fi/futurism pilots. This essential phase of the program cultivates the ideas started in the story room and provides the writers valuable insight and guidance from an expert in the specific genre.
The Mentors and the Mentees
Naren Shankar and Shaelyn Johnston
Shaelyn Johnston is working on her pilot, Terra7, with mentor Naren Shankar.
Naren Shankar was most recently Executive Producer/Showrunner of the acclaimed science fiction series The Expanse. A former engineer with a PhD in Applied Physics & Electrical Engineering from Cornell University, he began his career as a writer for Star Trek: The Next Generation. As EP/Co-Showrunner of the original CSI:Crime Scene Investigation, he received multiple Emmy nominations for Best Series, and a WGA Award nomination for CSI’s two-hour event Grave Danger directed by Quentin Tarantino. Naren’s credits include For All Mankind, Farscape, and The Outer Limits, amongst many others.
Daegan Fryklind and Sarah Kelley
Sarah Kelley is working on her pilot, Synthetica, with mentor Daegan Fryklind.
Daegan Fryklind is a Vancouver-based award-winning showrunner / writer / producer best known for Shadow and Bone (Netflix), Bitten (Space/SYFY) and The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco (Britbox/ITV).
Will Pascoe and A.W. Hopkins
A.W. Hopkins is working on their pilot, Busboy, with mentor Will Pascoe.
Will Pascoe was the showrunner of the third season of Amazon’s hit series Absentia. Before that, he wrote for Fox’s The Finder, NBC’s drama series Chicago Med, BBC Worldwide/Starz’s Da Vinci’s Demons and Hulu’s Shut Eye. While working as writer and co-producer on Orphan Black, his episode Variations Under Domestication earned Pascoe a Canadian Writer’s Guild Award and nominations for an Edgar Allan Poe Award and a Hugo Award. A graduate of the Writer’s Guild of America’s prestigious Showrunner Training Program, Will has also developed television series for Twentieth-Century Fox, Playtone, and Universal Studios and is currently a Co-Executive Producer on Peacock’s Law & Order: Organized Crime.
Dennis Heaton and Jordan Waunch
Jordan Waunch is working on his pilot, Hyperia, with mentor Dennis Heaton
Based in Vancouver, BC, Dennis Heaton is an award-winning director, screenwriter and showrunner renowned for his deft balance of comedy and dark subject matter, as first showcased in his cult classic zombie movie Fido (2006). He is currently a writer and executive producer on the upcoming Murder in a Small Town for Fox Television, which premieres this September.
Jesse McKeown and Skye R. Regan
Skye R. Regan is working on her pilot, Crow’s Nest, with mentor Jesse McKeown.
Jesse McKeown is the writer and co-showrunner of the Netflix hit series The Umbrella Academy. Prior to that, he was writer/co-executive producer of the Golden Globe nominated series The Sinner for USA Network. Jesse is currently developing Ford Nation at AMC, a limited series about the rise and fall of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. As co-showrunner of the hit series 19-2, he won Best Drama Series at the Canadian Screen Awards and was also nominated for an International Emmy. He has written for many award-winning Canadian series such as Da Vinci’s Inquest and Letterkenny. In addition to his television work, Jesse has directed three award-winning short films, all of which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Alex Levine and Trevor Solway
Trevor Solway is working on his pilot, When the Moon Caught the Sun, with mentor Alex Levine.
Alex Levine is an award-winning TV writer whose work spans multiple genres and formats, from police procedurals to science fiction, hour-long drama to half-hour comedy. Levine is best known for his work on Orphan Black. Other credits include Flashpoint, Essex County, and Another Life.