Stowe Story Labs Announces Fellows and Honorable Mentions for 2026 Narrative Labs and Producers’ Labs
STOWE STORY LABS IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE ACCELERATOR, AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL, FILM FATALES, LAW FIRM OF STACEY A. DAVIS, NYX HORROR COLLECTIVE, PAGE INTERNATIONAL SCREENWRITING AWARDS, SAGINDIE, STOWE LAUNCH GENRE, STUDIO SKYFIRE, UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT, and WGA EAST FELLOWSHIP WINNERS AND HONORABLE MENTIONS FOR THE 2026 NARRATIVE LABS AND PRODUCERS’ LABS.
We are pleased to honor these artists and projects. Thank you to our fellowship partners who help make these opportunities possible. We look forward to working with these talented screenwriters and filmmakers.
Congratulations to all.
ACCELERATOR FELLOW:
Jacqueline Elyse Rosenthal — Los Angeles, CA, USA — Backlog // Drama, True Story Feature
Logline: The true-life story of an assault survivor who becomes the voice of millions in her crusade to fight a failing American justice system.
Bio: Jacqueline Elyse Rosenthal is an activism-first artist committed to shining a light on humanity. Her breakout film, Backlog (Cannes), about the national rape kit backlog, screened at over 85 film festivals, won the 2023 Student DGA Award Grand Jury Prize, Student-Emmy (Best Drama Series), and Anthem Award for Social Justice. The film is distributed in Japan, Saudi Arabia, and the US. Backlog’s Feature script completed the Athena Writer’s Lab, was a Semi-Finalist on the Athena List and a Second Rounder at Austin Film Festival.
In 2024, Jacqueline received the Industry Innovation Grant to shoot Europa at Sony Pictures for a 31-day shoot. The sci-fi environmental film screens this summer at NASA and is being packaged as a series.
In addition to Backlog, her film Baby Director, about the enduring power of our dreams, is also in development and is part of her commitment to encourage the next generation of directors.
ACCELERATOR FELLOWSHIP HONORABLE MENTION:
Maia Henkin — Los Angeles, CA, USA — Look at Me // Horror, Satire Feature
AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL FELLOW:
Patrick Michael — Los Angeles, CA, USA — Black Silk // Drama, Coming-of-Age Feature
Logline: When a magnetic but dangerous father re-enters his son's life, the bond they form is as sacred as it is destructive, forcing the boy to choose between the myth of manhood or a truth of his own design.
Bio: Patrick Michael is an award-winning filmmaker and producer based in Los Angeles. A writer from an early age, he discovered his love for cinema while studying pre-medicine at the University of Washington, ultimately earning an MFA in Film and Television Production from USC's School of Cinematic Arts.
Raised in Seattle's working-class Black neighborhoods, Patrick is drawn to intimate, character-driven stories exploring family, relationships, and self-determination. His work is influenced by filmmakers such as Charles Burnett, Lynne Ramsay, and Krzysztof Kieślowski, artists whose films blend emotional intimacy with a strong sense of place and visual authorship.
Through his production company, Peace Love Dope Films, Patrick mentors emerging creatives while developing and producing independent narrative projects centered on underrepresented communities, stories that are emotionally truthful, socially grounded, and visually distinctive.
FILM FATALES FELLOW:
Radha Mehta — Los Angeles, CA, USA — Anitya // Romance, Coming-of-Age Feature
Logline: When Mona reunites with her first love years after a childhood tragedy, she must face his unraveling mental health—and the realization that the deepest act of love may be letting go.
Bio: Radha Mehta (she/her) is a civil engineer-turned-filmmaker with an MFA in Film Directing from the American Film Institute and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management. She is a WIF 2025 Directing Fellow (and e.l.f. Beauty Inaugural Grantee), CAPE Julia Gouw Grant Winner, Disability Belongs Entertainment Fellow and a voting member of The Recording Academy. Drawing from her lived experience as a first-gen Indian American mother, Radha’s work explores motherhood, self empowerment, family legacy, and the dismantling of cultural taboos around mental health and disability. Her award-winning films include Dosh (Slamdance Spirit Award; Cannes Lions Young Director Award nominee), Winds of Silence (UN Women, Geena Davis Institute), SŪNNA (CAPE Julia Gouw Grant Winner), Witness (98th Academy Awards Longlist for Best Live Action Short), Standing With Moms, Evan Ever After, and Being Gina (STARZ/Lionsgate/WRAP Top 3 finalist).
FILM FATALES FELLOWSHIP HONORABLE MENTION:
Nicole Taylor — Owings Mills, MD, USA — Ella // Drama, Bio, Music Feature
LAW FIRM OF STACEY A. DAVIS FELLOW:
Zoe Reiniger — Los Angeles, CA, USA — Violets // Coming-of-Age Dramedy TV - ½ hr
Logline: It's the year 2000 at L.A.’s most prestigious all-girls school, and the queer artsy misfits are just trying to survive — navigating the pressure for perfection, fitting in and standing out, and the longing for love via friendship, romance, and the confusing part in between.
Bio: Zoe Reiniger wrote her first screenplay at age 39, though she’s spent her career telling stories, creating worlds, and bringing artistic visions to life as a producer of events and creative projects. Her multidisciplinary work spans 15 years at film festivals and arts organizations including SFFILM, Sundance, AFI Fest, and NY Stage & Film; brand experiences for Google, Amazon, and Cisco; and premieres and award shows including the Film Independent Spirit Awards and Cinema Eye Honors.
A bossy only child of actors raised in LA's Fairfax District, Zoe briefly followed in the family business with a BA in Theatre from Emerson College. She's a sapphic childless cat lady who writes about fierce, smart women, queer joy, and life outside the male gaze. Violets is her first screenplay.
LAW FIRM OF STACEY A. DAVIS HONORABLE MENTION:
Nóra Ní Fhláthárta — Barna, Galway, Ireland — The Disruptor // Drama, Comedy Road Movie Feature
NYX HORROR COLLECTIVE FELLOW:
Heather Foster — Houston, TX, USA — Three Days // Thriller, Horror Feature
Logline: In a near-future dystopia, a vulnerable widow must take back her off-grid farm and save her autistic son from barbaric invaders—while trying to survive a hurricane.
Bio: Heather Foster is a horror writer based in Houston, TX. Shuffled from home to home as a little girl, she found comfort in scary stories, as she knew the real monsters lurked just down the hall.
Heather was a 2025 ISA horror semi-finalist, a 2026 quarterfinalist in Roadmap Writers Shorts Competition, and made the 2026 Grey List - the top 40 writers over 40.
She spends her days tucked away in a small, soundproof room, talking to herself as a voiceover actor.
NYX HORROR COLLECTIVE HONORABLE MENTION:
Chelsea Sutton — Studio City, CA, USA — Damaged Goods // Horror, Dramedy TV - 1 hr
PAGE INTERNATIONAL SCREENWRITING AWARDS FELLOW:
Rachel Flynn — Glasgow, Scotland — Banshee // Horror Feature
Logline: A tour guide must confront her buried trauma when a stag group she leads into Edinburgh's vaults encounters the vengeful ghost of the South Bridge Banshee.
Bio: Rachel Flynn is a Scottish writer working across film, television and theatre, known for blending dark humour with elevated, character-driven genre storytelling. She has written x4 episodes of BBC’s River City and two feature-length television movies, A European Christmas and Murder in the Highland Manor, which premiered on Lifetime earlier this year. Her debut short film 16 won Best Debut at BIFA-qualifying Sunderland Short Film Festival and she’s written critically acclaimed, sell-out plays Keepin, The Heid and Being Liza.
Her latest feature Banshee won Bronze prize at the PAGE Awards 2025. She was a BIFA Springboard 25-26 talent and is currently developing a slate of bold, commercially driven projects through Interabang Productions.
SAGINDIE NARRATIVE LAB FELLOW:
Christine Hoang — Austin, TX, USA — Just Say Yes // Comedy Feature
Logline: After a rule-following, devout Catholic, Vietnamese American grandmother accidentally overdoses on her son's THC gummies and survives, she begins questioning the rules — and starts to break more of them at the disapproval of her overprotective “helicopter” daughter.
Bio: Christine Hoang is a Vietnamese American filmmaker, theatremaker, and recovering lawyer based in Austin, Texas. She was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana and learned English by watching Sesame Street. Her stories are centered on Southern BIPOC characters trying to find their way. Christine is currently directing, writing, and producing Sweet Potato Pig, a hybrid live-action/animated nonfiction short that follows her mother’s immigrant story through her food memories. She also wrote, produced, and performed in the live-action comedy short Pizza My Heart, which is now streaming nationwide on the PBS app.
SAGINDIE PRODUCERS’ LABS FELLOWS:
Mario Garza — Los Angeles, CA, USA — Güero & Prieto // Coming-of-Age Comedy Feature
Logline: In 2010, a young and immature Mexican teenager flees to Miami, yearning for independence from his familial duties. In this new city, he crosses paths with an undocumented Mexican teenager who teaches him the invaluable lesson that true freedom is achieved through hard work and responsibility, transcending the confines of his controlling mother's influence.
Bio: Mario Garza is a Mexican filmmaker and creative director based in Los Angeles. As the founder of KoolShiIt.com, a minority-owned creative studio, he has built a career moving fluidly between commercial storytelling and personal filmmaking.
His debut feature, Censurada, shot in a remote village in northern Spain, marks the arrival of a voice drawn to stories that often explore identity, desire, and the quiet contradictions of growing up, blending humor with an undercurrent of vulnerability. Garza’s work is driven by instinct and cultural specificity. He is currently developing a slate of world-wide feature films that continue to explore flawed characters searching for meaning, connection, and a sense of home.
Aaron C. Wong — Portland, OR, USA — Home Sounds // Comedy, Drama Feature
Logline: When a twenty-something immigrant Turkish model/influencer helps a Black octogenarian shut-in neighbor bail out her white nudist adoptee son, a codependent friendship forms among the three, one that drags the young woman out of her quirkily rich fantasy world to finally face her latent but crippling depression.
Bio: Aaron C. Wong is a producer, writer, and director based in Portland, Oregon. His work is driven by a commitment to a shared humanity and stories that amplify voices not necessarily quieter, but less heard. Working primarily in drama and dramedy, he explores complex social themes with sensitivity, compassion, and humor. He is currently producing Home Sounds with the writer/director Selin Sevinc, whom he met as a BendFilm Basecamp fellow. The crowdfunding campaign for the short based on this feature will run in April 2026 as part of Seed & Spark’s AAPI Renaissance Rally. He is also in pre-production on two shorts as writer/director that will film later in 2026.
Mixed-race and first-generation, with his father immigrating from Hong Kong, Aaron grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. He remains an active advocate for civic engagement and equity, particularly around environmental and social justice issues.
STOWE GENRE LAUNCH FELLOW:
Ariel Bond — Vancouver, BC, Canada — Deepfake // Thriller, True Crime Feature
Logline: Based on a true story, Deepfake follows a deferential camera assistant who discovers she’s been deepfaked into pornography. To reclaim her agency, she must battle an outdated justice system and become her own advocate in order to hunt down the perpetrator, uncovering a betrayal closer than she ever imagined.
Bio: Ariel Bond (she/her) is a writer, producer, and director focused on adapting true stories that shed light on uncomfortable truths. For her psychological thriller Deepfake, Ariel received the Equity and Emerging Development Grant from Creative BC, participated in the GEMS Genre Film Lab, and received the inaugural Filmable Feature Film Fellowship. She was also shortlisted for Cassian Elwes Sundance Fellowship, and she won Best Feature Screenplay at the GEMFest International Screenplay Competition. As a producer, Ariel’s most recent credit is the short film How Brief, directed by Kelly McCormack and starring Emmy-winner Tatiana Maslany, which had its World Premiere at Sundance in 2026. An Academy Nicholl fellowship quarterfinalist and winner of the Leonard and Eileen Newman Prize for a Promising New Writer, Ariel has a B.A. in Screen Arts & Cultures from the University of Michigan and holds dual citizenship in the U.S. and Canada.
STOWE GENRE LAUNCH HONORABLE MENTION:
Alia Zeid — Santa Monica, CA, USA — The Giant of Guadarrama // Horror, Fantasy Feature
STUDIO SKYFIRE FELLOW:
Renn Tan — Los Angeles, CA, USA — The Light at the End of the World // Sci-Fi TV - 1 hr
Logline: In a sunless near future, a thirteen-year-old boy discovers his blood was medically engineered to contain light. He and his terminally ill friend must search for answers across a darkening America, where every resource — especially his blood — is to kill or die for.
Bio: Renn Tan speaks six languages, but not their mother tongue. Before moving to LA, they ran a small indie bookstore selling banned books to closeted teens. Growing up LGBTQ+ in a Muslim country means, of course, they write about conditional love. Their stories feature characters whose identities directly conflict with their environment.
Renn is a graduate of USC's Screenwriting MFA program. Their work has won Best Feature Screenplay at Slamdance and the Dallas International Film Festival. After their work was selected as one of the top three scripts through the ISA Diversity Initiative, Renn was named an ISA Top 25 Screenwriter to Watch in 2026.
Renn's hour-long sci-fi pilot, The Light at the End of the World, recently won the Allegory Pitch Competition. Renn is excited to bring this project to the Stowe Narrative Lab this June.
UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT FELLOW:
Alex Kaplan — Durham, NC, USA — Ship of Fools // Animated Comedy TV -1/2 hr
Logline: A dysfunctional crew of pirates must navigate their own buffoonery to defeat their enemies and make it as swashbucklers on the high seas.
Bio: Alex is a 2026 graduate of UVM with a B.S. in Anthropology and a minor in Film Studies. He recently wrote and directed his student short film, The Hitchhiker. Alex loves to write comedy as well as other genres. His favorite movie is Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
WGA EAST FELLOW:
Kevin Johnson — Alexandria, Virginia, USA — The Legend of John Canoe // Action, Historical Drama Feature
Logline: When a charismatic African Chief is enslaved and shipped to the developing Carolina Colony, he’s thrust into the politics of the planter-class. He must use his negotiation skills to gather allies and find a way home. Words are his weapon; his battle-cry, a song.
Bio: Kevin Johnson is a screenwriter and comedian from rural North Carolina. He writes comedy adventures inspired by the concept of joy as an act of resistance, often featuring tricksters who cause “good trouble.” He interned with the Television Academy Foundation, working with Norman Lear’s Act III Productions on projects for Prime and Netflix. In 2025, he was a finalist in the Humanitas College Awards and Runner-Up in UCLA’s Professional Program competition. He wrote the short Respectfully (2022) which screened at festivals, such as Martha’s Vineyard and the Pan-African Film Festival. As a comedian, he wrote sketches for the 9th Annual American Reality TV Awards, performed in the Baltimore and DC Comedy festivals, and won a DMV New Comic Competition (2024). On stage and on page, Kevin approaches humor with humanism, using comedy to point out the walls built to divide us and then daring us to tear them down.
WGA EAST HONORABLE MENTION:
Danny Duffy and Meredith Vey — Miami, Florida, USA — Out of Habit // Comedy TV - 1 hr
CONGRATULATIONS EVERYONE!
