Variety Announces 10 Screenwriters to Watch for 2020

Variety has released this year’s list of 10 Screenwriters to Watch, and a conversation with the honorees is to be hosted virtually by the Mill Valley Film Festival on Oct. 13.

The annual 10 to Watch program celebrates breakthrough screenwriters, actors, directors, comics, animators, producers and cinematographers, and registration for the virtual conversation with 2020’s selected screenwriters is available now. Many of this year’s honorees are already gaining accolades for their films. Variety executive editor Steven Gaydos called the 2020 selections “emblematic of what is needed from filmmakers in this unsettled and challenging time. These screenwriters are taking on the big issues confronting the world, but they’re also making sure their stories are grounded in empathy for their widely diverse, wildly original characters.”

The class of of 2020’s 10 Screenwriters to Watch comprise eight solo honorees and two pairs serving as the screenwriters for their respective films. Interviews with those being honored in 2020 will be featured in the Oct. 7 issue of Variety.

Though previous celebrations took place at in-person, this year’s will be virtual. It will also feature a panel discussion with the honorees, who will video conference from various locations.

The Mill Valley Film Festival, founded in 1977, also hosted the 2019 10 Screenwriters to Watch reception. During the seven previous years, the event was hosted by the Whistler Film Festival.

Last year’s list of screenwriters included Shia LaBeouf (“Honey Boy”) and Krysty Wilson-Cairns (“1917”), while previous years saw Charlie Kaufman (“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”), Jennifer Lee (“Frozen”) and Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (“Star Trek”) among the ranks.

Variety‘s 2020 class of 10 Screenwriters to Watch are listed below.

Tracey Deer and Meredith Vuchnich, “Beans”

Clare Dunn, “Herself”

Shaka King and Will Berson, “Judas and the Black Messiah”

Viggo Mortensen, “Falling”

Andy Siara, “Palm Springs”

Kemp Powers, “One Night in Miami”

Emma Seligman, “Shiva Baby”

Kata Weber, “Pieces of a Woman”

Remi Weekes, “His House”

Tracey Scott Wilson, “Respect” (2021)