Event Info
On Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, from 6-8PM, Reel Sisters of the Diaspora Film Festival & Lecture Series and BRIC Media Education will present an exciting staged reading of scripts by filmmakers from our Summer Screenwriting Lab. Join us for an intimate conversation with the writers on their work-in-progress. Featured writers include Freida Jones, Stephanie Rodriguez, Jordan T. Simon and Mari Valdivia.
Come early for a special networking reception! Light refreshments will be served. Details will be announced closer to the date.
The event is free and open to the public. Seating is limited. Please RSVP in advance and arrive early. A ticket does not guarantee entry.
WRITERS BIOS
Born in Englewood, New Jersey, Freida Jones is a playwright and producer. With a City Arts Corps grant, The Midnight Ride, began its journey with staged readings at Padre Plaza Garden (2021) and Open Jar Studios (2022). After university, Ms. Jones pursued her MFA in creative writing at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Freida Jones’s work is published in 50 Bold online magazine, Callaloo, Drum, African Voices and Soul Sister Review.
Stephanie Rodriguez is a writer, producer, and nonprofit fundraiser. She’s currently a grant writer at BRIC Arts Media and working to develop her first script.
Jordan T. Simon is a writer/filmmaker who exalts and examines the history, profundity, excellence, beauty and wonder of Black people to the world through the lens of science fiction and the speculative. Heavily influenced by Octavia Butler, Rod Serling and Steven Spielberg, Jordan uses the transformative power of the written word and the commonality of the human condition to engender empathy and enrich one’s inner child. Jordan was a second round finalist of the Black Boy Writes & Black Girl Writes Mentorship Initiative and serves as a juror for the Oscar-qualifying African Voices/Reel Sisters of the Diaspora 2024 Film Festival.
Mari Valdivia is an aspiring filmmaker and most recently was a part of The Kelly Clarkson Show Season 5 production team as an Asst. Associate producer where she pitched, booked and briefed human interest segments. Before this, she completed NBCUniversal’s renowned Page Program. Mari attended the University of Florida College of Journalism & Communications where she studied advertising and theatre production. She is based in Fort Greene, Brooklyn and enjoys volunteering as a fencing coach in East New York.
ABOUT REEL SISTERS & BRIC
The Summer Scriptwriting Lab and Staged Reading Series are presented by Reel Sisters, the first Oscar Qualifying Festival for short narratives devoted to women filmmakers, and BRIC, the leading presenter of free cultural programming in Brooklyn, and one of the largest in New York City. BRIC presents and incubates new work by artists and media-makers who reflect the diversity that surrounds us. Reel Sisters Film Festival will be held on October 19-20, 2024.
