Script Lab Mentor

Jessie Keyt

Jessie Keyt is a writer, film scholar, and consultant for writers, filmmakers, and production companies in the US, UK, Europe, and India. Clients have included Working Title, Nickelodeon, 9 Story Media, and Alicia Keys. She co-authored Alternative Scriptwriting: Contemporary Storytelling for the Screen, and co-wrote the award-winning feature film, SKIN, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and received worldwide theatrical release. Jessie holds an MFA in Nonfiction Writing from Columbia’s School of the Arts, an MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and a BA in Literature and Drama from Dartmouth College. She is the Area Head of Screenwriting and an Associate Arts Professor in the Department of Dramatic Writing at NYU, has taught screenwriting at Columbia University, Sundance, and La Fémis, the French national film school, and mentored for Mexico-based Cine Qua Non Film Lab, the Amplifier Fellowship (Netflix/Film Independent), and the Torino Film Lab in Italy.

Script Lab Director

Elizabeth Chatelain

Born and raised in Fargo, North Dakota, Elizabeth Chatelain is an award-winning documentary and narrative filmmaker with a focus on working class women's perspectives in the rural Midwest. Her short documentary MY SISTER SARAH won the International Documentary Association’s Award for Best Student Documentary and was a Student Academy Award Finalist. Her films have screened at 40+ festivals across the world, including SXSW and Interfilm Berlin. She recently completed her second narrative feature, LOVED ONE, which participated in the Women in Film/Sundance Institute Financing Intensive and is supported by SFFilm.

Her past projects have participated in the Berlinale Script Station, Stowe Story Labs, Hedgebrook, and the Almanack Screenwriters Residency. She is a Showtime Tony Cox Screenplay Competition Winner, a Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, a McKnight Media Artist Fellow and an NRDC/Black List Climate Storytelling Fellow. She holds an MFA in Film and Video Production from UT-Austin and an MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU-Tisch. She currently resides on the Iron Range of Minnesota.

Script Lab Coordinator

Vera Bianchini

Vera Bianchini (she/her), a queer, first generation immigrant from Brazil, is the Film Program Director at Zeitgeist, where she leads initiatives that build a thriving film ecosystem in the region, connects audiences with bold storytelling and fosters arts-based community building. With over a decade of experience in the film industry, she has worked with regional organizations such as MSP Film as the Development and Membership Manager, Flip The Script Queer Film Festival, and the Upper Midwest Film Office, as well as internationally recognized, Oscar-qualifying festivals including Sundance, Chicago International Film Festival, Cleveland International Film Festival, and Palm Springs International Film Festival. Vera has also produced several independent films, with recent credits including A Kidnapping (2024), I & Me (2024), and Ish Meets a Mermaid (2025).

This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.