MEET THE FINALISTS part 2

Last week, the Screenwriters Colony selection committee announced the ten finalists for the three remaining slots at this year's colony. In advance of next week's announcement of the invitees, we'll be posting mini-bios of the finalists this week.

Here is the second of three posts:


Silka Luisa (ARCANA) has a long history of working film, starting with
development at Killer Films, Panamax Films, and Sony Pictures
Television. With an M.F.A. in Film from Columbia University among many
awards, Silka was selected as one four fellows for the IFP-Marcie
Bloom Fellowship in Film, a mentorship program led by Dylan Leiner and
Marcie Bloom of Sony Pictures Classics. Her most recent screenplay,
CACIQUE, placed in the Nicholl Fellowship and RED CLOVER was funded by
the McNamara Creative Arts Grant.

Christopher Radcliff (THE STRANGE ONES) earned his MFA in Film from
Columbia University where he received the Ezra Litwak Award for
Distinction in Screenwriting. THE STRANGE ONES has screened at
numerous film festivals around the world, including Sundance, SXSW,
Rotterdam, and Clermont-Ferrand, among others. In addition, it has
received over 20 awards, including several Oscar-qualifying wins, and
has been sold for television and DVD distribution in several
countries.

James Cohen (PRO-JOYCE), a graduate of Vanderbilt University, began
his career in New York as the assistant film editor on features by Sam
Mendes, Alan Parker, and James Ivory. He started in screenwriting when
British director Nicholas Hytner asked him to pen a page-long joke for
the film Center Stage. Since then, he has written a number of feature
screenplays. His 33-minute fictional audio comedy, THE LACY STUDY – an
official selection of the ThirdCoast International Audio Festival –
premiered at WNYC’s The Greene Space in 2009 and aired on NPR shortly
thereafter. Most recently, James wrote a TV spot directed by Eastbound
& Down creator Jody Hill.