Join us for a conversation with Jenny Halper, EVP and Head of Creative at Maven Screen Media, where she shapes the company’s film and television slate from early development through production. In her role, she evaluates submissions, determines which projects to take on, and works closely with filmmakers to refine and position them for production.
In this moderated discussion, we’ll look closely at how development decisions are actually made: what moves a project from a strong read to something worth investing time and resources in, how executives weigh creative ambition against practical realities, and what signals that a filmmaker is ready for a productive partnership.
Designed for directors, writers, and producers actively working to get projects made, this session offers a grounded, behind-the-scenes look at how projects gain traction inside a production company.
Jenny Halper
Maven Screen Media
About Jenny Halper:
Jenny Halper is EVP, Head of Creative at Maven Screen Media, where her credits include ELEANOR THE GREAT, THE KINDERGARTEN TEACHER, DRIVEWAYS, AMERICAN HONEY, the pandemic anthology WITH/IN, and the forthcoming HAPPY HOURS. She currently oversees a slate of projects across film and TV, with a focus on complex female characters and women in front of and behind the camera. As a screenwriter her scripts have placed three times on the Black List, on the Athena List, received grants from Film Independent, the Sloan Foundation, the Tribeca Film Institute, and New York Stage and Film (in association with Powerhouse Theater).
As a fiction writer, she is an Our Stories Emerging Writer Award winner and Pushcart Prize nominee with work in places including The Chicago Tribune Printer’s Row, The Masters Review, Joyland, PANK, and Necessary Fiction, and her story collection has been a finalist for the W.S. Porter Prize, the St. Lawrence Book Prize and the Hudson Prize. She works as a mentor for Stowe Story Labs, Tribeca, the Athena Labs, The Writers Lab, and NYSAF, among other places. A former film journalist, she is a founding member of the Alliance of Women Film Journalists. She is a graduate of Northwestern University and Emerson College, where she received the 2008 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Grant.
She is currently a co-lead of the Women’s Impact Network for the PGA. She is represented by Untitled Entertainment and CAA.
Christine Dávila
Ojalá
About the moderator:
IMPORTANT DETAILS:
This panel will take place virtually over ZOOM. Ticket purchasers will receive a ZOOM link to this panel 2 hours before the published start time. If you don’t already have the ZOOM app, please make sure to download on your device before the panel start time.
If you purchase an All-Access Pass for our March Festival events prior to the date of this panel, you will also receive admission to this virtual panel, included as part of your pass.
If you are a current Annual Member of NFMLA, please email info@nfmla.org to receive a complimentary ticket to this panel. If you are not an Annual Member of NFMLA and would like to join, you can become a member here.
