Leah Gottfried
Leah Gottfried is an award winning writer/director and actor who draws on her life in the Orthodox Jewish community to tell authentic stories about her world. Her short film THE SETUP won Best Short at the Washington Jewish Film Festival where critics called it “clever, whimsical and sneakily poignant”. Leah is best known for her web series SOON BY YOU (“a Kosher version of Friends”), which she writes, directs and stars in and which has garnered fans all over the world. She is the founder of Dignity Entertainment, a production company dedicated to creating meaningful visual content. Leah was named one of The Jewish Week’s “36 Under 36” celebrating young Jews influencing change worldwide. She studied film at Yeshiva University and NYU, and lives in Greenpoint with her rabbi husband.
Jacob Fiskus
Jacob Fiskus is a New York-based filmmaker who has produced several independent documentary shorts. He has also edited short-form promotional videos for social justice organizations, and was a contributing writer for SLAM Magazine. Jacob is currently a co-producer on a documentary about antisemitism in America. His main passion is screenwriting. Jacob has written several screenplays and a pilot with his writing partner, Tal Robbins. His passion for screenwriting is matched only by his passion for Torah and Judaism. Jacob is dedicated to telling stories that encapsulate Jewish life and express Torah ideas and concepts.
Kyra Brown
Kyra Brown is a comedy writer and performer from just north of the middle of nowhere Massachusetts. She recently graduated from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts where she studied — you guessed it — cinematic arts. Kyra prides herself on writing every genre (within comedy of course) from rom-coms, to angsty YA dramedys, to musical parodies. She has worked in various writer’s room support staff roles at The Late Late Show with James Corden, NCIS: New Orleans, and currently on Them: Covenant, an upcoming Amazon Prime show. In addition to that, she has written for several web series and created and produced an all female sketch comedy website called www.yesbitches.com. Kyra is also a producer and host of a popular West Hollywood monthly stand up comedy show called Spilled Milk @spilledmilkcomedy. She has produced several other shows in the past and has performed stand up all over the country, including at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles. In her spare time, Kyra can be found painting, skiing, sleeping, eating chocolate, or cuddling a stranger’s dog on the sidewalk.
Noam Ash
Noam Ash first gained recognition as the creator of the hit web series My Gay Roommate and subsequent TV pilot Boy•Friends from Keshet Studios, which garnered over 11 million views and received critical acclaim from Vanity Fair and The New York Times. He appeared in HBO MAX’s The Other Two as well as starred in and executive produced The Influencers on Amazon Prime. Noam recently wrapped his debut feature, BOOKENDS, which he wrote as part of JWI and starred opposite Academy Award® Winner F. Murray Abraham and SAG Award® Winner Caroline Aaron. He is repped by Sweeney Entertainment and HJTH Law.
Rachel McKay Steele
Rachel McKay Steele is a writer and comedian from Charleston, SC, who recently left bagels and Brooklyn for sunny Los Angeles. She has studied comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater and has performed improv and stand-up around the country. Her solo show, Shiva for Anne Frank, premiered at the 2019 Hollywood Fringe Festival to rave reviews and won a Producer’s Encore Award. She has worked on numerous award-winning independent films, from Gayby to creative development for the Oscar-nominated What Happened Miss Simone? She is thrilled and humbled to be a part of the inaugural Jewish Writers’ Initiative, even though she never spells Initiative correctly on the first try. Rachel loves breakfast sandwiches, yoga, and her two rescue cats, Roxy and Esther.
Laurel Gans
Natalie knows that time is valuable, and she is determined to not waste a moment. A top efficiency expert, she has helped hundreds of businesses succeed through her time management techniques. She swears that if she had been with the Maccabees, she could have made the oil last for way longer than eight days. Unfortunately, […]
Victoria George
Adina Jacobs, a recently turned 13-year-old biracial teen who would love nothing more than to fade into the distance and forget the utter embarrassment she endured at her Bat Mitzvah, is forced to attend J-Camp, a.k.a. Jewish sleepaway camp, where she comes face to face with her archenemy, all while trying to navigate new friendships, […]
Arnon Shorr
Arnon is a filmmaker, screenwriter and author of comics and graphic novels. He is known for crafting tales that blend Jewish characters, stories and themes with the tropes of popular and fantastical storytelling. He gained widespread attention with José and the Pirate Captain Toledano, a swashbuckling graphic novel about Jewish pirates in the 16th-century Caribbean, which expanded on his award-winning short film, The Pirate Captain Toledano. Shorr’s creative work frequently delves into Jewish identity, blending action-packed narratives with deep reflections on heritage. His talents have earned him a 2024 Fellowship with the JWI Screenwriters Lab and a 2024-25 Fellowship with the PJ Library Sephardic Stories Initiative. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife, three children, a goofy dog, and the ghost of a dead, grumpy cat.
Iris Bahr
The Guilt Trip is a dramedy about two sisters, Maya and Abby, who are sent to Poland by their ailing grandmother, Chana, to trace her journey from the Warsaw Ghetto to the camps. Chana hopes this trip will heal the girls’ strained relationship, and perhaps her own wounds as well. Armed with a briefcase and […]
Brett Melnick
Brett Melnick is an award-winning comedy writer, director and producer, currently on the support staff of Hulu/FOX’s King of the Hill reboot.
He began his career in the writers’ room of TBS’s The Last O.G., writing digital shorts for the TBS platform while serving as the show’s writer’s assistant. His additional support staff credits include the first two seasons of FX’s Dave.
Brett’s writing credits include ABC’s 2021 reimagining of The Wonder Years, where he penned the critically acclaimed episode “The Valentine’s Day Dance” in its Peabody Award-winning first season. His feature comedy script Yom Kippur was an official selection of The Black List in 2020.
In the digital space, Brett wrote and created the vertical news desk series What’s Up North with Trevor Tordjman, in partnership with Buzzfeed & Instagram. Most recently, he co-wrote and co-directed the sci-fi audio drama Faraway, starring Xochitl Gomez and Melonie Diaz. The series debuted at #4 on Apple Podcasts’ Sci-Fi charts and earned two 2025 Ambie nominations, including Podcast of the Year.
A graduate of Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Brett now teaches specialized TV writing courses at his alma mater part-time.