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Fellows /
Brett Melnick
Screenwriters Lab
2023-2024 Fellow
YOM KIPPUR
After getting high on the night of Yom Kippur, three distant cousins wake up with muddled minds and empty stomachs as they find themselves in the middle of a major drug ring. “Yom Kippur” follows three Jewish cousins through the day-to-day rituals of the Yom Kippur holiday, all while they bust a drug ring ran by a group of bad-intentioned students in their community. The main themes of the screenplay are family, unity and religion, which I believe are also three major themes of Judaism. Family and unity is shown in the process of bringing our young distant cousins together to work through their differences and stop a potentially compromising crime from happening under their watch. Meanwhile, the theme of religion is sprinkled throughout, from our three cousins attending Yom Kippur services, to breaking fast together as it plays simultaneously with its climatic final chase scene.
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.
Screenwriters Lab 
