INDUSTRY 101 EVENT SERIES

Pitching 101:
The Windup and the Pitch: Film
October 8, 2025 | 5-6:30 PM PT | Online

A screenplay's path to getting the greenlight can be different in a dozen ways. This conversation will detail what specs and pitches are, who does which and why, how pitches are created, the people involved in the process, timelines, and more, including possible bumps along the way.

Apoorva Guru Charan

Apoorva Charan is an LA-based producer who was born in India, raised in Northern California, and started her career in Singapore.

Her producorial feature debut, Joyland premiered at the Cannes Film Festival (2022) and won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize, the Queer Palm, and Best International Film at the Independent Spirit Awards (2023). The film was Pakistan's entry to the 95th Academy Awards, was the first film from Pakistan to make the shortlist, and has screened at festivals around the world including Sundance, TIFF, and BFI London Film Festival.

An alumnus of Columbia University's MFA Film program, Charan has produced multiple award- winning short films including Lonely Blue Night which won the Audience Award for Best Short Film at AFI Fest 2020 and is available to stream on HBO Max, 空间 Distance which won Film Pipeline's Best Film Award in 2020, and Interiors which premiered at TIFF in September 2018.

She has also served on the jury for Palm Springs Short Film Festival & the Gotham Awards and has taught at Columbia University.

Charan was a 2019 Project Involve Creative Producing fellow, a 2020 Film Independent Creative Producing Lab fellow, a 2021 Women in Film Emerging Producers fellow, a 2022 Sundance Creative Producing Lab fellow, a 2023 BAFTA Breakthrough, a 2024 Gotham-Cannes Producers Network fellow, and has worked at Big Beach, Walt Disney Studios and on the Netflix series Painkiller. Her most recent film, Take Me Home, was the 2025 winner at AT&T's UnTold Stories at Tribeca Film Festival.

Through her production company, All Caps, Charan produces authorial cinema with an aim to push the boundaries of global storytelling.

Austin Kolodney

Austin Kolodney is the screenwriter behind Gus Van Sant’s Dead Man’s Wire, a darkly comedic and gritty crime thriller inspired by the Tony Kiritsis hostage crisis. The film, which stars Bill Skarsgård, Dacre Montgomery, Colman Domingo, Myha'la, Cary Elwes, and Al Pacino, was received enthusiastically at the Venice Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival, quickly selling to Row K Entertainment.

Next up, Kolodney will write and make his directorial debut with Josephine The Blanket alongside Sauce Studios, and described to us as a “genre-bending fantastical odyssey that follows a renowned science prodigy who develops a path to transfer her consciousness to her favorite childhood blanket – a comforting alternative to the human experience.”

A multi-hyphenate talent, Kolodney has directed content for Almost Friday TV, SyFy, Funny or Die, Comedy Central, Universal Music Group, and All Def. A former Director’s Assistant, Kolodney previously worked for David O. Russell (Joy) and Susanne Bier (Bird Box).

He was also recently named as one of Variety's 10 Screenwriters to Watch in 2025.

Austin Kolodney is represented by Verve, Mosaic, and Fox Rothschild LLP.

Shira Rockowitz

As Director of Producing and Artist Support in the Feature Film Program, Shira Rockowitz leads the Sundance Institute’s strategy for supporting emerging independent filmmakers, with a dual focus on project advancement and career development. This includes launching Elevate, an innovative professional development track supporting 250+ artists, oversight of the Feature Film Producers Lab & Fellowship and Producers Intensive, and co-leadership of the Producers Summit and select activities at the Sundance Film Festival. Shira also is a key curator and contributor to the annual Screenwriters Lab, Directors Lab and Catalyst film financing program. She previously created the pioneering sustainability-focused FilmTwo Fellowship for filmmakers developing their second features and a coaching workshop series for artists impacted by the Covid pandemic. Prior to Sundance, Shira was Director of Development and Production at Exclusive Media and a co-producer on John Carney’s Begin Again. She began her career with positions at New Regency, Paramount Vantage, and Fine Line Features / New Line Cinema. Shira is a graduate of Northwestern University and holds an MFA from the Peter Stark Producing Program at the University of Southern California, where she is an adjunct lecturer.

Brian Nemes

Brian Nemes leads film and television strategy at Gold House, where he supports creative investments, content development, and previously the organization's promotional campaigns for films and series. While at Gold House, Brian has led campaigns for over one hundred projects, including Wicked, Past Lives, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and Academy Award Best Picture winner Everything Everywhere All At Once. Brian has also been integral in building Gold House's creative investments and programs, which include Independent Spirit Award winner Dìdi, Lloyd Lee Choi's Lucky Lu, and Rock Springs from Vera Miao, starring Kelly Marie Tran, Benedict Wong, and Jimmy O. Yang. He's launched the organization's Gold Pitch Filmmaker Showcase, which provides a platform for independent filmmakers to pitch their projects to financiers and industry executives at the world's top film festivals. Prior to joining Gold House, Brian worked in marketing and development roles at Janet Yang Productions and NBCUniversal.