The Screenwriting Speed Run - Exploring Iterative Storytelling

Screenwriting can often be a lonely profession sometimes taking years to work up a serviceable plot. What about if we flipped the process on its head? Join our panelists as they attempt to piece together random elements of story selected by the audience and work together, or sometimes in opposition, to create a coherent film plot in under an hour.  Moderator: Filmmaker John Pruner ( The Bionic Frankenplot Podcast ) Panelists: Screenwriter / Director Adesola Thomas (ATLFS Artist in Residence), Producer / Writer / Director Raymond Carr ( Eric, Yo Gabba Gabba , Joyriders ), Actor / Director / Stuntwoman Jenna Kanell ( Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Terrifier , Faceless After Dark ), Writer / Producer/ Director Dan Bush (T omorrow's Monsters, The Signal, The Dark Red ) A filmmaker for over two decades having worked on sets big and small as a cameraman, director and occasional producer, John Pruner is also the host of the Bionic Frankenplot podcast. He's currently working on publishing his first graphic novel. Adesola Thomas (she/they) is a queer Nigerian-American filmmaker and the Atlanta Film Society’s Filmmaker in Residence (2025-2027). She was selected for Lincoln Center’s 2025 Artist’s Academy at the 63rd New York Film Festival and named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film in 2025. Adesola makes narrative films to archive the American South and Black diasporic domestic life. Raymond Carr is a Jim Henson Company–trained puppeteer and director with over 25 years of experience bringing characters to life across television, streaming, and live performance. A former board member of The Jim Henson Foundation, he has directed projects including Yo Gabba Gabbaland (Apple TV+) and served as Puppetry Director on the Netflix limited series Eric , starring Benedict Cumberbatch. Raymond also led puppetry for the Adult Swim adaptation of Smiling Friends and is the lead puppeteer behind the Aflac Duck’s widely recognized social media presence. As a performer, he portrayed Dunk the Puffer Fish on PBS Kids’ Splash and Bubbles . Raymond's extensive credits include Earth to Ned (Disney+), Word Party (The Jim Henson Company), Crank Yankers , Moon and Me (BBC), LazyTown (Nick Jr.), Doom Patrol (HBO Max), Woke (Hulu), and Walking with Dinosaurs: The Arena Spectacular . He has also collaborated on numerous projects with Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, Cartoon Network, and Adult Swim. As an action actor, Jenna Kanell (they/she) has performed while riding motorcycles, stunt driving cars, airborne in harnesses, underwater, hanging from a helicopter, with weapons, and in countless fight scenes. These credits include everything from the protagonist of the cult classic Terrifier , to a villain in the recent Bad Boys: Ride or Die . In addition to being a TEDx Speaker, Jenna is currently in pre-production for a sci-fi feature film she wrote to direct, which is executive produced by The Matrix director Lilly Wachowski. Dan Bush is an American screenwriter, director, editor, and producer known for THE SIGNAL, THE VAULT (starring James Franco) , and THE DARK RED. Currently, he is helming several new IPs, including TOMORROW'S MONSTERS , a Flynn Picture Company co-production starring John Boyega ( Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ) and Darren Criss ( Glee , The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story ), THE MANTAWAUK CAVES , a Blumhouse Television / iHeart Podcasts production (starring Jonathan Tucker and Edi Gathegi), and THE PASSAGE (starring Dan Fogler, Scott Haze, Wes Studi, Tristan Mack Wilds, and Martin Starr).