The 2026 Wisconsin Screenwriters’ Symposium will feature presentations and panels with the following industry experts:
Jason Rothenberg is a writer, producer, director, creator and showrunner of THE 100, which garnered a serious cult following and aggregate score of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes during its seven-season, one hundred episode run. He has developed shows for Netflix, HBOMax, Amazon, Paramount +, Fox, and the CW. He is also a prolific film writer, having written 20 unproduced (mostly not his fault) studio feature films, including COLOSSUS for Universal with Ron Howard producing and Will Smith starring, as well as TWILIGHT ZONE for WB and Appian Way. In addition to presenting at the symposium, Jason will be leading the pre-symposium TV Writers’ Room Workshop.
Michael Graf is a produced screenwriter (Winter of Frozen Dreams; Green and Gold) who has been shortlisted for the Academy’s prestigious Nicholl Fellowship (The Last Indian War). Graf has also directed two Super Bowl commercial campaigns, won an Emmy Award, was the inaugural Writer In Residence at the University of Wisconsin’s Discovery Center and was named one of the “Top 25 Screenwriters To Watch” by the International Screenwriters’ Association.
Deirdre Brenner grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, and headed straight for Los Angeles after graduating from Northwestern University. She’s worked in the animation industry for over twenty-five years, producing hundreds of hours of animated entertainment for studios such as The Walt Disney Company, Nickelodeon and Six Point Harness. She was the creative producer on two Curious George films for Universal Animation Studios and is currently a producer on the popular adult animated series Rick and Morty
Ken Miyamoto has worked in the film industry for over two decades, most notably as a studio liaison for Sony Studios, script reader/story analyst for Sony Pictures, and currently as a professional and produced screenwriter. His screenwriting career began in 2007 with a development deal with Lionsgate, followed by writing assignments for projects like the 2012 miniseries Blackout and the 2020 feature indie thriller Hunter’s Creed. Miyamoto has written ten (and counting) Lifetime thrillers including The Podcast Murders, Psycho Intern, Hider in My House and The Bear Lake Murders.
Jeffrey Kurz is a producer, writer, educator and former studio executive. During his eight-year tenure at Miramax Films, he was involved in Neil Jordan’s Academy Award-winning The Crying Game, Wes Craven’s Scream, Chris Eyre’s Smoke Signals, and John Carpenter’s Halloween series. His recently produced films include: The Vivian Maier Mystery for the BBC, and Deep Woods. His projects in development include Blackdeer with director Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers. A graduate of the UW-Madison, Kurz also teaches courses in screenwriting and film producing at the UW-Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts.