Screen & Writer Spotlight Full Q&A Library Archive

Learn all you may ever need to know about the vertical drama business in this 60-minute video featuring Dan Lowenstein.

House of Create, founded and led by Dan Lowenstein, specializes in creating narrative-driven films and dance-based visuals. With over 15 years of experience as a film director, Dan excels in producing compelling projects focusing on movement, mental health, and human connection. Alongside a dedicated team, Dan has directed acclaimed films such as Becoming Everything and Sweet Honey, recognized at global festivals for their artistic depth. Passionate about storytelling through movement, Dan continues to partner with dance companies, including Northern Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet, to create impactful films like EGO and The Burning Building. House of Create remains committed to developing innovative projects, including the upcoming feature Sins of Man. Dan has spent the last year working in vertical drama successfully completing 18 projects for platforms such as Reel Short (Pride & Prejudice), DramaBox (Mafia Obsession), Joy Reels (My Rookie Agent) currently number 6 in the world) He uses his feature and TV directing experience to keep the production value & work within the tight constraints of vertical drama schedules. Dan has gained a strong reputation within the vertical drama space and was dubbed ‘King of Vertical drama in UK’ by VerticalDramaLove a well know fan account for VD fans. Dan represents vertical drama in The Guardian newspaper and due to sit on the Vertical Drama Awards panel as a judge and expert.

This 60-minute interview with screenwriter and director S. Riley Moneymaker explores creating strong female characters, film festival success strategies and filmmaking top tips. As a writer-director, our guest speaker this month focuses on crafting engaging narratives that blend mystery, romance, and comedy. Her debut short film premiered at Screamfest 2024, spotlighting her talent for creating compelling female-driven genre stories. Recognized among the top 10 for the Stowe Short Film inaugural grant, S. Riley Moneymaker has consistently ranked in the top 3% on Coverfly. A graduate of UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English Language and Literature, she combines expertise in entrepreneurship, film production, and account management to create innovative storytelling experiences. As a Member on the Board of Directors for the Dark and Stormy Film Festival and a member of Women in Film, this interview is sure to be engaging for novice screenwriters and filmmakers interested in learning from a true life story about one artist's compelling move from festival success to industry momentum. S. Riley Moneymaker says she is proud to champion the elevation of diverse voices in the industry. Currently in preproduction for two genre projects, including a vertical-format film slated for 2026, S. Riley Moneymaker says she is proud to champion diverse voices within the industry. Now working as a full time writer :) and in post on a vertical sketch comedy / horror show called IT DON’T MAKE SENSE - Portland Edition.

In this 60-minute video filmmaker Ed Sayers sits in conversation about Super Nature, his film shot on Super 8. Ed is the founder of Straight 8, the global Super 8 filmmaking phenomenon whose premieres have taken place at Cannes and BFI IMAX. Ed shares how he brings people together to make films, builds momentum from a grassroots idea, and gives the natural world a presence of its own on screen. An inspiring episode for writers and filmmakers interested in collaboration, conservation and storytelling.

What happens when you step backwards in technology as a filmmaker and discover that you may actually begin to see more?

Director, producer and editor Ed Sayers joins Screen & Writer Spotlight to discuss Super Nature, his extraordinary debut feature, a global love letter to nature filmed entirely on Super 8. Created with 40 collaborators across 25 countries and five continents, using more than 70 cameras made over 40 years ago, the film premiered in the Grierson Award Documentary Competition at BFI London Film Festival. Executive produced by Oscar-winning filmmaker Asif Kapadia, Super Nature brings humans and non-humans together in a remarkable shared journey through beauty, abundance, loss and our changing relationship with the living world.

This live Q&A will go far beyond simply how the film was made. We will explore the challenges and triumphs of finding funding, gathering filmmakers across the world, working with Indigenous and local communities, creating an environmentally responsible production where cameras rather than large crews travelled, and discovering how the limitations of Super 8 became one of the film’s greatest creative strengths.

And then we push the conversation further. What happens when we move beyond filming nature and begin to truly see it? When does observation become relationship? What traditional ways of communicating with Nature might we have lost? And what happens when Nature begins to answer back, not in human language, but in a language entirely her own?

Join us for a conversation about filmmaking, risk, collaboration, nature, connection and finding entirely new ways to look at the world: how do you make your film a beacon that invites conversation, funding and momentum?