ATX TV Festival Reveals 2025 Pitch Competition & Mentorship Program Finalists, Mentors

Katie Campione
·3-min read

EXCLUSIVE: ATX TV Festival has unveiled the 10 finalists for its annual Pitch Competition & Mentorship Program, as well as the new mentors who will be lending their expertise to these up-and-comers.

In alphabetical order by project title, here are the finalists:

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  • Boys’ Club, Christopher De La Cruz (half-hour comedy)

  • Bronze Bullet, Brooke Solomon (hourlong Western drama)

  • Camp Exodus, Maddie Smith & Air Durnell (half-hour comedy)

  • Cricket Club of Canon High, Priya Mohanty (half-hour comedy)

  • Don’t Try This At Home, Jules Crosby (half-hour comedy)

  • Howl, Zoe Kerr (hourlong thriller)

  • Killer of Your Dreams, Ann Chunharakchote (hourlong dark comedy)

  • The Magazine, Rima Parikh (half-hour comedy)

  • Payola Party, Aritrika Malakar (hourlong drama)

  • Zhizha, Desdemona Chiang (half-hour comedy)

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Each applicant was selected via a 90-second video pitch and a writing sample for a scripted series. Now, these 10 finalists will pitch live at the festival in front of a panel of industry judges.

After the event, each of the finalists will be paired with a mentor to guide them through the process of fully developing a pitch for their series, and help them get to the next stage of their career, whether that’s a support staff job or a staff writing job, getting their material in front of producers, meeting with agents and managers, and/or expanding their network.

Here are this year’s mentors:

  • Molly Arkin, Creative Executive, Okay Goodnight

  • Mitchell Bendersky, Manager & Owner, Expectation Management

  • Rika Dharmesh Bhakta, Manager, TV & Film Development, More Better Productions

  • Mahak Jiwani, Head of Development-Scripted, Jigsaw Productions

  • Laura Johnson, Director of Development, Doozer Productions

  • Logan Kovarick, Director of Development, Good Karma Productions

  • Katie Laner, Literary Agent, CAA

  • Shruti Marathe, Director of Development, Unicorn Island

  • Ashley Mathew, Independent Producer and Consultant (Graphic India)

  • Olivia Taylor-Butler, Creative Associate, Disney Branded Television

  • Lyra Tan, Agent, Gersh

  • Kevin Ramlal, Writer

“Growing the Pitch Competition & Mentorship Program has become a huge focus for me in my role at ATX TV,” Emily Gipson, co-founder and co-president, ATX TV Festival, said in a statement. “Finding these incredible, talented writers and diving into the development process with them is as fulfilling for me as we hope it is for our wonderful participants. Discovery, mentorship, and career-building have always been core priorities of ATX TV, and we’re incredibly excited to announce the expansion of our Mentorship Program this year as we welcome our new class of finalists. Let the pitching begin!”

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In addition to the year-long mentorship, the program also includes monthly virtual roundtables with showrunners, executives, and managers. A grand prize winner will receive a script read and general meeting with at least three ATX TV Pitch Judges or ATX TV Panelists for feedback, pitch mentorship with a showrunner or executive, and three general pitch meetings.

One runner-up will receive two general meetings with ATX TV Pitch Judges or ATX TV Panelists for feedback.

“Our goal is to guide each finalist and mentee into the next phase of their career as television writers and help them build genuine and meaningful relationships in the industry,” said Rika Dharmesh Bhakta, Manager of Film & TV Development, More Better Productions, who facilitates the program with Gipson.

Additionally, ATX TV Festival is partnering with the University of Texas’ student-run broadcasting station, Texas Student Television, on their pilot incubator program. ATX TV will provide mentorship for those participants, and there will be a screening for all five original pilots created in the incubator program during this year’s festival.

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