Seth Michael Donsky

Named to the International Screenwriters Association's

list of the 25 top screenwriters to watch in 2024

About

Seth Michael Donsky

Seth is a screenwriter who writes character-driven stories with emotional depth and humor. He was named to the International Screenwriters Association's (ISA) 2024 list of the top 25 screenwriters to watch,

He has two scripts in production with Oscar-winning producer Bruce Cohen: STARDUSK, about transgender Andy Warhol superstar CANDY DARLING, Bretten Hannam is directing, Mason Alexander Park is attached; and GUTS AND GLITTER, the story of Alan Carr producing "La Cage aux Folles," the Broadway musical about a gay couple that inspired the film "The Birdcage," for straight audiences during the AIDS crisis.

Seth's debut film TWISTED, Dickens' Oliver Twist set in New York's queer, underground subculture during the 1990s, which he wrote and directed, premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and was inducted into MoMA's permanent film collection. TWISTED featured the debut film performance of Tony, Grammy, Emmy-award winning Billy Porter and the penultimate screen performance of Oscar-nominee William Hickey. It earned acclaim from major media including The Los Angeles Times, Variety, The New York Press, and The Village Voice.

TWISTED screened in New York's Anthology Film Archives's 2024 Narrow Rooms series for queer films that have gained greater recognition and appreciation in retrospect than they received upon initial release.

Seth's films have screened at major festivals worldwide, including Berlin, London, Seattle, Cinequest, the Gay and Lesbian Film Festivals of New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Turin (Audience Award,) and Ottawa (Audience Award), and the short film festivals of Palm Springs and Clermont-Ferrand.

Seth was a recipient of the ISA's 2023 Diversity Initiative and was named to their distinguished development slate. He is a two-time national finalist of the Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmaker Contest and a two-time finalist of the Austin Film Festival Screenplay Contest.

Seth holds a BA in drama from UCI and an MFA in film from Columbia University where he was a two-time recipient of the Dean's Scholarship, the highest merit-based scholarship awarded at the time by Columbia University School of the Arts.

He lives in Los Angeles with his husband, acclaimed modern dancer and choreographer Patrick Corbin, a professor at the Glorya Kaufman School of Dance at USC, their son, three cats, and a French bulldog.

He is represented by Gersh and Heroes and Villains management.

Seth at IMDb

In Development/Production

STARDUSK

Amid the 1960s New York counterculture scene, transgender Candy Darling courageously battles societal prejudice and personal demons to pursue Hollywood stardom, paving the way for future generations of marginalized voices.

Status: In Development

Producer: Bruce Cohen (MILK, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, RUSTIN, THE GREAT LILLIAN HALL)

Producer: Gary Ventimiglia (CHOKE, THE PUNISHER, WARZONE)

Director: Bretten Hannam (WILDHOOD, NORTH MOUNTAIN)

Attached: Mason Alexander Park (THE SANDMAN, COWBOY BEEBOP, QUANTUM LEAP, CABARET West End Revival)

Stardusk at IMDb

Guts And Glitter

Facing hostile Hollywood and personal demons amidst the AIDS crisis, flamboyant, ostracized producer Allan Carr bets everything on bringing the gay musical La Cage aux Folles to Broadway's straight audiences, sparking a cultural revolution in queer representation.

Status: Packaging

Available

OCD, THE DUDE, AND ME

A reclusive high-school senior with OCD cautiously befriends an offbeat, closeted peer who models himself after The Dude from The Big Lebowski and whose friendship helps her confront her guilt over her childhood BFF’s shooting death and rejoin the world.

Adapted from the Capital Choice award-listed Penguin/Random House YA novel by Lauren Roedy Vaughn.

"...definitely one of those rare finds…A must-read." — Kirkus Reviews

OCD, THE DUDE, AND ME at Penguin/Random House

A QUEER AND PLEASANT DANGER

From Scientology’s grip to confronting personal demons, the true story of a resilient soul bravely transitioning and embracing their true identity as a trans woman.

Adapted from queer pioneer Kate Bornstein's Penguin/Random House memoir.

“A nervy, expansive memoir from a pioneering gender activist.”
—Kirkus Reviews

A Queer and Pleasant Danger at Penguin/Random House

Trailers/Screeners

TWISTED Trailer

A retelling of Charles Dickens' classic novel Oliver Twist set in a New York City 1990s underground populated by drag queens, drug abuse, and prostitution.

Featuring:

• Tony, Emmy, Grammy-winning Billy Porter's first professional film role

• Oscar nominee William Hickey's (PRIZZI'S HONOR) pen-ultimate film role

• Infamous composer Q Lazzarus's (SILENCE OF THE LAMBS' "Goodbye Horses") final film score

Critics said:

"Twisted is a film ahead of its time in many ways, and a reminder of the LGBTQ youth homeless crisis both then and now. Amazing how the bones of Dickens’ story still resonate almost 200 years on…especially when mixed with some gayness." - Queerty (2022 review)

"A great OLIVER TWIST update, genuinely daring and deeply felt... a social schematic in porno temptation" - The New York Press

"A stylized, operatic fable of innocence and corruption. Its world and Dickens' is one and the same." - The Los Angeles Times

"A must for the gay fest circuit." - Variety

"Donsky, whose background is in the theatre, gives the film a solid structure, reveals a stylist's eye, and draws lively performances from a uniformly colorful cast." - Film Journal International

"Hickey is wonderfully creepy and Billy Porter's in-your-face drag queen is a hoot." - Newsday

"Oscar Nominee William Hickey oozes deeply creepy Eurotrashiness in his pen ultimate role." - The Village Voice

Twsited on IMDb

LOOPY Trailer

When amateur actor Colin Highsmith finishes his role as the big, bad wolf in a local community theatre production of "Little Red Riding Hood" he puts the costume away for safe keeping. But the costume is not safe...and neither is Colin.

Adapted from a short story by Edgar-Award winning crime writer Ruth Rendell.

Featuring Tony-award winning Elizabeth Franz (off-Broadway's original Sister Mary Ignatious in Christopher Durang's SISTER MARY IGNATIOUS EXPLAINS IT ALL FOR YOU)

Loopy on IMDb

Spec Commercial Spot

This commercial spot was produced by Coca-Cola as a finalist entry in the Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmaker Contest.

Seth Michael Donsky

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About

Seth Michael Donsky

In Development/Production

STARDUSK

Guts And Glitter

Available

OCD, THE DUDE, AND ME

A QUEER AND PLEASANT DANGER

Trailers/Screeners

TWISTED Trailer

LOOPY Trailer

Spec Commercial Spot

Reviews

News

Inquire

The Gersh Agency

Heroes and Villains Entertainment Management

Heroes and Villains Entertainment Management

Heroes and Villains Entertainment Management

Heroes and Villains Entertainment Management

Heroes and Villains Entertainment Management

Contact Seth Directly

Seth Michael Donsky

JUMP TO

About

Seth Michael Donsky

In Development/Production

STARDUSK

Guts And Glitter

Available

OCD, THE DUDE, AND ME

A QUEER AND PLEASANT DANGER

Trailers/Screeners

TWISTED Trailer

LOOPY Trailer

Spec Commercial Spot

Reviews

News

Socials

Inquire

The Gersh Agency

Heroes and Villains Entertainment Management

Heroes and Villains Entertainment Management

Heroes and Villains Entertainment Management

Heroes and Villains Entertainment Management

Heroes and Villains Entertainment Management

Contact Seth Directly

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