The Summer Pitch-lympics

Jon, a Mexican-American from Chicago, IL, was raised by a single immigrant mother. He served as Military Police in the U.S. Army, deploying to Guantanamo Bay before earning a BA in Creative Writing from Illinois State University, where he was mentored by the late Kass Fleisher. Jon gained experience at the boutique talent agency Park Artists Group, lit management/production company Aperture Entertainment, and Lionsgate. Currently, he is the Literary & Development Coordinator at Sheree Guitar Entertainment and a graduate of the WGF Veterans Writing Project. There, he developed a one-hour drama/horror pilot script and pitch under the guidance of Craig Sweeny, Christina Walker, and Eli Edelson. In 2023, he was admitted into the Writers Guild Foundation's 2023 Writers’ Access Support Staff Training Program. Jon also occasionally publishes in the short fiction and poetry space.

Alison Dumbell is a junior manager and development associate for Marilyn Atlas Management and is busy earning a credit alongside Marilyn and her team developing a YA book as a TV project. Script analysis is a big part of her work as well as modifying loglines, giving feedback to writer clients and attending writing and acting events around LA.

Before taking on this role, Alison was living in India for 9 years where she worked as a wine writer and consultant while also writing a multicultural Women's Fiction novel. She had the unique opportunity of appearing as an extra in Bollywood movies and shadowing a wide range of entertainment industry leaders. 

Alison is a dual British and American citizen, a graduate of Cornell University and more recently studied screenwriting with the London Film School, moving to Los Angeles in August 2022.

In her free time, Alison has a podcast where she talks about all things Hallyu / Korean Wave and writes a blog about the culture shock of moving back to the US after 25 years living abroad.

With nearly two decades of experience in entertainment, Sam Schifrien can trace her fascination for the magic of film & TV back to a moment in her Northern New Jersey kindergarten, when she learned to tie her shoes for a sketch on the MTV show The State. In the three decades since that moment, Sam has gone on to work for multiple representation companies in several capacities, networks & studios in international development and media relations, in a writers’ room and on sets (where her responsibilities grew beyond tying shoes).

Most recently before starting her own company, 93 Cedar, Sam developed a slate for Untitled Entertainment that included projects (mainly television) with Christina Ricci, Reggie Hudlin, Chris Diamantopoulos, Annie Chang, The Crown Princess of Greece, Vanessa Hudgens, Melanie Griffith, and Jack & Danny Huston. Before Untitled, Sam worked with producer Michael Rosenberg (Hung, The Riches) at roseyTV, originally under a deal with eOne. Most notably, roseyTV produced PopTV’s Let Get Physical from Workaholics’ Connor Pritchard and starring Matt Jones & Jane Seymour, for which Sam received a Development Associate credit. Prior to that, Sam worked with JoAnn Alfano, first on ABC’s Resurrection starring Omar Epps & Frances Fisher, with a writing staff that included Tara Butters & Michele Fazekas, Aaron Zelman, Tom Schnauz, and the late, great Nathan Louis Jackson, as well as producing-directors Dan Attias & Chris Misiano. Sam followed JoAnn to NBCUniversal International where the slate of projects originated from companies within the UK, Australia and Canada, and included Carnival’s Downton Abbey, Australia’s Glitch which streamed on Netflix, & You, Me, and the Apocalypse which aired in the US on NBC.

Sam started her career (really at ABC Media Relations in NYC in high school, but in Los Angeles) at Brillstein Entertainment Partners, captaining their flag football team and working for literary manager Margaret Riley, whose rosters includes Charles Randolph (The Big Short), Susanna Fogel (A Small Light), Alex Tse (Wu-Tang Saga), Mark Ruffalo (Sympathy for Delicious), Margaret Nagle (Warm Springs), Ann Cherkis (Better Call Saul) and Anthony Zuiker (CSI). Sam proudly graduated from the USC Business-Cinematic Arts Joint Degree Program started by industry legend and former WMA agent Larry Auerbach, with Order of Troy Honors for service.

In addition to working to build 93 Cedar, recently Sam has worked in story analysis and IP evaluation for companies with major studio deals, and judged screenplay competitions for various festivals, institutions and organizations. Currently, she is looking for like-minded partners and is building a slate that includes female-created genre, comedy with a purpose/has a personal connection to the creator & builds up opposed to tearing down, and any non-fiction or docu-series projects which could be partnered with advocacy groups.

Cristina Benavente is an independent film and television producer. As a bilingual Mexican-American, she began her career working at multi-platform, Lemon Studios, and Barden Schnee Casting. She has a knack for sourcing IP and engineering opportunities for original content. Past titles include: BAD SISTERS, 13 REASONS WHY, GOOD GIRLS REVOLT, PITCH PERFECT, and CLEMENCY.