09/24/2026
Join us for a screenwriting panel for indie filmmakers featuring industry screenwriters & filmmakers!
📅 Sept. 24 | 10–11 AM
📍 Ocotillo Room, El Paso Visitor Center
⭐️ Learn how to write production-ready stories for independent budgets
Free to attend!
🎥 MEET THE PANELISTS!
Christian Moldes
Puerto Rico-born, Cuban American screenwriter, director, producer, and editor raised in El Paso, Christian is a 2024 Sundance Screenwriters Lab Fellow whose work explores Latin American identity and characters navigating contradictory worlds. His projects have been developed with major production companies, and his latest film, *Soft Cargo*, was shot in El Paso and is currently touring film festivals.
Valeria Contreras
Award-winning West Texas filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer, Valeria develops independent films through Apis Mellifera Productions, with stories centered on community, identity, love, and home. She is a Producers Guild of America Create Fellow, Film Independent Producing Lab Fellow, and Assistant Professor of Practice at UTEP.
Francisco Castaneda
A Mexico City-born filmmaker and writer, Francisco has more than a decade of professional experience writing for film, advertising, and marketing. His directing and storytelling work draws from both U.S. and Mexican cinema, with a focus on intimate, character-driven stories grounded in honest emotion.
MODERATOR
April M. Sánchez
An El Paso-born screenwriter and educator, April’s work is inspired by borderland culture and her experiences growing up on the U.S./Mexico border. Her scripts have reached finalist rounds for the Sundance Screenwriters and Episodic Labs and the Universal Writers Lab, and she has participated in numerous screenwriting labs including NALIP, Athena, NHMC, and Stowe Story Labs.
