Although Charlottesville is known for hosting the Virginia Film Festival, the film scene at the University is remarkably small. Until recently, there were only two film production-focused student organizations on Grounds — the Filmmakers Society and the Virginia Student Film Festival. And while these organizations have been able to offer students practical experience in film production and presentation, there were aspects of filmmaking behind the camera that had yet to be explored.
ENTER: Rachel Conniff, founding president of the Screenwriting Club and third-year College student.
Officially declared as a Contracted Independent Organization in the spring of 2025, the Screenwriting Club is the newest addition to the film scene at the University. Every semester, students take turns writing parts of a film script, which is then workshopped until the script is finished. Fourteen active members are split into two groups, placing around seven members at each of their two weekly meetings to mimic real writers-rooms found in the film industry.
Conniff said that her inspiration for the club stemmed from a desire for screenwriting experience. Conniff enrolled in a screenwriting class in fall 2024, and following the conclusion of the class, she hoped to continue her screenwriting journey. However, there were no opportunities for further practice outside of the class.
“After I took the screenwriting class, I was kind of like, ‘Where do I go from here?’ and couldn’t really find anywhere, because there’s no Screenwriting II or anything like that,” Conniff said.
So, she decided to create the Screenwriting Club, modeled after the table-reads she had done in her class. Conniff enlisted two friends, third-year College student Hannah Frakes and second-year Commerce student Katie Korb, to serve as vice president and treasurer, respectively.
“I felt just having a collaborative environment, even if it was outside of class, would really help people workshop their writing and get better at something they’re passionate about,” Conniff said.
Initially, Conniff said that she had planned for students to write one episode of a television pilot every semester, as she felt it was less intimidating to new writers than creating an entire film. However, as the writing process began, Conniff and club members found that they were open to writing everything from short films to full-length features, as it was more about the story they were telling than the format they were telling it in. The Screenwriting Club also writes in many different genres, including coming-of-age, drama and comedy, with their scripts featuring a wide range of protagonists both similar to and different from the college-aged writers creating them.
The club welcomes writers of all skill levels, as it connects novice writers with more experienced students who can help them improve. Frakes said the club’s inclusive atmosphere makes it a great starting point for beginner filmmakers to gain exposure.
“We have a lot of people who have never written before, like myself,” Frakes said. “It’s a really good environment for people to just dip their feet into the world of screenwriting.”
Club members second-year College student Anika Kashyap and third-year College student Julia Shuttleworth both had varying levels of writing experience before joining. While Shuttleworth had spent years writing play scripts, Kashyap specialized in acting. They said that the Screenwriting Club gave them an outlet to explore a new medium and brought them into a collaborative space which has helped them improve their craft.
“There’s so much to be learned from the way that other people think,” Kashyap said. “I found that just being surrounded by so many talented writers … there’s something specific you get from working with every person, and I think that’s been a really invaluable experience, doing art as a collaborative activity.”
The environment of the Screenwriting Club is designed to facilitate this collaboration, as consistent table-reads throughout the writing process encourage every student to contribute ideas and interact with the material. Members say this open dialogue allows them to enter a kind of “flow state,” which Frakes describes as her favorite part of the club.
“There have been certain meetings where we’re just bouncing off each other, and it’s going so quick, and we’re just throwing ideas out and laughing,” Frakes said. “It's just the most fun experience.”
This communal atmosphere does not end with their weekly meetings. The Screenwriting Club hosts a variety of other social events, such as organized trips to the movie theater and their recently-introduced guest speaker talks — the latest of which featured career screenwriter Alec Sokolow. Having written on hit films like “Toy Story,” Sokolow was able to offer students advice on various elements of screenwriting and filmmaking.
“He gave a lot of good advice, just on the practicality of screenwriting as a career, and getting started in your scripts and what to do once you’ve actually written them, which I think is something that you can’t really teach in a course,” Frakes said. “It’s something someone would have to tell you about their own personal experience.”
With an established rhythm of weekly meetings and the ability to host events like guest speakers, the Screenwriting Club has comfortably achieved its initial goal of being both a creative and social space for those interested in screenwriting. Members are able to enjoy an artistic community that welcomes a variety of different perspectives, while gaining practical screenwriting experience that can be translated to a real writing career, should they choose to pursue it.
FADE OUT: The Filmmakers Society, Virginia Student Film Festival and now the Screenwriting Club at the center of the University’s filmmaking scene.
Students interested in joining the Screenwriting Club can sign up for the GroupMe linked in their Instagram bio @screenwritingclubatuva.
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