Introducing the 2025 October Writers
We are delighted to introduce the writers and projects selected for our 2025 October Colony:
Nik Dodani ~ Alex Heller ~ Alex Murawski ~ Julie Sharbutt
NIK DODANI is an actor, writer, and filmmaker best known for playing Zahid on Netflix's Atypical. His work spans television, film, and stage, with roles in Murphy Brown, Twisters, Escape Room, Waitress on Broadway, and several animated series. He most recently starred opposite Lisa Kudrow and Brian Cox in the HBO Max comedy The Parenting.
As a writer, Nik got his start in stand-up comedy, making his late-night debut on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He went on to create content for organizations including MoveOn.org and NowThis, and later developed scripted comedy series for both Netflix and Disney.
Behind the camera, he wrote and directed a short film adaptation of the award-winning novel Blue Boy, now in active development as a feature, and directed Houston Rising, a documentary short produced for Amazon. On stage, he co-produced the Tony Award–winning Life of Pi on Broadway and its North American tour.
Through his production company, Cosmic Pomegranate, Nik is developing new work across television, film, theater, and digital content. He is also the co-founder of The Salon, a nonprofit supporting South Asian artists and executives in film and television.
BLUE BOY: A mischievous 12-year-old convinces himself he's the reincarnation of the Hindu god Krishna. Turns out he's just gay. Based on the novel by Rakesh Satyal.
ALEX HELLER is a writer/director from the south side of Chicago. Her debut feature film "The Year Between," an autobiographical comedy about bipolar disorder (starring J. Smith-Cameron and Steve Buscemi) has received praise from The New York Times, Variety, Roger Ebert, and NPR. It premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival and was acquired by Peacock. Her recent short film Debaters (starring J. Smith-Cameron and Kenneth Lonergan) premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Alex graduated from Northwestern University in 2015, and now works between LA, Chicago, and Oslo, Norway.
DEBATERS: A high school coach and his stunted adult daughter bond over leading an elite debate team to victory.
ALEX MURAWSKI is a screenwriter and director inspired by the hidden wounds of being human. His short films KISS, ARI and SNOW have screened at nearly 100 film festivals, including at TIFF and Berlinale and have 7 million views online. He is mentored by Academy Award nominee Bruce Beresford. His script WALKING IN IOWA has garnered numerous accolades including a PAGE Award, Nicholl semifinalist, inclusion in the inaugural Black List Projects Lab and winner of the Tony Cox Screenplay Award.
WALKING IN IOWA: After her son accidentally drowns, a reclusive woman rebuilds her life in Montana where she falls in love with a kind widower, but her newfound happiness is threatened by a secret relationship from her past.
JULIE SHARBUTT is a writer, director and actor from New York, now based in LA but still stubbornly carless. Using pop highbrow horror and comedy, she tells character-driven women-centered stories that reflect contemporary issues. Her upcoming work includes her horror comedy feature GHOSTIES, a 2021 Nantucket Film Festival Tony Cox Screenplay Competition Finalist now in development with Forced Perspective and Great Coward, and her ensemble comedy feature about the kindness of theater people, EXCELLENT FANCY. Her award winning horror short films SCAM (Omeleto) and 3 DAYS (Alter), screened at festivals across the world and are now streaming. Julie also co-wrote the short films BOTTLECAP and CUPIDS, which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival and was nominated for a 2022 NAACP Image Award. Her debut auteur comedy feature film MOVED (The Orchard) is available online. Other screenplays and pilots have placed and won screenplay competitions and festivals across the country. Julie is a Warner Bros Discovery OneFifty New Storytellers alumni, where she developed her feature comedy screenplay COOL NEW TOWN as an episodic series. Prior to directing, Julie was a TV, film and theater actor and comedy writer in New York. She performed improv at UCB and The PIT, and her work can be seen in The New Yorker and McSweeneys. MFA in Acting from NYU, BA from Vanderbilt University. She is a member of Film Fatales, Women in Film, Alliance of Women Directors, and The Creative Coalition, a current mentor in Vanderbilt’s Vandy In Hollywood summer program, and a longtime West Coast Board Member of NYU’s Grad Acting Alumni Association. She loves live music, hiking, volunteering, ghost stories and taking pictures of animals on her phone.
WOO GIRLS: Someone in Nashville is killing Woo Girls, and Haley, a jaded local songwriter, must protect her brother's fiancee and her friends when they come to town for a bachelorette party.
We’re looking forward to a productive and fun month with these four talented artists!