Round Table: Screenwriting: Aaron Karo, Aaron B. Koontz, and Cheryl Eagan-Donovan

Event ID: PP1149571

Mon, Mar 16, 2026 | 7:30 PM - 8:30 PM

Venue: Representative (Omni Downtown)

View on Official SXSW

Summary

An extension of our popular Mentor Sessions, our Round Table Sessions not only allow attendees to learn from the industry experts that sit at each of the three tables in this session but they also allow attendees to learn from the questions and experiences of their peers as well. This Round Table Session will bring together industry experts and SXSW attendees for an enlightening discussion on Screenwriting.

Contributors

Raw Event JSON

Large nested arrays are compacted for page readability. Full payload remains in dataset files.

Open JSON payload
{
  "id": "PP1149571",
  "track": "Film & TV",
  "focus_area": null,
  "category": "Round Table",
  "event_id": "PP1149571",
  "event_type": "panel",
  "format": "Round Table",
  "genre": null,
  "subgenre": null,
  "name": "Round Table: Screenwriting: Aaron Karo, Aaron B. Koontz, and Cheryl Eagan-Donovan",
  "presented_by": null,
  "publish_at": "2026-01-20T17:36:00.000-06:00",
  "reservable": true,
  "reservable_id": "PP1149571",
  "reserved": false,
  "date": "2026-03-16",
  "end_time": "2026-03-16T15:30:00.000-05:00",
  "start_time": "2026-03-16T14:30:00.000-05:00",
  "message": null,
  "image": null,
  "credentials": [
    {
      "name": "Platinum Badge",
      "type": "platinum"
    },
    {
      "name": "Film & TV Badge",
      "type": "filmtv"
    }
  ],
  "contributors": [
    {
      "id": 24921,
      "company": "Controversy Films",
      "credential_types": [
        "filmtv"
      ],
      "entity_id": 2022545,
      "name": "Cheryl Eagan-Donovan",
      "speaker_types": [
        "Speaker"
      ],
      "title": "Writer/Director/Producer",
      "image": {
        "alt_text": "Cheryl Eagan-Donovan",
        "credit": null,
        "url": "https://images.sxsw.com/oLGFLBo0LtghQMaCXMGB13Y7FxM=/97x154:1038x1095/600x600/images.sxsw.com/48/0e0b07b4-9e11-4f04-b282-116ede90bc66/pcid-726523"
      },
      "speaker_type": "Speaker",
      "details": "Cheryl Eagan-Donovan MFA is an award-winning writer, director, and producer whose documentary Nothing Is Truer than Truth premiered on Hulu in 2019, is available on Amazon Prime in North America, and aired on SkyArts TV in the U.K. and in New Zealand under the title Shakespeare: The Man Behind the Name. Her debut documentary All Kindsa Girls screened at festivals and art house theaters in London, Toronto and throughout the U.S.\r\r \r\rShe has teaches screenwriting at Lesley University and serves as a manuscript consultant for screenwriters and producers. She has been a judge for several screenwriting contests and fellowships. She has published articles about Shakespeare, screenwriting, and film, and has appeared on NPR and several podcasts. She is writing a book for screenwriters, Shakespeare Auteur: Creating Authentic Characters for the Screen, and is currently in production for her next film project, All the World’s a Stage: Shakespeare and the Invention of Modern Theater. ",
      "links": {},
      "type": "person"
    },
    {
      "id": 47018,
      "company": "Paper Street Pictures",
      "credential_types": [
        "filmtv"
      ],
      "entity_id": 2199052,
      "name": "Aaron B. Koontz",
      "speaker_types": [
        "Speaker"
      ],
      "title": "Showrunner & Producer",
      "image": {
        "alt_text": "Aaron B. Koontz",
        "credit": null,
        "url": "https://images.sxsw.com/p2PvfnhJJjyYVmENRsr-Y2aHcKA=/0x122:1541x1663/600x600/images.sxsw.com/48/621bac1a-3b8c-4da1-809f-35ce7aeaa501/pcid-1186093"
      },
      "speaker_type": "Speaker",
      "details": "Aaron B. Koontz is the Indie Spirit Award nominated CEO & Founder of the genre outlet Paper Street Pictures. With Paper Street, Aaron has produced over 20 feature films, including Lucky McKee's Stephen Lang lead OLD MAN, the SXSW and Fantasia Winning Sci-Fi thriller THE ARTIFICE GIRL, the witchy-weed horror TRIM SEASON as well as Chris Stuckmann’s SHELBY OAKS which he produced alongside Mike Flanagan and sold to NEON where it released worldwide in theaters. Outside of producing, Aaron is also an award-winning Writer and Director which began with CAMERA OBSCURA via NBC-Universal and includes the Horror-Western THE PALE DOOR as well as the SCARE PACKAGE franchise for Shudder. \n\nMost recently Aaron was the co-creator, showrunner and lead writer of the SYFY, USA and Peacock original series REVIVAL which he adapted from the best selling Image Comics. Aaron's unprecedented output has led to him being named one of the ten most influential horror filmmakers of 2023 by Horror News Network, Paper Street being named the Best Production House of 2022 by the Austin Chronicle and earlier in 2025 Aaron was honored by being inducted into Full Sail University's Hall of Fame.",
      "links": {},
      "type": "person"
    },
    {
      "id": 79241,
      "company": null,
      "credential_types": [
        "filmtv"
      ],
      "entity_id": 2240331,
      "name": "Aaron Karo",
      "speaker_types": [
        "Speaker"
      ],
      "title": "Screenwriter, Comedian, Author, Podcaster",
      "image": {
        "alt_text": "Aaron Karo",
        "credit": null,
        "url": "https://images.sxsw.com/NjhrVCTgmT5rPv5oIzrh5haDRh4=/202x87:727x612/600x600/images.sxsw.com/48/cafca6cc-f61a-466b-8165-fb7a1f22944b/pcid-1626565"
      },
      "speaker_type": "Speaker",
      "details": "Aaron Karo is a comedian, screenwriter, podcaster, and #1 New York Times bestselling author. His latest feature TICKLE ME ELMO was voted #8 on the 2024 Black List and is being developed by Misher Films with Brendan Fraser attached to star. He recently sold his sitcom script BLANKS to CBS, and the young adult series LEXAPROS AND CONS to Paramount/Awesomeness, based on his novel of the same name. Karo starred in the one-hour Comedy Central stand-up special AARON KARO: THE REST IS HISTORY and in 2024 headlined a sold out performance at the NETFLIX IS A JOKE comedy festival in Los Angeles. He is the author of seven books and the co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller THE HIDDEN POWER OF F*CKING UP. His latest book – an oral history of the movie ELF – will be published by HarperCollins on Christmas 2026. Karo also co-hosts MAN OF THE YEAR, a podcast dedicated to ending the epidemic of loneliness, which has been featured in The New York Times, on NPR, and the Today Show.",
      "links": {},
      "type": "person"
    }
  ],
  "venue": {
    "accessible": false,
    "age_policy": null,
    "floor": null,
    "id": "V2420",
    "indoor_outdoor": null,
    "mixhalo_url": null,
    "name": "Representative",
    "parent_id": "V0466",
    "parent_venue_name": "Omni Downtown",
    "venue_entry_info": null,
    "formats": null,
    "location": {
      "address": "700 San Jacinto Blvd.",
      "lat_lon": [
        30.2689471,
        -97.7403971
      ],
      "city": "Austin",
      "postal_code": "78701",
      "state": "TX",
      "name": "Omni Downtown"
    },
    "root": {
      "id": "V0466",
      "name": "Omni Downtown",
      "mixhalo_url": null
    },
    "events": "[omitted 5 venue events]"
  },
  "description": "An extension of our popular Mentor Sessions, our Round Table Sessions not only allow attendees to learn from the industry experts that sit at each of the three tables in this session but they also allow attendees to learn from the questions and experiences of their peers as well. This Round Table Session will bring together industry experts and SXSW attendees for an enlightening discussion on Screenwriting.",
  "experience_level": "Beginner",
  "audio_url": null,
  "accessibility": [],
  "accessible_venue": false,
  "add_bcl_url": false,
  "add_slido": false,
  "after_midnight": null,
  "age_policy": null,
  "american_sign_language": false,
  "apple_url": null,
  "audio_description": false,
  "caption_url": null,
  "captioned_qa": false,
  "closed_captioned": false,
  "cpe_credit": false,
  "event_status": "none",
  "has_subtitles": false,
  "hash_tags": [],
  "high_sensory_experience": false,
  "live": false,
  "long_description": "An extension of our popular Mentor Sessions, our Round Table Sessions not only allow attendees to learn from the industry experts that sit at each of the three tables in this session but they also allow attendees to learn from the questions and experiences of their peers as well. This Round Table Session will bring together industry experts and SXSW attendees for an enlightening discussion on Screenwriting.",
  "meeting_url": null,
  "meeting_url_live": false,
  "mentorly_url": null,
  "mobile_audio_url": null,
  "open_captioned": false,
  "playlist_tag": null,
  "rebroadcast": false,
  "recommended_ids": [],
  "search_conversions": null,
  "short_program": false,
  "slido_url": null,
  "sort": "ROUND TABLE: SCREENWRITING: AARON KARO, AARON B. KOONTZ, AND CHERYL EAGAN-DONOVAN",
  "source": "Official",
  "squad_up_url": null,
  "stream_embed": null,
  "stream_id": null,
  "stream_url": null,
  "strobe_warning": false,
  "subdiscipline": null,
  "summit": null,
  "summit_display_name": null,
  "tags": [],
  "talent_attending": null,
  "title_only": false,
  "track_display_name": "Film & TV track sponsored by Crunchyroll",
  "trailer_id": null,
  "trailer_url": null,
  "video_on_demand": null,
  "vimeo_id": null,
  "vod": false,
  "xr_project_type": null,
  "youtube_id": null,
  "related_events": [],
  "related_sales_client": null
}