Monika Skerbelis

Monika Skerbelis is in her eleventh year as the artistic & programming director for the Big Bear Lake International Film Festival and the programming director for the American Pavilion's Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at the Cannes Film Festival. She is a co-author of the book, “I Liked It, Didn’t Love It: Screenplay Development from the Inside Out.” Ms. Skerbelis is a former Vice President of Creative and Executive Story Editor for Universal Pictures story department where she spent ten years overseeing the story department and developing a number of screenplays including "Black Dog" starring Patrick Swayze. In addition to her duties at Universal, she scoured film festivals and screenwriting competitions in search of new filmmakers. Prior to Universal, she was Story Editor for 20th Century Fox. She began her career as an assistant in the Story Department for Paramount Pictures. She co-produced the feature-length mockumentary, "Quest for the Yeti," directed by Victoria Arch. Ms. Skerbelis directed the short film, "Reel Footage: The Secret Lives of Shoes" that screened at the 2008 Short Film Corner at the Cannes Film Festival. She was associate producer on two movies "Killer Hair" and "Hostile Makeover" based on the “Crimes of Fashion” novels by Ellen Byerrum for the Lifetime Movie Network that aired in June 2009. She is a member of the Producers Guild of America.

With Rona Edwards, she teaches, "Introduction to Feature Film Development," at UCLA Extension on the campus and online, and “Story Development Process in the Entertainment Industry” online for Riverside Community College. She also taught “Basic Screenwriting Fundamentals” on campus at Chapman University Dodge College of Film & Media Arts. She serves on the jury for numerous screenwriting competitions and has guest lectured at film schools, film commissions, film festivals and film organizations across the country. 

Edwards & Skerbelis formed Edwards Skerbelis Entertainment (ESE) and ESE Film Workshops Online an online Film School offering 4 to 6 week classes on "Creating a Production Company," "Maneuvering Film Festivals," "Finding & Developing New Ideas" and "Feature Film Development." ESE is also developing several projects for both feature and television. In addition, via consultations, ESE assists writers and filmmakers in developing their screenplays and pitches with development notes and general career advice. Their next book, “Maneuvering Film Festivals,” is due out next year from Michael Wiese Productions.