Del Shores Foundation Writers Festival Comes to Town
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By Dakota Parks for Inweekly
One question raised at Stamped Film Festival was all it took to kickstart Pensacola filmmaker William Mettlach’s career. Now, a nationally traveling writers festival is coming to town, and it’s built to amplify stories like his.
This weekend, the Del Shores Foundation Writers Festival, presented by the Red Ribbon Charitable Foundation in partnership with Stamped Film Festival, will bring queer Southern storytelling and real-world career-building opportunities to Pensacola Little Theatre.
Currently in its fourth year, the festival is built around the Del Shores Foundation’s annual Writers Search and is designed to meet emerging LGBTQ+ writers where they are—geographically, professionally and creatively—while giving them tools to move their work from script to stage or screen.
“We move the festival to a new city every year to engage with a different arts and LGBTQ+ community,” said festival director Emerson Collins. “And Pensacola has been on the list since we met William Mettlach.”
During the 10th anniversary of Stamped Film Festival in 2022, Mettlach spoke up during a Q&A with Collins and Del Shores. Afterward, Collins encouraged him to submit to the Writers Search. He did just that and won Best Short in 2023. With the help of local production company Calliope Films, that script became “Smoke Breaks,” which premiered at Stamped and returns this year as part of the Writers Festival’s opening night.
“‘Smoke Breaks’ explores the idea of unconditional love in spite of unconventional circumstances,” Mettlach said. “I still remember being completely geeked out at meeting Del and Emerson. I looked up to them professionally, from Del’s work on ‘Queer As Folk’ and Emerson’s performance in ‘Southern Baptist Sissies.’ These people not only served as artistic inspirations but became my mentors, people who I could turn to throughout the process of filmmaking.”
That mentorship is central to the mission of the Del Shores Foundation, which aims to discover and elevate LGBTQ+ playwrights and screenwriters living in the South. Through its annual Writers Search, the organization awards Best Play, Best Screenplay and Best Short, offering grants to help bring those projects to life—including $10,000 production grants to support the winning play and screenplay and a $2,000 production grant to support the winning short film.
“I had a lot of people who mentored me,” Shores said. “And, honestly, they were all Southern. We just find each other. Now that I’m approaching the end of my career, I wanted to give back, and there’s already so much opportunity elsewhere. You know, we left the South, we fled. I got in my Mustang the night I graduated from Baylor University and didn’t look back. So, we wanted to focus on the people who stayed.”
The festival itself grew out of that same ethos. After attending hundreds of film festivals together, Shores and Collins saw an opportunity to create something tailored specifically to writers: equal parts workshop, celebration and creative incubator.
“We thought, what if we created something that’s halfway between a traditional writers conference and a film festival?” Collins said. “So, we take panels and workshops that give you information, and then instead of screenings, we do live readings of the winning scripts. For many of these writers, it’s the first time they’ve ever seen their work performed.”
Each year, the festival brings its winning and finalist writers together with industry experts in theatre, TV and film for a weekend centered around live stage readings of the three winning scripts. Travel, lodging and meals are fully covered, ensuring access for emerging Southern writers, while all events remain free and open to the public.
Opening night features a stage reading of the 2025 short film winner “Do You Take This…?” (which features a couple weighing the risks of attending a protest), followed by a screening of Mettlach’s “Smoke Breaks.” There will also be a keynote-style conversation with “Queer As Folk” star and “The Fosters” and “Good Trouble” co-creator, Peter Paige. All stage performances are done by local actors.
Additional readings include “Animals,” a dark, character-driven play exploring queer adolescence and trauma, and “The Invalid,” a multi-generational horror story following two elderly women and the nurse caretaker that lives with them.
But the festival is just as much about what happens offstage. Panels throughout the weekend cover topics like navigating a writers’ room, developing work for television and producing independent projects. Every panel has a focus on practical, actionable advice.
“We don’t do panels that are just theory,” Collins said. “Tell me what I can do tomorrow. Who can I email? What are the real steps you took to do the work?”
The festival is designed to build community, too. Writing can be an isolating process, especially for queer artists working in regions where support systems are limited or fragmented.
“To be a visibly queer person in the South is a brave act,” Collins said. “One of the ways we change hearts and minds is by telling our stories. Right now, when we don’t know what’s happening legally, where they’re fighting against trans people everywhere, it’s even more important to live our lives visibly and tell our stories. People relate to storytelling in a way that nothing else quite matches.”
This year’s festival will bring together 14 finalists and winners from across the South. The result is an immersive, communal experience where writers, actors and industry professionals share meals and celebrate each other’s work.
“It’s part educational, part celebration, part community,” Collins said. “We want people to leave not just inspired but connected.”
That spirit of connection extends to Pensacola itself, a city Collins says stood out for its collaborative arts ecosystem.
“It’s so impressive the way the Pensacola community shows up for each other,” he said. “Not just arts organizations, but LGBTQ+ groups and service nonprofits; there’s a real sense of support here.”
For Mettlach, that support helped turn an idea into a finished film, and now, into a full-circle moment.
“The making of ‘Smoke Breaks’ took a lot of work,” he said. “There were moments I wondered if I was in over my head, but I would 100% do it all over again.”
His journey is exactly what the Del Shores Foundation hopes to replicate: writers taking initiative, building networks and bringing stories to life on their own terms.
“We want people to see that example and think, ‘I can do that,’” Collins said. “Don’t wait for permission. Tell your story. If you are a writer, or if you have a story to tell, this festival is for you too. Come attend a workshop. Whether you identify as LGBTQ+ or a writer at all, everyone is welcome to come enjoy and support the arts.”
Del Shores Foundation Writers Festival
WHAT: A multi-day event centering LGBTQ+ Southern storytelling
WHEN: Friday, May 8-Sunday, May 10
WHERE: Pensacola Little Theatre, 400 S. Jefferson St.
COST: Free; registration for each reading and panel is required
