“Default” Scribe Hannah Rae Dillon Signs With Manager Brooklyn Weaver of Energy Entertainment

On the heels of her script Default placing in the Top 25 of the 2017 Launch Pad Pilots Competition, screenwriter Hannah Rae Dillon has signed with manager Brooklyn Weaver of Energy Entertainment, the Tracking Board has learned.

Default is a sci-fi drama described as a cross between AMC’s Humans and A24’s Ex Machina. Set in the near future, the story follows an artificially intelligent robot who decides to propose to his human girlfriend. However, a series of events show him just how unequal he still is in society, and hint at a coming revolution amongst those like him.

While the market has been flooded with AI-themed projects lately, those who have read the script say it feels fresh, inventive, and totally original. Launch Pad judges praised Dillon for presenting a clear allegory for minority rights that never comes off heavy-handed, and is actually said to be topical on multiple levels.

The project boasts creative new ideas that should provoke discussion and inspire emotion in equal measure, as the judges said both the human and robot characters felt layered and sympathetic. The expansive world depicted in Default feels lived-in and three-dimensional right off the bat, with Dillon creating a new visual shorthand for artificial intelligence on screen while never losing sight of the protagonist’s humanity.

Dillon started writing screenplays while studying dramatic literature at NYU and interning for New York-based film production companies such as 4th Row Films and the Documentary Group. Her professional career began in 2010, when she penned a teen thriller feature for Hard Headed Media in New York. She subsequently moved to Los Angeles, where she has written features and pilots for smaller production companies including Wingspan Pictures (SuperMike), 13 Stories TV (Neighborhood Watch), Some Sirius Ship Productions (Black Wall Street), and Squishy Films (The Morticians).

Dillion is passionate about writing thrillers with a dark, comedic twist, as she has a background in improv and sketch writing from her time at the Upright Citizens Brigade in LA. Her script for the sci-fi/comedy short Modern Love has won several awards, and was selected to be performed at last year’s Comedy Film & TV Festival.

Weaver has experience in the sci-fi space, having served as the executive producer of the Halle Berry series Extant. He also represents Gary Graham, whose script A Garden at the End of the World was repurposed by Warner Bros. as a reboot of the Will Smith movie I Am Legend.

 Jeff Sneider | Editor in Chief