{Exclusive} Launch Pad Semi-Finalists Joel Dorland & Garrett Lander Sign With Benderspink!

 EXCLUSIVE
  〉Lander and Dorland made the 2015 Semi-Finals with their sci-fi pilot The Belt

Thanks to their compelling sci-fi script The Belt, Launch Pad semi-finalists Joel Dorland & Garrett Lander have been signed at Benderspink by managers Daniel Vang and Scott Stoops. Benderspink, who have been involved in everything from The Ring to We’re the Millers, have made a name for themselves as not only a formidable production company, but also by representing distinct voices of all kinds.

Dorland, a man of diverse talents, is a McGill graduate with a degree in History and English Literature, and even played water polo professionally for the Canadian national team. He has worked in sports handicapping for the past 6 years. His feature script Girl and Robot was a Launch Pad Honorable Mention in 2014, and he’s continuing the streak with his Top 25 Semi-Finalist script The Belt, co-written with Garrett Lander. Lander also has varied interests, as he is both a data scientist and a playwright based out of New York City. Following a BS from Columbia University and a MFA from NYU, Lander had his theater work performed off Broadway, even in Singapore. Lander met Dorland through a mutual friend who went to NYU Tisch Asia, wrote The Belt, and the rest, as they say, is history.

When a space colony finds possible evidence of an aggressive alien life-form, an assassin must keep a young girl with mysterious powers safe while the universe as they know it begins to change. The Belt is sci-fi at its finest, with an impressively well-built and unique world, and very distinctive characters. The action is compelling, the set pieces are awesome, and the hook begins a cool mystery that you want to see solved.

Benderspink has been closely involved with the Launch Pad competitions since day one, with managers Jake Wagner and Vang acting as judges, as well as partnering with us to offer a Guaranteed Signing option to contestants, wherein at least one writer will be hand-selected by Benderspink for representation.

Dorland and Lander mark the 73rd and 74th writers signed in just the first two years of the Launch Pad Competition!