Launch Pad Alum and “SNL” Writer Kristen Bartlett Signs with UTA (EXCLUSIVE)

2016 Launch Pad alum Kristen Bartlett has recently signed with Mackenzie Roussos, Jonathan Levy, and Gregory McKnight of UTA. Earlier this year, she became a finalist in this year’s Launch Pad Pilots Competition with her original comedy pilot GILFS. In mid-September, she signed with Brandon Stein of Brillstein Entertainment Partners and was hired as a writer on Saturday Night Live. She has tremendously and successfully continued the tradition of Launch Pad alums securing representation and furthering their careers.

The GILFs pilot, pitched as Broad City meets The Golden Girls, follows a grandmother who, after her husband’s death, escapes her retirement community and moves with her best friend to New York to experience the wild youth she missed out on during her 50-year marriage.

Our Launch Pad judges and readers loved the colorful and smart female characters as they lead the audience through this emotionally charged, but distinctly quirky comedy. Surrounding the two leads are a group of well-crafted supporting characters who enhance the fish-out-of-water tale and help us fall in love with the humor and the heart this show delivers for audiences of any age. There is something in the script for everyone, with the comedy landing perfectly.

Bartlett is a New York-based comedy writer and performer. Her writing has appeared on A Prairie Home Companion, MTV, Above Average, Splitsider, and Someecards. Her show The Dead Dads Club performed to sold out audiences at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre and at special engagements in Montreal and Los Angeles. The show was featured in Paste Magazine, The Village Voice, and on The Best Show with Tom Scharpling. Kristen writes and performs with house sketch teams at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre and with her own award-winning sketch team Bridge & Tunnel. On screen, Bartlett has been featured on Netflix Presents: The Characters and in the Hulu series Difficult People.

She joins several 2016 Launch Pad writers who have signed with agents and managers, including The Mother’s Laura Bensick (who also signed with UTA), Valedictorian writer Jimmy Mosqueda, and The Game writer Justin Jacobs.

Congratulations Kristen!

To see the complete list of finalists of our 2016 Launch Pad Pilot Competition click here. To learn more about the Launch Pad Competition click here.