Prefocus 2026 launches an annual partnership between the Department of Cinematic Arts and the Refocus Film Festival, building anticipation for the festival through a week of events that unite scholarship, storytelling, and public engagement.
Visiting Speakers
With support from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences through the Industry Professionals in the Arts and Humanities award and event cosponsorships with the Department of American Studies, the Iowa Playwrights Workshop, the Iowa Writers' Workshop, the Nonfiction Writing Program, and the Office of Writing and Communication, we are excited to bring to campus two industry professionals ahead of the Refocus Film Festival.
Franklin Leonard
Franklin Leonard is the founder and CEO of the Black List, the discovery infrastructure that connects great storytelling with the people who can bring it to audiences. The Black List began in 2005 as an annual survey of Hollywood's most-liked unproduced screenplays. Scripts identified through the survey have become more than 500 feature films that have earned over $30 billion in worldwide box office and 284 Academy Award nominations with 60 wins. In 2012, Leonard expanded the Black List into a platform that has since hosted more than 180,000 screenplays, pilots, plays, and manuscripts, and introduced writers from more than 100 countries to the studios, producers, and publishers who buy their work. The company now operates across film, television, theater, and publishing, and partners with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on the Nicholl Fellowships. Leonard is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, serves on the boards of several leading arts organizations, and before founding the Black List, worked at Mirage Enterprises and Appian Way, where he created the first annual Black List. He is a graduate of Harvard University.
Ben Percy
Ben Percy's new audio series—Exoplanet, a seven-episode sci-fi thriller executive-produced by Andy Weir—will release on Audible on November 5th and stars Anthony Mackie, John Leguizamo, and Oscar- and Tony-award winner Ariana DeBose. He currently writes The Punisher, Deadpool, and Midnight Fantastic Four for Marvel Comics and is known for his celebrated runs on Wolverine, X-Force, Ghost Rider, Green Arrow, and Teen Titans. He is the author of seven novels, three story collections, and a book of essays—Thrill Me—that is widely taught in creative writing classrooms. He has been a member of the WGA screenwriters guild since 2014 and has sold film and TV projects to Fox, Paramount, Starz, NBC, and Sony. His honors include an NEA Fellowship, a Whiting Award, a McKnight Fellowship, two Pushcart Prizes, the Plimpton Prize, the iHeartRadio Award for Best Scripted podcast, and inclusion in Best American Short Stories and Best Horror of the Year.
Bijou Film Board Screening
October 14, 2026We're All Going to the World's Fair
4:00-6:00 p.m. | 348 Iowa Memorial Union (Big Ten Theater)Bijou Film Screening
October 15, 2026I Saw The TV Glow
7:00-9:00 p.m. | 166 Iowa Memorial Union (Iowa Theater)Craft Talk with Ben Percy
October 20, 2026Super-powered Storytelling: On Writing Comics
3:30 p.m. | E105 Adler Journalism BuildingCoffee Talk with Franklin Leonard
October 21, 20269:30 a.m. | Fix! Coffee (404 East College Street)
Cosponsored with the Department of American Studies.The Black List Luncheon
October 20, 202611:30 a.m. | Shambaugh House | RSVP: Black List Luncheon
Cosponsored with the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Nonfiction Writing Program, Iowa Playwrights Workshop, and Office of Writing and Communication.What Makes a Great Story?
October 21, 2026Panel Discussion with Franklin Leonard and Ben Percy
7:30 p.m. | 2301 Voxman Music Building (Recital Hall)Drawing on experience across novels, comics, film, television, podcasts, and publishing, Percy and Leonard will explore what makes stories resonate with audiences, how compelling narratives are discovered and championed, and why great storytelling continues to shape the way we understand the world. Together, they will offer insights into creative process, character, voice, genre, adaptation, and the ever-evolving pathways that connect writers with readers and viewers.
Moderated by Rachel Yoder and Dean Bakopoulos, this panel will bring together perspectives from both the creation and discovery sides of storytelling, offering valuable insights for writers, filmmakers, artists, and anyone interested in the power of a great story.
Refocus Film Festival
October 22-25, 2026
