Lucy Alibar

Lucy Alibar is an American screenwriter, playwright, and novelist recognized for her contributions to contemporary American storytelling. She is best known for co-writing the film "Beasts of the Southern Wild" with Benh Zeitlin. Alibar's writing career began early, winning a writing competition at age 14 run by Young Playwrights Inc. After graduating from New York University, she lived on New York's Lower East Side, working various jobs while writing plays.

Alibar wrote the play "Juicy and Delicious," inspired by her experiences with her father's declining health. The play centers on a young boy named Hushpuppy, reflecting her response to her father's illness. She collaborated with filmmaker Benh Zeitlin to adapt the play into the film "Beasts of the Southern Wild," with the character Hushpuppy reimagined as a girl. The screenplay was developed at the Sundance Institute's Screenwriting Lab and the film was selected for more than 20 film festivals, including Sundance, Berlin, Deauville, and Cannes.

"Beasts of the Southern Wild" was distributed by Fox Searchlight, won the Narrative Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, received the Humanitas Award, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Alibar also received the Woman of the Year award at New York University's Fusion Film Festival. The film's success marked her transition from stage to screenwriting, a craft she developed by studying films in detail.

Following "Beasts of the Southern Wild," Alibar wrote a film adaptation of "The Secret Garden" and adapted her play "Christmas and Jubilee Behold the Meteor Shower" into the screenplay for "Troop Zero," which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. She also wrote and produced "Troop Zero," starring Viola Davis, and adapted Delia Owens' novel "Where the Crawdads Sing" for Hello Sunshine. Alibar sold her novel "The Prophet of Grady County" to Scribner.

In addition to her film work, Alibar remains active in American theater. Her play "Throw Me on the Burnpile and Light Me Up" was performed at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles. She is a member of Court 13, EST/Youngblood, and José Rivera's Writing Group, and founded the New Georges Writer/Director Lab. Alibar is a Sundance Screenwriting Fellow and a two-time finalist for the Heideman Award at Actors Theatre of Louisville. She has taught at universities including New York University, University of the South, Pace University, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Alibar's work, rooted in the landscapes and folklore of the American South, explores themes of resilience, love, and the human experience through screenwriting, playwriting, and novel writing.