Dan Ochwat

Dan Ochwat is a graduate of Northwestern’s Writing for Screen + Stage MFA program, which focuses on writing for Film, TV and Theatre. He has optioned screenplays to Winghead Films and Gold Line Films in Los Angeles. His work has earned several semifinal and quarterfinal placements in the Nicholl Fellowship, PAGE Awards, Script Pipeline, Sundance Lab and others.

He's also earned a BA in journalism from Eastern Illinois University and works as a freelance writer and content writer. He appears monthly in Path to Purchase IQ, a print publication of the Path to Purchase Institute and EnsembleIQ, where he writes a column called P2P Toolkit about retail tech and tools for brands and retailers, and writes news and features. In addition, he writes and manages custom publishing pieces for the magazine and other agencies. Other publications he's written for include Hospitals & Health Networks Magazine and Retrofit, and he's written TV commercial treatments for agencies such as Big Block LA and Chelsea. Dan also proofreads and writes PR materials and blogs.

Dan wrote and directed a short film based on his feature screenplay FORKED, which screened at the Boston International Film Festival and Chicago's Incubator Film Festival. His short film LOVE VS. PORN (writer, co-director) played at the Chicago International REEL Film Festival and Incubator Fest. He taught "The Foundations of Screenwriting" at Northwestern as a graduate assistant.

Dan interned at International Creative Management, assisting the feature literary department. He also worked at MGM, assisting the creative development executives and writing coverage.

Dan lives in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Chicago.