
Finalist, 2025/2026 Top Tier Competition
BIO
DAVID SCHROEDER is a husband, a father of three boys, a former lawyer, and a retired diplomat. Having lived and worked in Ukraine, Mexico, Albania, Taiwan, China, Panama, and the Marshall Islands, he draws inspiration from a wide palette of perspectives and experiences. Strange encounters with Kings, awkward meetings with Presidents, a tour of Chernobyl’s exclusion zone, and all manner of absurd situations fuel his imagination.
As an English literature major, a lawyer tasked with persuading judges on diverse and complex issues, and an award-winning diplomat charged with sensitive reporting and influencing national security policy, Dave’s attention to the craft of writing has never waned. He first tried his hand at screenwriting in 2021 and fell in love with the form. He has since written seven features, two TV pilots, two shorts, and a four-episode dramatic podcast series.