Semifinalist, 2026/2027 Top Tier Competition
BIO
R.B. Ripley is a produced, award-winning, LGBTQ+ screenwriter. After surviving a spectacular, death-defying three-story fall, the passion for his first career as a classical musician and conductor did not. Now he's known for taut, devourable stories about uncomfortable truths, underdogs and families told with grit, empathy and humor. When not writing or developing, he loves traveling to the sand and the snow, baking, volunteering for animal rescue organizations, and cheering on the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team (proof he's an optimist!). A proud Yinzer, he earned an MFA from Carnegie Mellon's School of Drama. Ripley currently calls Los Angeles home with his incomparable husband and their two rescued pooches.