When Tricia Horvath’s short film premieres at the prestigious Austin Film Festival this fall, it won’t just mark her directorial debut: it will also shine a light on the growing strength of the University of Georgia’s MFA programs in Screenwriting and Film.

Four UGA-connected films are screening at Austin this year, including Stripper Moms, created by Horvath, a recent graduate of the Low-Residency MFA in Screenwriting, with cinematographer Elias (Eli) Saliba, a 2022 graduate of UGA’s MFA in Film, and produced by Taylor Potter (MFA Screenwriting 2023). For a relatively new set of programs, having multiple alumni in such a reputable festival is a marked achievement.

“When you’re looking at this program as being only 10 years old,” Horvath said, “I feel like it’s pretty remarkable that it’s standing strong and holding its own against others that are considered the top-tier MFAs for screenwriting.”

Rediscovering Writing

Horvath came to screenwriting in a roundabout way. “I started as a script supervisor, and then with COVID and other things happening, I ended up going back to school and rediscovering my love of writing and creating stories,” she said. “That’s how I ended up in the MFA program and writing the feature (version of) Stripper Moms.”

The concept grew from her own experience. “It really was born from my own experiences as a stay-at-home mom and insecurities of not having a college degree for over 20 years and not really having a whole lot of job experience,” she said. “I created the feature script from all of that, to be something fun.”

When her mentor in the Low-Residency MFA program, filmmaker Tamlin Hall, encouraged her to create a short proof-of-concept version for a pitch content in Austin, things took off quickly. “Somehow I won the whole damn thing,” Horvath said. “We came back, and within a week, Taylor’s (Potter) like, let’s go, let’s set a date, let’s do it, let’s get the script done. Our goal was to enter it into this year’s Austin Film Festival and hopefully premiere. We’re really proud of ourselves for reaching that goal.” In the end, they filmed the entire 15-minute short in just under two days.

“If I didn’t know I did it, I would literally think that would never happen,” she added.

A Low-Residency Model for Working Creatives

For Horvath, the Low-Residency MFA made an advanced degree possible. “When I was getting my bachelor’s, one of my professors said, have you considered an MFA?” she recalled. “I said, no, I’m way too old to move somewhere and live away at college. She said, check out UGA, they have this new MFA in screenwriting program. The fact that I could go for one week twice a year, no matter where we live, was very appealing. The price of it was also very appealing.”

Between residencies, she met regularly with her mentor and peers on Zoom. “Each mentor is different in how they do it, but Tamlin would do Zoom check-ins every two to three weeks,” she said. “Sometimes we’d share pages ahead of time and talk about it, other times it would become a therapy session about the struggles we were going through to get things written. The mentors are always available. They give you the tools to find the answer because they’ve all been there.”

Because although the focus of the program is screenwriting, the mentors also dedicate time to turning these works of written creativity into visual reality. “Nate‘s (Kohn) really good about bringing in all different types of people as guest speakers during our week. He’ll bring in people who are screenwriters in some capacity, whether it’s film or TV, but then he also brings in people who produce—both smaller projects and bigger ones.”

And the guests are there for more than just lectures. “The other great thing with the one-week residency is that everyone Nate brings in to guest speak, they’re also there for the whole week,” she said. “You hang out at the hotel bar or at lunch, and you’re literally having these organic, normal conversations—not fangirling conversations—but normal conversations about what your biggest struggle was. All of those things were really helpful to have in the back of my mind during pre-production.”

Hands-On Learning in the Film MFA

While Horvath developed her story through the screenwriting program, her collaboration with Saliba brought it to life. Saliba, now a production coordinator for UGA’s MFA Film program, studied in the in-person Athens-based track, which trains filmmakers to write, shoot, and edit across multiple disciplines.

“The UGA MFA, it’s small, and it’s still starting out,” Saliba said. “A lot of film schools really want you to specialize in one specific thing, but here at UGA, they want you to learn a little bit of everything—writing, directing, producing, cinematography, editing. If you know somebody else’s job, that makes your job easier, and it helps you understand what they’re doing and how important it is to the production.”

“UGA is still growing,” he said, “but there’s a lot of different aspects of production that you might not learn at other film schools. Also, the hands-on experience—where you’re making at least one or two films every year, if not every semester—is really how you learn the most.”

A Bulldog Collaboration

The production was a full-circle UGA project. Assistant Director Audra Davison, Grip PA Caroline Bonds and several other crew members were MFA Screenwriting alumni. “Two other friends from the program—Lisa (McLeod) and Maritsa (Flaherty)—did craft services and script supervising,” Horvath said.

Saliba added, “Our second assistant camera, Xavier, graduated a year or two after me from the same MFA program. We also had crew from Georgia Film Academy, which works pretty closely with UGA. I met them through projects during my time in the program, and by the time they came to Stripper Moms, they had a good bit of experience and knew what they were doing.”

The short filmed across two locations—Marietta and Athens—in two days, with community support at every step. “When we were looking for a location, Eli went in person in Athens,” Horvath said. “He made contact two weeks before they said yes, and I got them to sign the paperwork two days before I flew in.”

She even managed to license an ACDC song for the film. “That was a huge hurdle,” she said, one hurdle among the many challenges inherent in independent film production. “But every single time, (they were) overcome—by having faith that if I kept talking about it and being proud of what I was doing, other people would join in. And they did. People said yes.”

Looking Ahead

Stripper Moms will screen twice during the Austin Film Festival before heading to the Rome International Film Festival for its Georgia premiere. “I really am looking forward to applying to the Athens Film Festival for 2026,” Horvath added. “Hopefully we’ll get accepted and be able to share this film that that community supported, and bring it to Athens.”

Her advice for aspiring writers and filmmakers looking at UGA programs is simple. “Do it. Apply,” she said. “Say yes until you don’t have time to say yes to everything anymore. That’s the only way to keep growing, to keep exploring, to find the next thing. You never know where that opportunity or connection will take you.”

Saliba echoed the sentiment. “Ninety-nine percent of the film industry is about who you know,” he said. “I think I can say almost 100 percent of every job I’ve gotten has been connected to UGA through my time in the program somehow. Filmmaking’s tough, and just having a tight-knit group of people who are there to support you is really beneficial to your growth.”

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Stripper Moms

Cast and Crew

Writer/Director: Tricia Horvath (UGA, MFA Screenwriting 2024)

Producer: Taylor Potter (UGA, BA + MFA Screenwriting 2023)

Director of Photography: Elias “Eli” Saliba (UGA, MFA Filmmaking 2022)

Assistant Director: Audra Davison (UGA, MFA Screenwriting 2024)

Script Supervisor: Maritsa Flaherty (UGA, MFA Screenwriting 2025)

Grip PA: Caroline Bonds (UGA, MFA Screenwriting 2024)

Craft Service/Catering: Lisa McLeod (UGA, BA + MFA Screenwriting 2025)

2nd Assistant Camera: Xavi Brown (UGA, MFA Filmmaking)

Additional crew include Alexandria Barnett (Choreography), Kai Morgan (1st AC), Quinn McKinley (Sound Recordist), Jordan Holifield (Gaffer), Ava Bonds (Props/Costumer), Shayla Tilford (Key Hair & Makeup), Nia Jackson (Music Supervisor), and Jules Zucker (Music Consultant).

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Festival Screenings

Austin Film Festival

Short Program 10: HaHa Funny

• Saturday, October 25 – 2:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.

• Tuesday, October 28 – 8:15 p.m. to 10:15 p.m.

Both screenings at Galaxy Theater 5 in Austin, Texas.

Rome International Film Festival

Flippin’ Daysius Short Program

• Saturday, November 8 – 4:45 p.m. at Screen 417 on Broad Street, Rome, Georgia.