Team

Nicholas Weinstock is the founder and president of Invention Studios. He has developed and produced movies including Bridesmaids, Alex Strangelove, Plus One, Dinner in America, Queenpins and Thelma, as well as television series including Escape at Dannemora on Showtime (nominated for 12 Emmy Awards); the four-season hit series In the Dark on Netflix; the Apple TV+ series High Desert; and the Emmy Award-winning Apple TV+ series Severance, which he continues to Executive Produce.

Weinstock began his career as a book editor, journalist, and novelist in New York City. He is the author of the nonfiction book The Secret Love of Sons, the novels As Long as She Needs Me and The Golden Hour, and has written articles and essays for the New York Times Magazine, The Nation, National Public Radio, the Los Angeles Times, Variety, Vogue, and other national publications. Since moving to Los Angeles in 2004, Weinstock has run Apatow Productions with writer/director Judd Apatow; served as Senior Vice President of Chernin Entertainment; and headed Red Hour Films in partnership with actor/director Ben Stiller.

Weinstock launched Invention in 2021 with a diverse and expansive slate of projects in Hollywood and across the globe. He is also the founder of Craft Services: an online support network and project incubator currently serving more than 700 emerging movie and TV writers across the United States and in Canada, Mexico, Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, India, Malaysia, Africa and beyond.

Weinstock serves on the executive council of the Authors Guild, based in New York City; on the board of the Africa International Film Festival, which takes place yearly in Lagos, Nigeria; on the board of Pavillon Afriques, the Cannes Film Festival's platform devoted to pan-African cinema; and on the board of Get Lit, a nonprofit organization in Los Angeles devoted to helping under-resourced students and communities through the power of poetry and spoken word. In 2022 he was elected to the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences as a juror of the International Emmy Awards.

Any and all aspiring screenwriters who don't live in Los Angeles and are interested in joining the worldwide community of Craft Services can find more information and an application here: www.craftservicesnetwork.com.

Divya D’Souza is Invention’s Senior VP of Development and Production and a veteran producer with over 20 years’ experience in the business. D'Souza previously worked at On the Day Productions, Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone's production banner from 2016 to early 2023, where she developed and produced features including action-comedy Thunder Force for Netflix, Superintelligence for HBO Max, Life of the Party, and The Happytime Murders, as well as the Netflix documentary Bob Ross: Happy Accidents, Betrayal & Greed. Among her TV credits are the limited series God's Favorite Idiot, the second season of TV Land’s Nobodies, and NBC’s Little Big Shots Season 4. Divya is based in Los Angeles, CA.‍

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Nicole Magabo is a Ugandan-American writer, director, producer, and multimedia journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya. Prior to joining Invention, Nicole wrote, directed, and produced her debut short and feature films, Family Tree and Be A Good Girl, respectively. Family Tree, which was distributed by Dedza Films and Kino Lorber, can currently be seen on The Criterion Channel. Through Bad Mama Jama Films, an independent production company she founded in Kampala, Nicole has produced three short films by women and nonbinary writer/directors. Nicole is based in Nairobi, Kenya.

Carmen Knox is a Melbourne-based Creative Producer with a background as a studio executive in the United States. She has over fifteen years' experience in scripted development, production and literary management internationally, and has consulted widely to the Australian film and television sector. Carmen is passionate about forging pathways for underrepresented Australian voices abroad. She is currently Director (Australia & New Zealand) of Craft Services, a global online support network for emerging screenwriters and directors; and, in 2019, Carmen co-founded In Dreams, Australia's first talent discovery platform designed to connect underrepresented voices to U.S. industry practitioners. 
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Previously, Carmen was based in Los Angeles where she played an integral role in launching and building independent television studio Insurrection Media. Carmen drove the growth and success of the company’s scripted video programming by managing a development and production slate which included Gary Fleder's TINY PRETTY THINGS (Netflix), DEAD GIRLS DETECTIVE AGENCY (Snap Originals), Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer's DRIVE SHARE (Verizon/Go90), and Mason Novick's LIBERTY CROSSING (Complex Networks). During this time, Carmen also managed the studio's strategic partnership with HarperCollins Publishers, identifying multiple book properties for successful series adaptation.

Vanessa K. Katto is the Membership Director (Africa) for Craft Services, under Invention Studios. She also runs a Kampala-based, women-led multi-media storytelling production company called Bad Mama Jama Films. 

Before her transition into the film industry, Vanessa worked as a project manager for over six years in the construction industry. She is a certified Project Management Practitioner (PMP) and Prince 2 Professional - figuring out the best way to get things done, and create order in the chaos.

Tiffany Hue is the Executive Assistant to Nicholas Weinstock at Invention Studios. She previously worked at New Republic Pictures, Jane Doe Films, and Gloria Sanchez Productions, and has since tapped into her passion for international film and television. At the core of her work is elevating culture to the forefront of media. Tiffany is based in Los Angeles, CA.

Hannah Reilly is an award-winning Australian writer, director, lyricist, and performer. Hannah has been supported by Screen Australia to take up a 6-month position working with Invention Studios as a Creative Development Executive, helping Invention connect with, and support the next wave of Australian comedic talent. 
 
Hannah has worked extensively across film, television, and theatre in Australia. Most recently, Hannah wrote and directed the stage musical THE DEB, ranked by The Guardian as one of the 15 greatest Australian musicals, ever. THE DEB was also announced as a feature film at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. The screenplay was written by Hannah and will serve as Rebel Wilson’s directorial debut. The film will be produced in partnership with AI/Unigram and award-winning Australian production company Bunya Productions.

She currently has multiple screen and theatrical projects in development, as well as developing works under her own company banner Most Improved Productions. Hannah is usually based in Sydney, Australia, but she is currently on exchange in Los Angeles with Invention.

Muriel is a Creative Executive at Invention with over six years' experience in the entertainment business. She previously worked at Legendary Entertainment, where she helped to develop Dune: Part Two, Godzilla x Kong, and Enola Holmes 2. Originally from Portland, Oregon, Muriel has worked at Sony Television, Hello Sunshine, and the marketing department at Universal Television, where she helped to develop advertising campaigns for the drama series Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago PD. She is based in Los Angeles.