The lack of mentorship is one the largest barriers to entry women and people of color face in Hollywood. Breaking into the industry is hard, and it’s damn near impossible if you don’t have someone in your corner to provide guidance, feedback, and encouragement. This is an issue the newly-launched WritersForWriters (WFW) program is hoping to address via its fellowship opportunities.
The year-long fellowship will see selected WFW Fellows be paired with Mentors who share similar genre interests and availability. The Mentors — who include “Orange Is the New Black” actress Alysia Reiner, “Professor Marston & the Wonder Women” director Angela Robinson and her writing partner Alex Kondracke (“The L Word”), and “No Good Deed” scribe Aimee Lagos — are “committed to paying it forward in helping aspiring professional writers to break into the industry,” the WFW website details.
Screenwriters are eligible to apply for the Diversity Theme and Female Theme Screenwriting fellowships. The Diversity Theme is accepting scripts from writers of color as well as scripts that explore themes of race and diversity. White writers are welcome to submit diverse-themed scripts to this fellowship. The Female Theme will consider scripts from female writers and women-centric scripts. Male screenwriters are eligible to submit women-centric scripts.
Directors, writer-directors, and filmmaking teams can apply for the Indie Filmmaker Fellowship. Applicants must be working on an unproduced, feature narrative film in order to be considered.
Applications for all fellowships cost $75 and will be accepted on a rolling basis through December 2017. Use the code JULY2017 to receive a 20 percent discount on any WFW fellowship or individual script consultation.
Descriptions of the three available WritersForWriters fellowships are below, courtesy of the organization. Visit the WFW website to apply for a fellowship or to find out more.
Diversity Theme
The Diversity Theme is open to all minority writers as well as writers (Caucasian writers included) whose scripts feature diversity-themed subject matter.
Female Theme Screenwriting
WritersForWriters announces their first annual Female-Theme Screenwriting Fellowship to screenwriters seeking a one year mentorship with mentors from WFW. The fellowship is open to all female writers as well as writers (male writers included) whose scripts feature female-themed subject matter.
Indie Filmmaker Theme
The Indie Filmmaker Fellowship is open to all filmmakers attached to an unproduced, feature-length narrative film with an aim towards production. Directing teams and writer-director teams are welcome to apply on a single application. The fellows will be mentored by the WritersForWriters team as well as indie film producer Stephen Nemeth (“Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” “The Sessions”).
