If you’re 55 or over, identify as a woman, and have TV and film writing aspirations, here’s some good news for you: Stephens College and television festival SeriesFest have announced The Jan Marino Scholarship. According to Broadcasting & Cable, the scholarship is available for women age 55 or older who are enrolled in Stephens College M.F.A. in Television and Screenwriting program.
Named for YA author Jan Marino, the scholarship “nurtures the power of strong, independent female storytelling in television and film and will open doors to a future that may have seemed permanently closed for these emerging writers.”
Marino didn’t establish her own writing career until she was in her mid-50s. Her books include “Eighty-Eight Steps to September,” a story of a young girl coping with grief, and “Searching For Atticus,” a portrait of a teen whose relationship with her estranged father grows even more strained when he returns from Vietnam.
“The Jan Marino Scholarship is important because it is engaging a whole new set of voices,” said Betsy Marino Leighton, Marino’s daughter and a Stephens College student. “It’s holding up a giant billboard saying ‘55 and over — here’s your shot! Not only are you able to do it, we’re inviting you to do it.’ For SeriesFest and an institution like Stephens to take that on, I think that sends a huge message of inclusion and diversity in the future of television and film.”
Awards will be given based on applicants’ need, writings samples, and demonstration of “an original voice and a desire to explore deeply emotional aspects of the human condition.”
To find out more about The Jan Marino Scholarship or to apply, go to SeriesFest’s website. Go to Stephens College’s website to learn about its screenwriting M.F.A. program.
Stephens College is also partnering with Athena Film Festival and IRIS for the three-day Athena Film Fest LA Women’s Television and Screenwriting Labs in June. Submissions will be accepted through April 10.
This year’s SeriesFest will run June 22–27 in Denver, Colorado.
