ABC DISCOVERS: TALENT SHOWCASE
ABC Discovers
iNFO: ABC Casting is seeking original scene submissions for our upcoming Talent Showcases. This is a one night event produced by the ABC Casting Department to showcase new talent to an invited industry audience. ABC has a long-standing commitment to promoting diversity in the entertainment industry through a variety of projects administered by the ABC Casting Department. The Talent Showcase offers an excellent opportunity for talent that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Since 2012, 64 new writers and 61 original scenes have been selected including 2011 NY Showcase Alum Jermaine Fowler who wrote and performed his original scene, Black Genie. Jermaine currently stars in the series Superior Donuts. In 2012, NY Showcase participant Andrew Law wrote and performed his original scene, Once We Go Black, went on to join Late Night with Seth Meyers as a staff writer, and currently writes on the series The Good Place. Selected writers will have an opportunity to meet with the Walt Disney Television’s Creative Talent Development & Inclusion Department.
Experience in writing for television, film, or theater is strongly recommended, but not required. Those submitting must provide a completed application package adhering to the guidelines listed below
DEADLINE: Extended to June 5, 2020
Warner Bros. Television Writers’ Workshop
INFO: For over 40 years, the Warner Bros. Television Writers’ Workshop has been the premier writing program for new writers looking to start and further their career in the world of television. The list of graduates who have gone on to do great things is long and includes showrunners: Jeff Astrof (Trial & Error), Marc Cherry (Desperate Housewives), Aaron Rahsaan Thomas (S.W.A.T.), Jenna Bans (Good Girls), and Joe Henderson (Lucifer), to name a few.
Every year, the Workshop selects up to eight participants out of more than 2,500 submissions and exposes them to Warner Bros. Television’s top writers and executives, all with the ultimate goal of earning them a staff position on a Warner Bros.-produced television show.
The Warner Bros. Television Writers’ Workshop consists of three components, all geared towards preparing the writer for a successful career in television writing.
LECTURES
Weekly lectures feature guest speakers currently working in television and include a mix of showrunners, directors, actors and agents. Each seminar will teach a new skill essential for surviving and excelling in a writers’ room as a staff writer and beyond.
SIMULATED WRITERS’ ROOM
In the winter, the Workshop participants are divided into smaller groups for an intensive writing experience. Each participant will be required to complete a new spec script under the same deadlines typical for a show in production. How participants perform during this exercise will determine whether they will be supported for a possible staffing position on a Warner Bros. show. Yes, the stakes are that high!
STAFFING
Upon completion of the program, studio executives will help participants who pass the Writers’ Room obtain a staff position on a Warner Bros. Television show. We can’t guarantee you will get staffed, but we will get your material in front of the people who make the ultimate decisions – the showrunners.
The 2020-2021 Warner Bros. Television Writers’ Workshop will run October 2020 – March 2021, with meetings on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California, one evening a week from 7 p.m.-10 p.m. Full participation is mandatory.
DEADLINE: Extended to June 5, 2020 at 11:59pm PST
https://televisionworkshop.warnerbros.com/writers-workshop/program-details/
2021 WALT DISNEY TELEVISION WRITING PROGRAM
INFO: The primary goal is to staff Program Writers on Walt Disney Television (WDT) series as staff writers during the program year. Staffing is not guaranteed. The twelve-month program is tentatively set to begin in February 2021 and end in February of the following year. Please note, time frames are subject to change. For the first few months of the Program, writers participate in a professional development curriculum designed to better prepare them for staffing consideration, including developing, writing, and polishing at least one (1) original pilot script to be used as a staffing sample. The Program also provides engagement with executives, producers and literary representatives, designed to facilitate relationships that can prove invaluable in developing a television writing career. Additional past activities have included: workshops led by veteran television writers, producers and Program alumni and networking mixers with executives.
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS: Applicants must be able to legally work in the United States and be at least twenty-one (21) years of age by December 1, 2020. Entertainment industry experience is not required but is strongly recommended. Those applying must fully complete an online application and submissions package, including uploading the following seven (7) items:
1) SCRIPT ONE: ORIGINAL PILOT SCRIPT capturing the writer’s unique tone, style and point of view. This sample must be live-action content; animation samples of any form are not accepted. This sample should tonally translate to the type of programming broadcast airing or streaming on WDT. This will be the primary script for consideration of your application. It cannot be changed or replaced after submission. This sample must not have been submitted in a previous application.
2) EXHIBIT “A”: SCRIPT ONE SUMMARY FORM
3) SCRIPT TWO: SECONDARY ORIGINAL PILOT SCRIPTcapturing the writer’s unique tone, style and point of view. This sample must be live-action content; animation samples of any form are not accepted. This sample should tonally translate to the type of programming broadcast airing or streaming on WDT. This sample may have been submitted in a previous application and will receive the same score as before.
4) EXHIBIT “B”: SCRIPT TWO SUMMARY FORM
5) RESUME (two pages or less) outlining chronological salaried employment (which may include entertainment and non-entertainment positions). Only list jobs or positions where compensation was received, with the exception of entertainment industry internships and full-time volunteer work at non-profits. Positions must have been held within the past 15 years. Please also list any courses or training you have taken to develop your craft as a writer. Please do not list undergraduate coursework.
6) STAFFING PITCH (no more than 250 words): “Pitch” yourself as a potential staff writer on a current series (broadcast, cable, or streaming) at WDT. Before completing this section, please make sure you have a solid command of the breadth of programming across WDT and Disney+, as well as the particular show you are pitching yourself for. In your pitch, please specify: 1) why you think you would be a good fit for the particular show you selected, 2) how you identify with that show (whether it’s through a character, series beat, series storyline, series location, premise, etc.), and 3) what you think you could add to this particular writers room. The pitch should address why you’re a fit, and not why you like the show or its impact.
7) PERSONAL ESSAY (no more than 500 words): a story from your life experience that conveys your unique perspective and/or multi-cultural sensibility.
SUBMISSION PERIOD: Extended to June 12, 2020
2021 TV Retreat & Fellowship Contest
CineStory Foundation
INFO: The 2021 TV retreat will be held on March 20 – 23, 2021 in the beautiful mountains of Idyllwild, California. Attendees receive three one-on-one, one and a half hour sessions with mentors. TV writers also will experience what it’s like to sit in a professional writers room run by an experienced mentor. In addition, mentors and writers will gather for meals, drinks, screenings, and other special events.
For more information about our TV retreats, please see our TV Contest page.
WHAT YOU COULD WIN
To attend the TV Retreat, writers must submit an original pilot episode in one of our TV contest divisions. Division winners and finalists will be invited to attend the retreat. Any remaining spots will be offered to category semifinalists and quarterfinalists.
One lucky writer will be chosen as the 2021 TV Fellow. This person will receive a cash prize, a 12-month mentorship with 2 Hollywood professionals, and more.
For more information about prizes, please see our TV Prizes page.
TV CONTEST DIVISIONS
We accept original TV pilot episodes in the following divisions:
Original Drama – 1 hour series
Original Comedy – 30 minute series
Original Sci-Fi or Fantasy – 1 hour series
Original Children’s/Family – 30 minute series
SUBMISSION FEE: $55
DEADLINE: June 14, 2020
https://cinestory.org/2021-tv-contest-open/
JAFTA / PORTER Screenwriting Fellowship
Jamaica Film & Television Association
INFO: JAFTA has collaborated with L.A.-based and Jamaican Screenwriter/Producer Aisha Porter-Christie (Orphan Black, Shadowhunters, Ransom) to develop a screenwriting developmental initiative focused on scripted Jamaican content for television pilots or web-series with international appeal.
The JAFTA/PSF initiative would be administered and executed by JAFTA with funding, mentorship and collaborative support from Ms. Porter-Christie. A grant of US$2000 (approx. J$250,000.00) would be awarded to a maximum of two selected screenwriters (US$1,000.00 each). Ms. Porter-Christie along with Producer/Screenwriter Jeremy Boxen (Orphan Black, Killjoys, Imposters) will be the mentors. At the end of the mentorship period and, on completion of a polished script, there will also be an opportunity for the projects to be pitched to L.A.-based Manager and Producer, Scott Stoops from Good Fear Content.
In the theme of ‘paying-it-forward’, on completion of their fellowship, selected awardees would be required to participate in at least one public-sharing session, one mentorship session and at least one-community outreach initiative to apply what they have learned and to pass on any knowledge or skill-sets to others in the Jamaican screenwriting and/or creative community.
DEADLINE: June 15, 2020