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WeScreenplay
WeScreenplay Diverse Voices Lab
Spring 2023
Reads in Coverfly
Active Since 2016
WeScreenplay is looking for stories from writers with underrepresented backgrounds. 6 writers will be selected to participate in a career-changing lab!
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About

Diverse Voices is a dynamic virtual screenwriting lab with a proven track record of helping move the needle for stories that are told from perspectives that are often underrepresented in Hollywood. This includes writers of color, women writers, writers with disabilities, writers over 40, writers in the LGBTQ+ community, and any other voices that have historically been ignored by Hollywood.

At least 4 winners will be selected to participate in this career-changing lab.

Over a dozen past winners have been signed, staffed, and optioned as a direct result of their Diverse Voices Virtual Lab meetings. Past finalists and winners have signed with companies including Heroes & Villains Entertainment, 3Arts, Zero Gravity, APA, ColorCreative, and more.

A unique benefit of the Diverse Voices Virtual Lab is that ALL readers for this competition come from diverse backgrounds, and all entrants will receive a page of written feedback on their script from their first round’s judge.

Plus, since it started in 2015, Diverse Voices has raised over $45,000 for various nonprofit organizations. What’s not to love?

Benefits

Diverse Voices Lab

The Diverse Voices Virtual Lab is a one-of-a-kind experienceA minimum of 4 winners will be selected. Writers chosen for the virtual lab participate in a long weekend PACKED with workshops to hone their craft, mentorship calls with working writers, and general meetings with studio execs, literary reps, and more.

This is not a “sit back” passive webinar experience. It is a “get your questions answered, find the right literary representation, and meet potential collaborators” busy several days. It’s truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience for any emerging screenwriter.

This virtual lab has directly led to writers getting staffed, signing with their dream reps, and more! Want more info? You can read about the Diverse Voices Lab experience here.

Jury

ERIC HSIAO - Creative Executive, Perfect Storm Entertainment
Eric Hsiao currently serves as Creative Executive at Justin Lin's Perfect Storm Entertainment (Fast & Furious franchise, Star Trek Beyond), where he has collaborated on the development of such films as F9: The Fast Saga and Space Jam: A New Legacy, and the HBO Max series Warrior, as well as projects set up at Universal, Paramount, Netflix, and Participant. Additionally, Eric oversees Perfect Storm's producing partnership with the Beijing-based film studio CMC Pictures (The Meg). Eric previously worked as an assistant and agent trainee in the Motion Picture Literary department at United Talent Agency after obtaining an MBA/MFA dual-degree from NYU and BAs in Mass Communications and Sociology from UC-Berkeley.

DANIELA GONZALEZ - Literary Manager, Good Fear Content
Daniela Gonzalez is a literary manager at Good Fear Content, a Los Angeles-based management and production company known for representing generation-defining talent and producing clutter-busting content. Daniela identifies as a TCI – a third culture individual: Venezuelan-born, with a childhood in South East Asia, Daniela’s found her roots in the United States. Prior to working at Good Fear Content, Daniela was with Circle of Confusion for nearly a decade. Her international background informs her taste as she builds her roster of clients who have unique voices and backgrounds. Daniela holds a BA in Film Production with a minor in Film Producing from New York University.

ANGELINA CHEN - Literary Manager, Energy Entertainment
Angelina Chen is a literary manager at Energy Entertainment, Brooklyn Weaver’s company. Energy Entertainment represents screenwriters and book authors. Some of their company’s credits include RUN ALL NIGHT, OUT OF THE FURNACE and the TV show EXTANT. Her clients include Nissar Modi (Z FOR ZACHARIAH) and Tamara Carter (story editor LEFTOVERS). Prior to Energy Entertainment, Angelina was an asst at Management 360. Before Management 360, Angelina was at an asst at CAA. She graduated from UCLA with an undergraduate degree in political science and also attended USC’s Peter Stark Producing Program for grad school.

DUSTIN ALPERN - Literary Manager, Meridian Artists
Dustin Alpern is a literary manager based in Los Angeles who works with both US and Canadian clients. He enjoys working with his clients in all aspects of their careers, whether that’s finding and introducing them to studio execs and producers with similar tastes, giving them creative feedback on their material, or fighting to improve their contracts. Dustin began his career as a freelance producer, working with notable artists and brands such as Glass Animals, Disturbed, The Amity Affliction, Cady Groves, Freestyle, and many more. Dustin also worked for a period of time in the marketing department at Sony Pictures helping produce integrated marketing campaigns for films such as Jumanji, Smurfs: The Lost Village, and Ghostbusters.

KASRA AJIR - Manager & Partner, Velocity Entertainment
Kasra Ajir is one of the owners and managers at Velocity Entertainment Partners, representing actors, writers, directors and television personalities. An immigrant to the United States and one of the few Iranian Americans working in the entertainment industry, Ajir has worked tirelessly during his career to create opportunities and open doors for diverse voices in film and television. A passionate advocate of talent, and a lover of stories, Ajir trained at the prestigious William Morris Agency (now WME) before embarking on his career as a manager.

CRYSTAL HOLT - VP, Series, 20th Television
Crystal Holt is the Vice President of Series for 20th Television Studio – A Walt Disney Company. Crystal’s shows include WONDER YEARS for ABC, HISTORY OF THE WORLD PART II, MIKE & WASHINGTON BLACK for Hulu, GENIUS for NatGeo, OUR KIND OF PEOPLE for Fox, THE CROSSOVER for D+, TRUE LIES for CBS, ORDINARY JOE for NBC. She previously worked with AMC Networks on shows such as THE TERROR, FEAR THE WALKING DEAD, WALKING DEAD WORLD BEYOND, CREEP SHOW, HORROR NOIRE & the ORPHAN BLACK REBOOT. She is an alumnus of Columbia College Chicago.

JOSH DOVE - Literary Manager, Circle of Confusion
Josh Dove is a literary manager at Circle of Confusion, specializing in IP and TV staffing. His clients have written on shows including YELLOWJACKETS, HACKS, LIGHT AS A FEATHER, WOOL, and HOUSE OF THE DRAGON.

ARIELLE DÍAZ - Writer, Co-EP, Gentefied
Arielle Díaz is a writer-director-performer from Chicago who is currently a writer and co-producer on season two of Amazon’s romantic comedy series, WITH LOVE, created by Gloria Calderon-Kellett. Formerly, she was a writer and co-producer on both seasons of the Netflix Original series GENTEFIED, executive produced by America Ferrera and MACRO. One of her season 2 episodes titled “Daddy” was selected as one of the best episodes of television in 2021 by IndieWire. Previously she’s written for the Emmy nominated series, THE LAST MAN ON EARTH on Fox starring Will Forte, and David E. Kelley’s series BIG SHOT on Disney+. Before launching her career in entertainment, Arielle was a staffer at Google in Silicon Valley where she consulted women and BIPOC-owned businesses on marketing strategy.

Writer Success

Spring 2024 Winners on Coverfly

See Other Placements

Announcements

Jan 4th
Semifinalists
Feb 1st
Finalists
Mar 15th
Winners

Rules

At the program's request, Coverfly will automatically remove your title page for you if you include one when submitting to this program.

Screenplays entered must:

    1. Be submitted in PDF form and must fit all standard screenplay format guidelines. Personal formatting conventions will be accepted but must not intentionally or accidentally alter the page count of the project as determined by the judges. Anything over 120 pages will cost $1 extra per page.

    2. Be owned solely by the writer or writing team listed. It may be an adaptation or reimagining of true events or fictional stories. 

    3. Be written in English. However, scripts from anywhere in the world will be accepted.

    4. Have pages numbered. Scripts of any length will be accepted for an additional fee, but we’d advise that scripts over 150 pages should be edited down before being submitted.

      NOTE: WeScreenplay automatically removes the cover page before assigning scripts to readers, so writers may include any typical information on their cover page. Scripts are accepted with or without cover pages.

  1. Writer must be 18 years of age or older at the time of the winner's announcement.

  2. By entering this screenplay into the competition, you must have full permission from all co-writers and any attachments to the project.

  3. WeScreenplay claims no ownership nor option on your work. All ownership and rights to the scripts submitted to this contest remain with the original rights holder(s).

  4. Screenplays entered may be in any genre or combination of genres. All will be treated equally and read by an unbiased panel of readers and jury members.

  5. The following formats will be accepted: Feature screenplay, TV pilot screenplay

  6. Entrant’s total earnings for screenwriting for either film or tv, produced or unproduced, must not exceed $50,000 in the previous 18 months from submission or $250,000 lifetime earnings. This excludes any prize money from competitions or fellowships and only applies to fund or money transferred in exchange for an option or sale of a script, treatment, idea, intellectual property, or other writing for filming. Money earned from acting, directing, producing, or any other film work outside of writing is not included.

  7. Screenplays submitted must not have been previously sold or produced unless said sale or production was completed with no financial gain to the writer.

  8. Purchasing Additional feedback throughout the competition will in no way impact your standing or odds of advancement.

  9. For a submission to be valid it must be accompanied with the appropriate payment based on the submission deadlines.

  10. All deadlines are at 11:59pm PST on the date listed. Any deadline alteration or promotion of any kind does not make any entry valid for a refund of any kind.

  11. RESUBMISSIONS will be accepted. Alterations can be re-uploaded via our submissions management platform at coverfly.com for $6. New drafts of an entry will be accepted at any time during the contest.

  12. There are no refunds for any submitted screenplay. Coupons may not be applied to previously submitted scripts. Coupons deemed for WeScreenplay coverage may not be used for submission to the contest or addition of coverage to any submission unless explicitly stated or exempted on the coupon or by a WeScreenplay representative via e-mail communication only.

  13. There is no limit on the number of scripts a writer or writing team may submit.

  14. Prizes are awarded per script and teams of writers are expected to divide prizes on their own accord. If the lab is in-person, WeScreenplay will provide flights and hot

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Spring 2023