The Writers Lab is a four-day writer’s workshop that gives women screenwriters over the age of 40 the opportunity to work intensively on their feature film scripts with the support of established film professionals. Through one-on-one meetings, panel discussions, peer workshops, and group meals, Mentors and Writers engage in a rigorous process to support intensive script development.

The retreat takes place September 25-29, 2018, at the Wiawaka Center for Women, on Lake George, in New York State.

Funded by Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman, The Writers Lab 2018 is produced by IRIS and New York Women In Film & Television in collaboration with the Writers Guild of America, East, with support from The Black List, Film Fatales, Relativity Media, Stony Brook Southampton+Manhattan & Tribeca Film Institute.

Questions? Email ​contact@thewriterslab.nyc​ ​or go to our​ ​FAQs.

Register your script with the Writers Guild, if it is not already registered. Registration is quick and easy and the Writers Guild East has generously offered the discounted price of $17 to Lab applicants who are not members of the Guild. Registration will protect you and The Lab staff and volunteers. Choose the Student and NYWIFT/The Writers Lab option.

We are now accepting international English-language scripts. Applicants must be female and at least 40 years old, that is, born on or before February 28, 1978. Submissions must be feature-length narrative scripts in English. (No script fragments, treatments, synopses, TV scripts, shorts, stage plays, book excerpts, or documentaries.) Scripts by more than one writer will be considered, but all writers must be female and over 40, and only one writer can attend The Lab. Applicants may submit up to three (3) scripts, with a separate application for each script submitted. The Lab seeks a broad selection of screenplays across all genres of fiction (drama, comedy, horror, action, thriller, science fiction, animation, musical, etc.). Scripts may be about any topic and do not specifically need to be about women. The Lab seeks submissions from all racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and cultural groups.

NOTE: SUBMISSIONS WITHOUT A LOGLINE WILL NOT BE READ. Please make sure your name is removed from all pages of your script, including the cover page.