WeScreenplay
WeScreenplay Diverse Voices Lab
Spring 2020
Coverfly-exclusive
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 Competition and Lab promotes new voices in Hollywood by encouraging stories from perspectives that are often underrepresented in the industry today. This includes writers of color, female writers, writers with disabilities, writers over 40, writers in the LGBTQ+ community, and any other voices and stories that are currently underrepresented in Hollywood.

Every entry includes 1-2 pages of free, written feedback from their first round judge.


The top scripts are read by our industry jury:

  • Jen Ray (Literary Manager, Heroes and Villains) Jen Ray is a literary manager at Heroes and Villains Entertainment where her focus is on developing strong female voices across genres. On top of a stellar client list, she produced the comedy FOR A GOOD TIME CALL... that premiered at Sundance and was distributed by Focus Features.
  • Jacquelina DeMarco Jones (Manager, Cartel Entertainment)  Jacquelina DeMarco Jones is proud to bring The Cartel’s creativity and drive to the East Coast with the launch of the New York office, she focuses on identifying and signing new and emerging clients out of NY and working closely with the Cartel development team to find IP. Cartel has offices in Los Angeles, New York, and London and has clients involved in the biggest movies and television shows.
  • Ryan Mickels (Creative Executive, Universal Content Production) Ryan Mickels is an executive for Universal Content Production, a premium content studio that operates with a curated sensibility, while simultaneously leveraging the scale of NBCUniversal. As advocates for creators, the UCP team develops award-winning scripted programming with partners such as Amazon (HOMECOMING), Netflix (THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY), Hulu (THE ACT) as well as NBCUniversal networks.

Benefits

Past winners have signed at Gotham Group, Heroes and Villains, and Industry Entertainment. One of the winners from the first season of Diverse Voices just wrapped writing a show for Netflix and sold his spec in a bidding war with Kerry Washington and Sterling K. Brown attached!

Three to four winners will be flown to Los Angeles and put up in an iconic LA Hotel for a Diverse Voices Four Day Screenwriting Lab. The Lab will include hands-on development with industry executives, WeScreenplay staff, writers, and each other. It'll also include meetings with executives and managers about you, your writing career, and your projects in development.

Beyond that, the winners' work will be strategically sent to producers, agents, and managers with whom WeScreenplay has a relationship. All Finalists will be publicly recognized through our website and email lists.

Writer Success

If you are eligible, do not hesitate to apply for Diverse Voices. I have won or placed in multiple contests and none so far have gone to the lengths that the team at Diverse Voices went to in order to ensure the winners were put in front of the best agencies and management companies and production companies possible. They also delivered a highly inspiring four-day lab that far exceeded my expectations.
Daniela Saioni
Spring 2021 Winner
Absolutely go for it! You get invaluable feedback to polish your script and if you are fortunate enough to place, it's an amazing opportunity to get your work in front of reps that you might not have had access to otherwise. I'd like to say a big, heartfelt thanks to WeScreenplay for helping me connect with representation. They were the epitome of professionalism and courtesy. I don't doubt that I would be much further behind in my journey to find representation if it weren't for her help.
Soma Helmi
Spring 2021 Finalist
I was a finalist in WeScreenplay's 'Diverse Voices Screenwriters' Lab' (Spring 2021), and after that, WeScreenplay went above and beyond to share my script with reps and answer my questions to guide my next career steps. WeScreenplay sent my next pilot (PROJECT BLANCA, which is currently up at Coverfly) to Jen, who decided to rep me! Had I not placed in this competition, and had WeScreenplay not been as proactive about helping finalists' careers, I would not have made this particular connection.
Teresa Jusino
Spring 2021 Finalist
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Spring 2025 Winners on Coverfly

MELANIE FROM HR
Private
Feature  · Thriller  · 96 Pages
After being misled, a woman uses her "resources" to wreak havoc on the man who broke her heart.
  • Verified WGA Member
Studio City, CA
Born and raised in Nashville, TN, Asheleigh had two loves, ballet and writing. Realizing that dancing professionally was not for her, she worked briefly as a magazine writer then focused on TV writing. She worked on THE QUAD, before moving over to BLACK LIGHTNING. Her first credit earned her a nomination for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Seri...
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Top 1%
Feature  · Thriller  · 110 Pages
When her politically-divided church is threatened by extremists, a controversial pastor must fight to reclaim her pulpit as a skeptical FBI agent investigates her involvement in the threats.
North Hollywood, CA
Tosin is an actor, writer, director and proud son of Nigerian Immigrants now living in Kansas City, where he grew up. He is most known for "Bass Reeves" (Paramount+) and “Run The World” (STARZ), “The Chi” (Showtime), “Black Lightning” (CW), and “Julia” (HBO). On film, he stars in Amazon’s "Blackbox", "Friend Request" and "North of the 10" (B...
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Top 1%
Feature  · Thriller  · 110 Pages
Cancer surgeon Moira Caldwell uncovers a conspiracy that seeks to squeeze profits out of patients, eliminating anyone who stands in the way.
Portland, Oregon
I'm a Portland Oregon-based writer of conspiracy thrillers and dramas with a side of comedy. I'm also a cancer surgeon/scientist who adores T cells, math, visual arts, and cats. I was privileged to use my patient advocate experience as an advisor on Here Awhile starring Anna Camp, Steven Strait, and Joe Lo Truglio and was featured in the Sundanc...
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Announcements

Jun 15th
Finalists
Jul 20th
Winners
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