One-Eyed Rabbit's annual BLACK SCREENWRITERS GRANT was established to amplify Black voices, create a bridge between Black writers and more funding opportunities, and to increase representation within the film & television industry.
SUBMISSION PROMPT
We're looking for submission-ready screenplays and teleplays by Black writers with an original voice and three-dimensional POC characters at the center. We're open to any genre and any form (feature, short, pilot, web series) of the writer's choice. Writing teams welcome to apply.
GRANT AMOUNT
This year's Black Screenwriters Grant of $500 will be awarded to one writer/writing team to aid them in submitting their winning script to larger screenwriting competitions and/or furthering their writing career(s) in whatever way they choose. For writing teams, funds will be distributed to the first writer's name listed.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
In order to apply, writers should provide:
-
10 consecutive pages of a submission-ready script
-
Finalists will be asked to submit the full script by September 30th
-
-
Title page with name and contact information omitted
-
It's important for us to preserve your anonymity for the reading panel, so your name and contact information should not appear anywhere in the script
-
-
Logline and synopsis of full script
-
Bio and/or resume
-
Brief statement (250 words recommended) specifying screenwriting competitions that the script would be entered into and/or how else the writer would use the funds to further their career
RULES & REGULATIONS
-
Scripts must be in English and formatted according to current industry standards
-
Scripts must not have been optioned or sold prior to August 1st, 2021
-
Only one (1) submission per writer or writing team permitted
*We recommend that all scripts be registered with WGAE before they are submitted (register here)
IMPORTANT DATES
SUBMISSIONS OPEN: August 1st, 2021
SUBMISSIONS CLOSE: August 31st, 2021
SEMIFINALISTS ANNOUNCED: September 15th, 2021
FINALISTS ANNOUNCED: September 20th, 2021
WINNERS ANNOUNCED: October 15th, 2021
READING PANEL
JONTERRI GADSON is a former creative writing professor who chose TV over tenure. She’s a comedy writer/director who has written for NBC’s Making It, Adult Swim’s Birdgirl and other forthcoming shows.
MYXOLYDIA TYLER: Theatre: Berta in the world premiere of Berta, Berta! at The Everyman Theatre 2021. Television: Season 6 Homeland (Showtime), Season 3 of I am Homicide (Discovery ID). Teaching: Lincoln Center Education, Harlem School of the Arts, The Conservatory for the Dramatic Arts of Film and Television, and The Acting Studio. She is a Hermitage Artists Fellow and a Michael Bradford Writing Fellow with QuickSilver Theatre. In 2020 she premiered her first written play production of Freebird: The Early Life of Sarah Vaughan for NJPAC Education Assemblies Program.
DONNETRICE C. ALLISON serves as Professor of both Communication Studies and Africana Studies at Stockton University in Galloway, NJ. Dr. Allison has been a Communication Studies scholar for more than two decades. Now she is on the other side, as a creative with a passion for bringing realistic Black life to the big and small screen. Her recent short screenplay, A Simple Walk, was a semifinalist in the 2021 Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition.
KILO (Key-Low) is a comedian-writer based in Los Angeles. Kilo was a former member of the UCB Characters House Team. His solo show "The Malcolm X Cabaret" premiered at SoLow Fest 2018 and went to have sold out runs at SoloCom 2019 (NYC), Diverse AF Comedy Festival (2019), and was the highest rated virtual show on BonfireLive.com.
PREVIOUS WINNERS
