Reflections on 4th Annual Black List / Women In Film Feature Writers Lab

Writers who participated in this year’s Black List / Women in Film Feature Writer’s Lab reflect on their experience.

Beginning in 2018, the Black List has partnered with Women In Film to host an annual feature writers lab. The program has evolved through the years in part in response to COVID pandemic travel and meeting restrictions. For example, the 2021 lab is still ongoing as writers continue to meet virtually with each other as well as producers, studio executives, managers and agents, and screenwriters working in Hollywood.

I have been involved as a mentor in all four Black List/WIF feature writer labs. This time around, that included five sessions: three meetings to workshop each writer’s script projects through the rewrite process, as well as pitch training and Protagonist Journey presentations.

Here is the roster of the writers chosen for this iteration of the lab along with the title of their original feature film script project:

Myra Aquino (Lamb)Liann Kaye (Electable)
Diana Ly (Misekakeru)
Emily-Anne Mikos (Miss Dickpuncher)
Huriyyah Muhammad (God Help the Gayes)
Yael Schick (Blessing)

Here are reflections from some of the writers on their lab experience.

Myra Aquino

My feature script LAMB, set in the island of Guam, was a story that was very personal and specific to me and my upbringing, and when I found out that it had been accepted into the Black List / Women in Film Feature Residency, I was extremely surprised and also really excited to workshop a script that meant so much to me and to the communities I belong to. I had no idea what I was walking into, and it was amazing to be a part of a program that’s filled with warm, funny, and supportive people who are very committed to helping underrepresented genders succeed in such a challenging industry.

Megan, Maikiko, Claire, and the Black List and Women in Film team have been passionate about creating a program that supports not just our scripts but our writing careers as a whole; they have been so generous about lending their experience and insight every step of the way. Scott Myers was supportive in guiding us in the re-writing journey (which I’ve discovered can be just as challenging as writing the first draft!) and re-focusing our scripts on our protagonist’s arc– especially from a psychological standpoint, which was a novel approach for me. The Impact Lens workshop with Ebony Adams was unforgettable and I was made even more self-aware of how my stories, and my assumptions, can impact audiences, for better or for worse. I’m actually surprised that we don’t have these important types of discussions automatically built into the writing (and filmmaking) process in general. The Producers Lens workshop was another session that helped us understand what it means to write scripts that are marketable while still being authentic to our voices– a tough balance to crack. And each of my writing mentors — whose work I loved and admired even before this program! — were really helpful with their experienced and unique insights into storytelling; they helped me see my script from a new angle that made me excited to tackle the re-writes.

Last but not least, however– having a group of fellow women writers who are all engaging, talented, and hilarious has been incredible. We’ve all written scripts of different genres, styles, and stories, and everyone has such unique tastes, POVs, and backgrounds. We meet on a regular basis to read each others’ scripts, give notes, and pitch new ideas, and we have laughed, vented, and shared ourselves vulnerably with each other throughout this whole writing process. I have major imposter syndrome when it comes to writing, and being around this group of women has been empowering and inspiring, and given me clarity about my career. Overall this has been a really fantastic experience, and I’m so grateful that the Black List / WIF Feature Residency exists to create a powerful space for writers to develop their writing and further their careers!

Liann Kaye

Writing is hard. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. It’s easy for non-writers to look at your screenplay then rip it to shreds as if it didn’t take three years, fifty drafts, and a couple crying sessions to massage those one hundred and five pages into a story. I used to think that if you signed up for this profession, it would be a lonely existence. A writer is an island, a lone soldier, a person who needs to develop thicker skin so that she can block out all the noise and get the job done.
 
What I came to learn is that writing can also be a group therapy session. Finding a tribe of fellow writers who will listen to me complain, talk me off the ledge, encourage me on what is working in my draft, and then force me to keep going is what I need more than anything.
 
Enter the Blacklist x WIF program. I bonded instantly with the five other writers over hour-long zoom calls. Now we meet weekly for writing dates to either exchange notes, give advice on navigating the industry, write in silence for an hour, or just to gossip. 
 
Megan and Maikiko have been invaluable in letting us call or email them literally ANYTIME to ask any sort of inane industry question from the ins and outs of line producing to the process of getting pop songs licensed. They knew and had thoughts on every single person I met with on my search for a manager and when I finally signed with Issa Rae’s company, ColorCreative, they went so far as to meet with my managers to see how they could support my career.
 
This year, I’m about to release my first web series, I’m pitching my feature, and I’ve finished my first pilot. I also have so many more ideas waiting in the wings. The girls in the lab have helped me so much with getting all my materials written, proofed, and ready so that when asked, I can shoot them off immediately.
 
I can’t wait to support the friends I’ve made for the rest of our lives, and when the pandemic is over, I can’t wait to rent an AIRBNB and have a bachelorette-style blowout.

Emily-Anne Mikos

I had firmly decided myself to be an unremarkable person. I was sure I was boring, and that anything I write about my own experiences would be forever marked by my apparent boringness. Then I became a Black List Fellow. Now, I think it’s fair to say that I must be super freaking cool.

I write stories about girls’ awkward existence. Periods, masturbation, leg hair — if someone has called it gross, I’ve written about it. I see something special in that youthful awkwardness of just figuring out how to exist in this weird world. The Blacklist saw that same something special, and I will be grateful for that for the rest of my life.

The 2021 Black List / Women In Film Feature Writers Lab is one of the best experiences a queer female writer could hope for. I was able to grow in an environment surrounded by interesting, ground-breaking, incredible peers. I’ve improved exponentially in their care and owe them my metaphorical life. They are wonderful human beings, and I could talk about them for five whole pages. I will practice restraint.

Megan, Maikiko, and Scott are the kind of people everyone wishes to have in their corner when breaking into the industry. They are fierce advocates who will do everything they can to help us succeed. They are warriors of new and explosive talent. Here, I must once again practice restraint (although it pains me.)

It’s one thing to leave a program feeling as if it was a worthy experience. It’s another to leave feeling like you’ve made truly remarkable friends for life. I don’t really like being all gross and mushy, but these are the kind of people and experiences that call for it. I have loved this program. I got a manager during this program. I received amazing mentorship from Kiwi Smith, Guinevere Turner, and Amy Talkington. If I were ever to have to exist in a year-long Groundhog Day situation, it would be this year all over again. Thanks to the Black List — luckily, amazingly, unbelievably — I believe my future will only get better from here. How freaking cool is that?

Yael Schick

2021 has been, well, a bit of a shit show. Fortunately, for the better half of the year I’ve had this wonderful blessing of the WIF/Blcklst Residency, an experience which has brought so much joy, craft, and community into my life. To be honest, it made my 2021 pretty darn wonderful.

Megan, Maikiko, Claire, Scott, Franklin, and everyone else involved have put together a year full of connection-building, industry-learning, and most of all, rich and insightful workshopping. Megan and Maikiko especially worked so hard to build our community in an authentic and meaningful way, despite the limitations of Zoom. The residency meetings were the only zooms I know where the time flew by, where we all wished we could stay on just a little longer.

Megan, Maikiko and all the staff have been there to hold our hands and walk us through all things industry. Coming into the residency feeling like somewhat of an outsider in this world. I can’t express how valuable their knowledge, openness, and constant reassurances were. And I’m so proud and excited about the rewrites I’ve done over the past few months! Everything I’ve learned has served not only that current project, but all my future ones.

Most of all, the residency brought me Diana, Emily, Huriyyah, Liann, and Myra: five soulful, thoughtful, hilarious, supportive, and talented AF writers. I can’t believe I’ve known them for less than a year; we’ve become each others’ sounding boards, accountability-holders, cheerleaders, and friends. I’m so grateful for the little community we’ve created, and I truly can’t wait for y’all to be seeing their work on big and small screens soon.

I congratulate the writers who participated in the 4th annual Black List / Women In Film feature writers lab. Despite the unique challenges presented by pandemic restrictions, I think it’s safe to say they have created a strong group connection and personal bond, one I trust will continue in the future as they support each other’s creative journeys.

Kudos to the Black List team spearheaded by Megan Halpern and to Maikiko James, Director of Programs for Women In Film for working together to oversee what has evolved into a nearly yearlong lab event. And, of course, thanks to Franklin Leonard whose vision inspires all of the numerous Black List educational opportunities for writers.

This marked my 19th Black List feature writers lab, mini-lab, or Women In Film lab as a mentor and workshop facilitator. When I reflect on the writers I’ve worked with through the years in various Black List Labs — over 100 of them! — I am amazed at the diversity of talent and inspired by where their writing adventures are taking them.

We need new and different voices in Hollywood. We need stories that not only entertain, but inspire people to connect through their shared human experience. We need more initiatives like the Black List educational programs to find and support a new generation of cinematic storytellers.

Reflections of previous lab writers:

2018 Black List / Women In Film Feature Writers Lab

2019 Black List / Women In Film Feature Writers Lab

2020 Black List / Women In Film Feature Writers Lab

To learn about educational programs offered by the Black List, go here.