Reflections on 5th 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 retreat reflect on their experience.

On the weekend of June 23–26, 2022, I had the honor of working with a group of talented writers who had been selected to participate in the annual Black List / Women In Film Feature Writers Program. The weekend retreat in Los Angeles kicked off a months long series of events for these writers in which they meet with development executives, agents, managers, producers, and other screenwriters, as well as with each other as they rewrite their original feature length screenplays.

This Black List / Women In Film initiative began in 2018 and has evolved into something really quite special, along with an Episodic Lab which focuses on television writers.

I have served as a mentor and workshop leader for all five of these lab weekends, and it’s something I look forward to every year. It’s exciting to be involved in an initiative which supports talented female writers to hone their craft, develop their voice, and make their mark in Hollywood.

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:

Sabeen Amanat (Burn Your Idols)
Ana Brown (Trash Pandas)
Rebecca Christian (Sankofa Selah)
Christina YR Lim (Gyopo)
Audrey Rosenberg (Wild Animals)
Zoey Towner (Great American Highway)

Here are reflections from the writers on their weekend lab experience.

Sabeen Amanat

Like most writers trying to “make it” I have spent a number of years writing and submitting scripts to various fellowships and competitions. Numb to rejection, I never expected Burn Your Idols to be any different. A small part of me thought this one might be the exception, it was personal and true in many ways, but I shushed that part of my brain, unwilling to get my hopes up. You can only imagine the elation I felt when I received the email from Megan, Maikiko, and Claire. It was joy, relief, and disbelief all rolled together. I accepted their invitation to join the Black List x WIF feature residency so fast I wouldn’t be surprised if I looked back at it and saw a jumble of letters smashed together like a word-search with a “Yes! Thank you!” crammed somewhere in the middle.

I hoped and prayed that being a part of this program would change things for me, but I could not have predicted how quickly that would happen. From the first day of my mentor meetings I was inspired and motivated in a way I’d never been before. The sessions I had with my mentors, Kari Granlund, Michael Mitnick, and Graham Moore, were invaluable. Their feedback and notes on how to improve my script, tips about the industry, and how to stand up for my vision were priceless pieces of advice and an unexpected boost to my confidence. I think it was through those conversations I started to believe how much is possible for my story, and more importantly, for my career.

As the kick-off weekend approached I was nervous and excited to meet my fellow writers, Ana, Audrey, Christina, Rebecca, and Zoey. I had read their scripts and was blown away by their brilliance and talent. It felt like an honor to simply have my script stand beside theirs. The excitement mutated from butterflies in my stomach to a tickle in my throat, then a hacking cough….then a fever of 102. I was rudely reminded that the pandemic is still here as covid hit me at the worst possible time. I was devastated. I could not attend in person. My heart sank. My stomach churned. Sleep was my only solace…. but from a blinking screen in the corner of the room I was reminded I was not alone. Everyone from the kick-off weekend made such an effort to reach out and make me feel included in every way possible from recording the sessions to organizing zoom meetings, all to help me feel like a part of the team. Scott especially went above and beyond in this regard with one-on-one zoom calls and by checking in via email. I am incredibly grateful for everyone’s warmth and kindness, it’s something I will never forget.

When it came time to discuss my script I had no idea what I was in for. It was a true revelation. The conversations with Scott and my fellow writers opened my eyes to a new world of possibility for my characters and for the direction my story could go. In all my years of writing I have never had access to such a wealth of expertise. As a writer, it’s the stuff you dream of.

Overall, I can’t begin to express my gratitude for everyone involved with this residency. Their dedication to amplifying diverse voices from underrepresented groups is something I appreciate deeply. I have never in my life experienced the kind of support that I have received from everyone associated with this program. It has been a privilege and I am so grateful to have been a part of this.

Ana Brown

For years I have craved this type of creative community! I am only one month into my 2022 Black List / WIF Lab experience and already I feel inspired and energized! I am honored to be in the company of such talented writers.

Each mentor was kind and supportive, while providing helpful, actionable feedback. I highly doubt there are many people in the industry as well read and experienced in the world of screenwriting, character and story than Scott. To have had the opportunity to be read by him and to get his take on my work was pretty special. All of the feedback I received will not only make my script stronger, but will improve my overall work.

With endless gratitude to everyone at The Black List and WIF.

Rebecca Christian

I’d love to believe that the writer’s life is exciting and full of melodrama, but let’s be honest–most of it is dull. It’s a lot of trudging along, tinkering with projects until maybe they’re just right, and quite frankly, a lot of no’s and a lot of confusion about what advice to take. (If this has not been your experience, please do not let mine color yours!) I have a note in the Notes App on my Iphone entitled, “My Timeline.” You can probably guess that it is quite literally a timeline of my writing “accomplishments” however large or small they may be–a meeting, a script request, a snippet of positive feedback from a mentor, a second round notice. I primarily use it for motivation, but the note is also my way of keeping track of my losses and down periods. I took a break from writing for a few years, picking it up again in 2020. The timeline from that year is mostly fellowship rejections, but with everything happening in the world it was also the year that renewed the writer spirit in me.

I wrote the first draft of SANKOFA, SELAH during the summer of 2020 when the world seemed like it was on fire. It’s my “f*ck it” script, the one I needed to write but didn’t think anyone would take too seriously. I had crystal clear reasons I wanted to write it — I wanted to write a fun, heartbreaking, romantic dramedy between a Black mother and daughter traveling to West Africa for the first time. I wanted to write something about maturing into adult parent-child relationships, female friendship, navigating grief, and self-discovery. I was pretty shocked to get the interview request for the WIF x Black List residency, but once I got on Zoom with Claire, Maikiko, and Megan I suddenly felt like I had found a group of people that not only understood my script, but the writing voice I had worked so hard to rediscover. They took an interest in me as a writer and as a person. It was almost unbelievable to me, but it was an absolute privilege to add the “WIF x Black List Residency 2022” to my timeline.

I couldn’t wait to read the other scripts, and after doing so already felt bonded to Christina, Zoey, Sabeen, Audrey, and Ana. Once the residency weekend arrived, I was actually a nervous wreck! I was the last to arrive at the house, and for about .5 seconds it felt very much like being the new kid walking into class. But then the magic happened. We chatted, we shared our personal stories, ate amazing food and drank delicious wine. We listened to the illustrious Scott Myers talk about story, craft, and character. (I’m a film school grad, and I’m not sucking up when I say The Protagonist’s Journey should be standard screenwriting curriculum.) We talked about our scripts, unpacking the feedback from our mentors and really diving deep into identifying the strengths and weaknesses of our projects as we headed into the rewrite process. We were also able to meet and talk with several professional writers and directors about their work and their journeys, and get advice on every little thing you could think of, including navigating contracts, money, friendship, and how to create a positive atmosphere on set. The “hard skills” of craft are important, but it’s learning these soft skills coupled with the supportive family atmosphere that the WIF x Black List team has built that can really propel a career forward. I am so grateful to be part of this program, and I look forward to not only growing my own career, but also the careers of these other incredible women writers.

Christina YR Lim

As a filmmaker, I’ve spent most of my career focusing on the craft of storytelling and trying to understand the contributions I want my work to make societally and in my community. Another (less douchey) way of saying this is, I haven’t had a ton of experience with the “business” side of this industry. I’ll admit, I’ve been worried about making this inevitable transition because of the fear that it would dilute either the quality or the purpose of my work. Basically, somehow I would either have to compromise or lose control of my creative endeavors. I’ve been a feature resident with the Black List x WIF for about two months now, and I can firmly say this fear is in my distant past. What I’ve learned in just the beginning of this year-long residency is that though this industry is vast, complicated, and ever-changing, feeling empowered and claiming ownership both creatively and in business, is often what elevates your work.

We launched this program with a weekend-long retreat where I was completely floored by the amount of time, thought and resources the Black List and WIF team had invested with the simple goal of supporting us as writers. Megan, Maikiko, and Claire sherpa-ed us every step of the way as they brought in an array of incredibly successful and diverse writers and filmmakers who generously shared their highest and lowest moments in their careers. This completely affirmed for me that if you ever feel f’ing crazy and confused in this industry, it’s absolutely normal. When we workshopped our scripts with Scott Myers, it was clear from the getgo that Scott’s intention wasn’t just to encourage better scripts, but to embolden our individual voices through our vastly different stories and ultimately follow our instincts. Lastly, it has been the biggest gift to be a part of such an incredibly talented and ambitious group of fellows. A sense of community and support is often the turbo-boost you need to navigate this crazy industry and I’m grateful to have found that my new Black List x WIF crew.

Audrey Rosenberg

Writing can be solitary, it can be miserable, it can be completely maddening. (It can also be thrilling in spurts!) It can connect you to the deepest and most spiritual parts of yourself and in the same breath feel meaningless. It’s sitting down with yourself every day and looking into the darkest Folds of your brain, and greeting those Folds with as little resentment as you can muster. Some days, you pull something half-formed, messy, and esoteric from the Folds and your task is to concretize that thing into words on a page. The next day you look back at your notes and realize you just wrote “reverse Flowers for Algernon…with worms.” Some days, your task is simply to quiet the shame that you thought Reverse Flowers for Algernon with Worms was a cool idea.

The 2022 Black List x Women in Film Feature Writers’ Residency flipped solitary, miserable and maddening on their respective heads (though not thrilling! Thrilling stayed upright). At the end of June, I entered a “Real World” house in Los Feliz, one counter lined with liquor and the other with snacks. As an introvert riddled with OCD who spends most of the time in a 60 sq ft office, I had committed myself to the very foreign concept of being present, engaging with confidence, and quieting the degrading voice in my head.

The next morning, the residency began in full swing, and with it came the news that Roe v. Wade had been officially overturned. I entered the communal kitchen at 7 in the morning for coffee to a group of women, each as impassioned and devastated and angry as I was. And out the window went all of the seemingly small things I had been so terrified of — human interaction, “fitting in,” essentially old summer camp trauma. It didn’t matter. We were artists and humans bound by our deep desire to understand ourselves and the world around us, and to change both for the better. I was in exactly the place I was supposed to be: on a path to figuring out what I needed to say in the world, how to say it, and how I could hope to leave this place a little better than we found it.

The weekend only brought us closer. Writers and directors came to speak with us over every meal. They encouraged the things that we so often resist: listening to ourselves, giving merit to our own voices, owning the sensitivity and softness of our humanity, protecting that tender little core of creativity from the harsh, desert winds of ~Hollywood~. Megan, Maikiko, Kate and Claire (from the Black List and Women and Film) patiently listened as we tested the waters with what is objectively the worst part of this career path: pitching. We received invaluable career advice from Franklin Leonard and Kirsten Schaffer. I had the opportunity of workshopping my script with three incredible mentors: Nicole Perlman, Graham Moore, and Michael Mitnick, whose notes were integral in helping me understand what WILD ANIMALS still needed. Among the company of the five other incredibly talented residents, I got to sit and workshop my and others’ work with Scott Myers. I found these sessions particularly fruitful, as Scott thinks about story in a way I find deeply resonant (with Scott, I exposed an affinity for Jung, which can easily get you shunned as a “pretentious asshole.” I was luckily not shunned.)

I entered into this residency feeling the words “alone” and “writer” were inextricably linked, and I came out of the first intensive weekend feeling that this might not actually be true. I emerged onto the street at 7am Monday morning with an exhausted social capacity, a bag of leftover Jon & Vinny’s pancakes, and a team of incredible advocates, mentors, and peers in this industry. (What an incredible feeling). My impostor syndrome, often a dominant force in the Folds of my brain, had shrunk to a kernel. I don’t deign to suggest it’s gone, nor forgotten — but if (when) it rears its ugly head again, I know who to call.

Zoey Towner

Heading into the residency kickoff weekend, I was expecting something like JJ Simons screaming at Miles Teller in Whiplash–I was expecting them to lock us in a room until we bled on the page… I’m not sure where I got that idea and, thankfully, the weekend was much closer to writer-slumber-party camp with Megan, Maikiko, Claire, Kate, and Scott all acting as the coolest camp counselors I’ve ever met.

The program brought in so many talented women screenwriters to give us advice on our future careers. And the biggest thing that all of them said–the thing that was music to my ears–was that you don’t need to change yourself to succeed in this business. We were all there, at the lab, because we have something that is exciting. There’s a temptation to steer away from that thing towards a version of ourselves that feels more palatable to the outside world (to the execs). But the Blacklist/WIF crew and the speakers they brought in firmly, and occasionally in hilarious profanity-laden rants, told us that we had to be our fucking ourselves. It was the only way we’d ever write anything interesting. I hadn’t realized it before, but this was a message I absolutely needed to hear.

And I haven’t even talked about the cohort–the other people I get to share this program with. Friday morning, the first morning of the program, was the Friday the supreme court overturned Roe v. Wade. Had I not been at the program I think I would have fallen into despair and social media doom scrolling. But instead, I was in a space full of community. A space designed to uplift the voices of women and give us the skills to succeed in the world. And I cannot imagine a better group to share this experience with. The Blacklist/WIF crew really stressed the importance of this network, of having a group of people at our similar skill/success level to come up with. This industry is built off connections, so above all else, I appreciate that the residency created a space to foster those connections in a genuine way.

Truly, the kick-off weekend was a dream, and I’m excited to spend the next months working with everyone to take our scripts from good to great.

On Sunday after our final group session, writers who had participated as “labsters” from previous BL/WIF programs gathered to see each other again and meet their new peers. The energy there was incredible and speaks to the value of this annual effort. Hollywood as well as film and TV audiences will benefit from these women, their voices, and the stories they will share.

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 an extended educational opportunity. A special nod to Kate Hagen for contributing her time and energy for the weekend retreat. Thanks to Claire Austin-Kulat for the support provided to ensure the writers had a fulfilling kickoff experience for this year’s lab. And, of course, thanks to Franklin Leonard whose vision inspires all of the numerous Black List educational opportunities for writers.

This marked my 20th Black List feature writers lab, mini-lab, or Women In Film lab as a mentor and workshop leader. 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.

Here’s a photo of the group where we zoomed in Sabeen (center bottom row) for a workshop session:

Here are a few photos from the post-lab get-together.

Ana, Audrey, Christina, Rebecca, Sabeen, and Zoey, I look forward to seeing where your creative journeys take you, and supporting you however I can!

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

2021 Black List / Women In Film Feature Writers Lab

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