Meryl Streep, notable woman and supporter of other women, is ramping up her efforts to bring more female voices to the screen. At this year's Tribeca Film Festival, Streep announced that she would be funding The Writers Lab. The new program is a collaboration between New York Women in Film & Television (Streep is a NYWIFT Muse Award honoree) and Iris, a women's filmmaker collective. The lab is devoted to supporting and mentoring female writers over the age of 40.
On Monday, August 10, the program announced the 12 writers selected to attend the first Writers Lab retreat in upstate New York. According to The Hollywood Reporter, "The program received more than 3,500 submissions, and so it was expanded to increase the total number of recipients from eight to 12."
THR also listed the women selected to develop their scripts with The Writers Lab: "Sarah Bird, Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen; Vanessa Carmichael, The American; Tracy Charlton, Raised Up; Kellen Hertz, Ashburn; Anna Hozian, Anchor Baby; Lyralen Kaye, St. John the Divine in Iowa; Jan Kimbrough, The Glastonbury Cow Party; Billie Mason, The Cargo; Peres Owino, Basketweaver; Gretchen Somerfeld, Face Value; Janet Stilson,Jaguar Trail; and Kim Turner, It Goes Like This."
Streep, NYWIFT, and Iris launched The Writers Lab in direct response to the age and gender bias that female screenwriters face. Let's hope this is just one of many signs of positive changes to come for creative women. (The Hollywood Reporter)
Streep, NYWIFT, and Iris launched The Writers Lab in direct response to the age and gender bias that female screenwriters face. Let's hope this is just one of many signs of positive changes to come for creative women. (The Hollywood Reporter)