Fox announced the first 10 participants who will take part in the Fox Writers Intensive, a new program in which writers from diverse backgrounds and life experiences will work with writers on established projects to develop a pipeline for new talent.
The finalists, who will collaborate with "Bones" creator Hart Hanson (pictured) and others, were chosen from more than 300 nominations and submissions by respresentatives and arts organizations across the country, including National Hispanic Media Coalition, Sundance Institute, New York Foundation For The Arts, Outfest, Film Independent, Writers Bootcamp, Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment, and Visual Communications.
The writers will spend the next four months working with Fox writers, showrunners, screenwriters, directors and creative executives in television, feature films and digital entertainment. The inaugural writers and their representatives are:
· Nick Citton (Advance Talent Management)
· Alessia Costantini (Artist International Management)
· Jan Eliasberg (Rain Management Group)
· Jason Gavin (The Alpern Group)
· Nicole Jefferson Asher (The Gersh Agency)
· Tina Mabry (Independent)
· Eric Nazarian (Creative Artists Agency)
· Mark Valadez (Brant Rose Agency)
· Thomas Wong (The Gersh Agency)
· Iris Yamashita (The Gersh Agency)
Besides Hanson, they will work with Davey Holmes (“Awake,” “In Treatment”), Patrick Massett (“Friday Night Lights,” “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider”), Cherry Chevapravatdumrong ("Family Guy"), Virgil Williams (“Criminal Minds,” “24”), Peter Sollett (“Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist,” “Finding Victor Vargas”), Eli Dolleman ("The Cleveland Show," "American Dad"), Laurence Andries (“The Pacific,” “Supernatural”), Jessica Sharzer (“American Horror Story”) and Roy Lee (“The Departed,” “The Grudge”), among other writers.
"These ten incredibly gifted writers represent the high-caliber talent we’re looking for at Fox, and we’re extremely excited to work more closely with them through this initiative," said Nicole Bernard, senior vice president of audience strategy for The Fox Group. "This is an important step toward ensuring that our film, TV and digital productions better reflect our broader audience, and we’re thrilled that so many writers and producers have signed on to lend their expertise."
The program is administered by Film Independent, a non-profit arts organization that supports artists who represent diversity, innovation and uniquene visions.
"It’s been an amazing experience working with Nicole and all the folks at Audience Strategy on the Fox Writers Initiative, as we share a major goal of increasing diversity in all aspects of the entertainment industry. The writers selected truly have strong, creative visions that will be further helped along with this program, and we can’t wait to see their work shared with a larger audience," said Film Independent co-president Josh Welsh.
At the end of the four-month intensive, Fox will select one participant as the Fox Writers Intensive Fellow. The fellow will have one-on-one meetings with network and studio heads and receive staffing priority. Fox will also purchase and develop the fellow’s original submission.
Fox recently formed Fox Audience Strategy to find programming and operational opportunities that reflect diverse perspectives.
