Paramount+ Canada, the Pacific Screenwriting Program (PSP) and the Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) have unveiled a new partnership aimed at supporting Indigenous writers in the advancement of their careers.
Run by PSP, the Indigenous Screenwriters Lab aims to develop the skills and relationships needed to be hired in the writing room of a genre TV series. During the program, participants will learn how to develop stories from pitch to one-hour finished pilot, according to a news release.
The initiative aims to support six mid-level Indigenous writers from across Canada, focusing on the genres of futurism and science fiction.
Doug Smith, SVP streaming and content licensing, Paramount Global, Canada, said the lab is “a direct result of months of dialogue with our stakeholders,” noting that Paramount Global’s expertise in genre, such as the Star Trek franchise, “positions us to help these participants with first-hand experience and tangible guidance to writers in this space.”
“Indigenous writers remain woefully underrepresented in writers’ rooms across the industry,” added ISO CEO Kerry Swanson. “This is an important step in addressing a major imbalance in our system and creating exciting opportunities for writers to expand their craft and their networks.”
This latest effort is one of a series from Paramount Global’s Content for Change initiative, which seeks to counteract narratives that enable bias, stereotypes and hate using the power of content and the industry that supplies it, said the release.
The lab follows an announcement last September that the company would collaborate with the Black Screen Office for the Black Creators Festival Initiative and, in October, a joint venture with BIPOC TV & Film and the National Screen Institute Partner for the new Elevate program. In November, Paramount also rolled out an Indigenous Producers Budgeting Intensive with The Shine Network Institute.
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