Twenty screenwriters have been selected for the 2025 edition of the Reelworld Screen Institute’s Emerging 20 (E20) program.

The six-month, remote, part-time program pairs the participants with skilled story editors to polish their drafts and take part in screenwriting sessions geared towards producing a final script. The cohort will also refine their pitching skills and learn from experts who will share their industry knowledge.

The program is split into one stream for film and one for series, with ten selected for each.

The ten selections for the film stream are all Ontario-based and include Paul Aihoshi with the crime-comedy The Sushi Family, Aidan Cheeatow with the crime-drama Scar Patterns, Alex Eskandarkhah with the thriller Ain’t No Tellin, Roann Enriquez with the horror Undertow and Chase Lo with the neo-noir dark comedy Glimmer.

Rounding out the film participants are Kalpit Patel with the dramedy-romance Butterfly on High Hills, Julian Ritchie with an untitled drama, Keisha Monique Simpson with the drama Hummingbird, Jazba Singh with the psychological thriller Eating the Other and Amir Zargara with the political thriller A Good Day Will Come.

The series participants include six based in Ontario: Flex Aleo with the drama MBA, Onyeka Oduh with the horror-comedy Be Kind, F*ck Off!, Ryan Cunningham with the drama Traditional Transplantation, Hilson Rose with the drama-thriller Unravel, New York and Toronto-based Yemie Sonuga with the rom-com Sexploration and Anupam Kant Verma with the horror-drama Houses of Horror.

Three others are B.C.-based: Della Haddock with the dark satirical comedy Burn, Baby, Jackie Wong with comedy The Cause and Bree Island with the Indigenous horror-comedy âniskê.

Rounding out the series selections is Halifax-based Nikki Martin with the drama Nova.

E20’s workshops run from February to June. The cohort will also have the opportunity to pitch their projects in one-on-one meetings with executive producers, directors, broadcasters, funders, agents, distributors and union representatives.

Alumni of the program qualify to apply for Telefilm Canada’s Talent to Watch Program through Reelworld’s Industry Partner stream.

Image courtesy of Reelworld; pictured (L-R): (First row): Roann Enriquez, Keisha Monique Simpson, Kalpit Patel, Julian Ritchie and Jazba Singh (Second row): Paul Aihoshi, Chase Lo (Photo by Jaclyn Vogl), Amir Zargara, Aidan Cheeatow and Alex Eskandarkhah (Third row): Bree Island, Flex Aleo, Della Haddock, Hilson Rose and Nikki Martin (Fourth row): Anupam Kant Verma, Jackie Wong, Onyeka Oduh, Ryan Cunningham and Yemie Sonuga