Black, Indigenous, POC Sci-Fi Screenwriting Lab

Dear donors,

Our 5th cohort of the BIPOC Sci-Fi Screenwriting Lab is underway, bringing together 20 talented screenwriters of color who are working with JFMS mentors to craft pilot scripts featuring Afro-Futuristic and Indigenous-Futuristic stories. When asked about their experience so far, one of our participants shared:

"It's going really great—extremely rewarding and affirming. I haven't done a deep dive into writing ever, so it's been challenging me in very positive ways, and I feel like I’m building a strong pilot. The mentors are awesome. Nanobah has been a great resource with her point of view.”

We are also preparing for a special edition of our BIPOC Sci-Fi Screenwriting Lab, where 20 Lab alumni will return to develop proof-of-concept short scripts based on the pilots they authored in their respective cohorts. These alumni have been invited, and we are eager to collaborate with them to uncover short-form stories of justice and liberation—stories that are rarely seen on screen.

This special edition of the Lab is part of our Short Film Incubator, a new initiative born from our decade of experience working with our communities. Through this program, we will hire alumni from our Workforce Development programs to produce select short films written in the special edition lab. By doing so, we aim to:

• Create paid jobs for those impacted by the wildfires
• Provide hands-on training on a real film set to early-career filmmakers of color
• Produce festival-ready short films to launch their careers
• Kickstart economic independence for aspiring filmmakers by helping them create sample work to present to industry professionals
• Create trauma-informed films that reflect the values of Justice for My Sister, centering the voices of survivors of gender-based violence to promote healing

Your donation directly supports the creation of these films and empowers the next generation of filmmakers—artists committed to advocating for gender justice in TV and film throughout their careers.

Sincerely,
The Justice for My Sister Team