Seven fellows have been selected for the 9th annual Native American TV Writers Lab, administered by the Native American Media Alliance.
The eight-week program consists of daily workshops, seminars and one-on-one mentoring with the aim of coaching the fellows on how to develop a pilot and cultivate the skills needed to land TV staff writer positions.
Founded in 2016, the latest iteration of the Writers Lab is sponsored by Comcast, NBCUniversal, the Golden Globes Foundation, Netflix, National Endowment for the Arts and Snowpants Productions.
The seven fellows are:
- Rory Crittendon (Cherokee): screenwriter, filmmaker and documentarian
- Marcie Price Jackson (Cherokee): writer and actress
- Noah Rose Keeling (Choctaw): writer, actress and filmmaker
- Tony Magaña (Western Shoshone): writer and standup comedian
- Faith Phillips (Cherokee); novelist, writer, producer and actor
- Tamara Stratton (Osage): writer, producer and educator
- Steven Tallas (Navajo): filmmaker
“The Native American TV Writers Lab has an extraordinary record of supporting Native Americans establish their television writing careers,” said Ian Skorodin, director of strategy for the Native American Media Alliance. “Dozens of Native American writers have blazed incredible new paths following their participation in this lab.”
Citing a lack of indigenous representation in Hollywood, the Native American Media Alliance explains that the Writers Lab “was created to expand the amount of Native Americans working behind the camera as a way to increase fair and accurate portrayals of Native Americans on television.” The organization also shares, “This lab is part of the Native American Media Alliance’s overall mission to provide genuine solutions to systemic challenges in the entertainment industry.”
