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Introducing the Netflix Created By Initiative' for Underrepresented Writers
Tiffany Burell-Lewis
Director, Talent Development
Social Impact
12 January 2023
United States
Research shows better representation behind the camera leads to better representation in front of the camera. As part of our ongoing commitment to increase representation across the industry through the Netflix Fund For Creative Equity, we are excited to announce the first-ever Netflix Created By Initiative. Through this initiative, Netflix is offering script development deals to 14 talented mid-level film and series writers.
To identify talent, Netflix joined forces with six leading organizations who are at the forefront of creating access to underrepresented creators within the industry: The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC), CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment), Native American Media Alliance, The Black TV and Film Collective, Outfest and Inevitable Foundation. Each partner organization nominated candidates from their own writers' programs and Netflix selected the final recipients.
The inaugural group of writers selected for this program are: Arun Croll, Ashley Eakin, Siena East, Zoila Amelia Galeano, Gillian Grassi and Zach Anner, Lauren Hadaway, Mitali Jahagirdar, Latasha Mercer, Diego Moreno, Jeffrey Nieves and Emily Eslami Nieves, Elisee Junior St. Preux, and Yen Tan.
The program is designed to ensure underrepresented and historically excluded talent are set up for success beyond the writers' room. The development deals provide these writers with the opportunity to go through the studio development process and hone their projects alongside Netflix executives from the series and film teams. Additionally, all series writers will be invited to participate in a showrunner training lab designed to provide the essential skills needed to successfully run a Netflix series.
Learn more about the writers below:
Arun Croll
Arun Croll is a Los Angeles based-screenwriter focused on horror and thriller films. His screenplays explore high concepts in uniquely contained settings, from forest canopies to Japanese-American internment camps. His work has been recognized by the Black List, CAPE, Austin Film Festival, Coverfly, and more.
Ashley Eakin
Ashley Eakin is a writer/director with a physical disability. She is currently developing a half-hour tv show with 20th for FX, inspired by her AFI Directing Workshop for Women short film Single, that won the SXSW Special Jury Recognition award and has played at over 40 festivals. Last year, she was selected as a participant in the Netflix Emerging Filmmaker Initiative where she directed the short film Forgive Us Our Trespasses that is currently streaming on Netflix. Eakin has also directed two episodes of Best Foot Forward on Apple TV and an episode of Growing Up on Disney .
Siena East
Siena East is a Choctaw writer, comedian, and actress. She is a co-producer on Fox's Grimsburg and wrote on HBOMax's upcoming reboot of Clone High. She is writing a romantic comedy feature for Searchlight and Olive Bridge, as well as her original television pilot and starring vehicle La Native for Amazon Freevee with Amplify Pictures signed on to produce. As a comedian and actress, Siena has performed at the Hollywood Improv and is in the newest season ofHBOMax's The Sex Lives of College Girls. In her work, she loves exploring the idea of what the freedom to be flawed means in both Native and feminist stories.
Zoila Amelia Galeano
Zoila (Zoilita to her large Honduran family) knew since she was a toddler that she would be in show biz. One of her first paths in Hollywood was in post-production on scripted series at Warner Bros and Paramount studios. Later she jumped into reality television, where she worked as a Supervising Producer and Story Producer on such shows as Project Runway, Paris Hilton's My New BFF and American Choppers. Life was sweet, but she secretly dreamed of becoming a writer. The idea of leaving her established career seemed scary, but then she became a stepmother to two teenage girls and a young woman. After that, nothing scared her. So, she gave up her glamorous life in post-production (not to mention the steady paycheck) to pursue her passion. She was accepted into the National Hispanic Media Coalition's Writing Program, the CBS Mentorship Writers' Program, NBC's Writers On The Verge and the ABC/Disney Writers' Fellowship. She won Baby First's Rising Creators Project selling her animated pre-school children's show Team Abuelita. She was staffed on the Hulu series East Los High, the bilingual series RPM Miami for Mun 2 and The Fosters for Freeform. She also wrote a freelance script for Hallmark's Good Witch, sold a YA chat fiction story, Deranged Marriage to Snapchat subsidiary Hooked and wrote an Untitled Quinceanera feature for Focus Features. She created a YA series with Brat TV called B-Team and wrote a freelance script for the animated preschool sitcom Rosie's Rules. She also became a playwright in 2020 with her first piece for stage titled Not Your Mam 's Period which debuted on Period Piece, a virtual play about periods and the people who get them. Her newest play Foodie is scheduled for publication by Next Stage Press as part of a new anthology coming in 2023.
Gillian Grassie and Zach Anner
Gillian and Zach dated for a while but broke up when they realized they were romantically incompatible; Zach had zero previous dating experience and Gillian hadn't seen Dumb and Dumber. Their first and much more fruitful creative collaboration was Zach's memoir, If At Birth You Don't Succeed, which they wrote over Google Docs and Skype across nine time zones while Gillian was living in Berlin and Zach was in Los Angeles. If At Birth You Don'
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