INDUSTRY 101 EVENT SERIES

Fellowships, Contests, & Awards 101:
Stepping Stones Not Silver Bullets
Wednesday, December 11, 2024 | 5-6:30 PM PT | Online

As an organization that runs a variety of awards for writers at the earliest stages of forging a writing career in film and television, we are aware of “The Discourse” around screenwriting contests. Some demystification and honest conversation is in order. 

Talent identification in Hollywood is imperfect. It relies very heavily on social bonds not everyone has access to for any number of reasons. If you’re outside those networks, screenplay contests have existed, in one form or another, for over a hundred years, and are a niche served by studio fellowships, film festivals, and–ahem–non-profit programs. 

If you’re reading this, you’re no doubt aware of the genuine criticisms of contests. They are subjective, selective, anonymous. The veneer of impersonality makes the sting of rejection hurt more than maybe it should. And entry fees? They add up. 

You want people to say yes to you as a writer, and it can be easy to forget you’re able to say no to them as well. Not every opportunity is one you have to pursue. It is important to set budgets, goals, expectations, to understand what contests and awards can and can’t do for you, and how to plan accordingly.  

Maikiko James
Senior Director of Programs, Women In Film (WIF)

Maikiko James is Senior Director of Programs of WIF, overseeing career advancement programs including Fellowships, Emerging Careers, and the WIF/Black List Episodic Lab. She co-founded INSIGHT, a WIF community for women of color in entertainment, in 2018. She previously produced impact campaigns with Active Voice, including those for Food Inc., Welcome to Shelbyville, Gideon’s Army, and Kids for Cash, and was a Special Project Advisor on the WIF-supported documentary Seeking Asian Female. Maikiko holds a BFA in Dramatic Writing from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU.

Ilyse McKimmie
Deputy Director, Sundance Institute Feature Film Program

Ilyse McKimmie is the Deputy Director for Sundance Institute's Feature Film Program. She oversees the Directors and Screenwriters Labs and the Screenwriters Intensive, provides year-round creative and strategic support to alumni filmmakers, and plays a key role in the Producers and Episodic Programs. Films developed at the Labs during her tenure include Dìdi (弟弟), A Thousand and One, Aftersun, Nanny, The 40-Year-Old Version, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, The Farewell, Sorry to Bother You, We the Animals, Beach Rats, Swiss Army Man, Diary of a Teenage Girl, Fruitvale Station, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Pariah, Sin Nombre, Red Road, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Paradise Now, and Maria Full of Grace, among many others. Before joining Sundance 25 years ago, she held positions at ICM and Red Wagon Entertainment. Her roots lie in the theater; her first job after graduating from UCLA was as a production stage manager in the Los Angeles theater scene.

Rishi Rajani
CEO, Hillman Grad

CEO Rishi Rajani oversees all divisions across Hillman Grad, guiding strategic direction and developing new business partnership deals with the likes of WBTV; Def Jam; Audible; and Zando. His producing credits include The Chi; Twenties; Boomerang; and The Forty-Year-Old Version, as well as upcoming A Thousand And One for Focus Features; Disney+’s Chang Can Dunk; Being Mary, which will premiere at this year’s SXSW; and Gifted & Black for Amazon Prime. Rajani also originated Indeed’s Rising Voices short film program, serves as an Executive Mentor for the Hillman Grad Mentorship lab, and launched a South Asian mentorship program under “The Salon.”

Michelle K. Sugihara
Executive Director & CEO, CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment)

Michelle K. Sugihara is the Executive Director & CEO of CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment), the world’s longest-running non-profit organization creating opportunities and driving change for Asian and Pacific Islander success in Hollywood. She is a fourth generation Japanese American born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. She graduated with honors from Claremont McKenna College with a dual major in Economics and Psychology and a minor in Asian American Studies, followed by a law degree from UCLA. Prior to joining CAPE, she was an entertainment attorney, film producer, and adjunct professor for the Claremont Colleges’ Intercollegiate Department of Asian American Studies.

A sought-after public speaker, Sugihara speaks around the world on Asian Representation in Media; Women in Entertainment; Inclusive Storytelling; Leadership; and other topics. She teaches “Improv for Lawyers” and has performed improv internationally.

Sugihara’s community involvement includes her roles as founding member of the Asian Pacific American Friends of the Theater, former Co-Chair of the Multicultural Bar Alliance of Southern California, member of PBS-SoCal Asian Pacific Islander Community Council, former VP of OCA-Greater Los Angeles, past president of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles County, past member of Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles’s Executive Advisory Council, and past board member of the Japanese American Bar Association. Sugihara is a recipient of the City of Los Angeles R.I.S.E. (Recognizing Inspiring IndividualS Who Elevate and Empower) Award, KTLA 5 AAPI Visionaries Award, the prestigious National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s Best Lawyers Under 40 award, and the Los Angeles County Bar Association, Real Property Section’s Outstanding Young Lawyer award. She was named a “Rising Star” in Los Angeles Magazine’s Super Lawyer Rising Star section for seven years, an honor bestowed on only 2.5 percent of attorneys in the state each year.

Moira Griffin
Producer

Moira Griffin is a producer and strategist based in Los Angeles for New Bumper and Paint Productions in partnership with writer/director Marshall Tyler. Her recent award-winning projects include Slow Pulse (CBS/BET), Cap (HBO), Night Shift (Sundance) Exec Produced by Viola Davis & Julius Tennon (Juvee Productions), and Landline (HULU). Her projects have premiered at festivals including Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, ABFF, and the Tribeca Film Festival. NBP is currently developing projects across all genres including the documentary, The Prince of Seventh Avenue: The Legend of WilliWear/Willi Smith and the narrative film Fever Dream. In addition, she is producing the documentary The Inquisitor directed by Angela Tucker through her company Alice’s Plan.

Formerly, Moira was the Executive Director of Production & Creative Labs for 21st Century Fox and the Head of Diversity Initiatives at the Sundance Institute where she created partnerships with Macro Entertainment and the Will & Jada Smith Foundation, as well as supported the career development of notable directors including Sydney Freeland, Marta Cunningham, Erica Watson, Marielle Heller, Gandja Montiero among others. She also created the Ethiopian Film Initiative for the IEFTA, a program that has expanded throughout the MENA region. Moira is a Film Independent and Blackhouse Producing Fellow.