Giving writers a chance to hone their skills with the best execs in the business
HBO has announced the launch of their HBOAccess Writing Fellowship which will help emerging writers hone their skills by giving them an opportunity to attend master classes held at the HBO campus in Santa Monica, California. At these classes the writers will focus on character development, pitching ideas and projects, securing an agent, and be able to network. Then each writer will be paired with an HBO development executive and will be mentored in an eight month writing phase where they will learn the process of script development. At the end, there will be staged reading where the writers will be introduced to the entertainment industry. The fellowship started accepting applications on March 4, 2015.
Timeline and Important Dates:
March 4, 2015 –Application process opens at https://www.withoutabox.com/. The application portal will close when 1,000 submissions have been reached. No mail or email submissions will be accepted.
May, 2015 – 20 candidates advance to first round interviews with HBOAccess™ program directors via in person or Skype.
June 2015 – Final interviews with HBO development and production executives. All applicants selected to the final round must provide a second writing sample. They must also be prepared to pitch up to three ideas, one of which will be developed during the eight month long mentorship.
July 1, 2015 – Eight participants are notified.
August 17-21, 2015 – Master classses will take place over a one week period at the HBO offices in Santa Monica, CA from10am to 5pm. Any finalist not local to the Los Angeles area must be prepared to cover his/her own travel and lodging for the duration of the program, however a small stipend will be available to defray those costs.
-Vinesh Vora