The Californer - Major Organizations Release Annual Transparency Statements for Screenwriting Bias Initiative

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As seen in the 95th Academy Awards 2023 Oscars, the screenwriting categories continue to lack inclusivity. Daniel Kwan and Kazuo Ishiguro represented the only two writers of color nominated while Sarah Polley represented the only woman.

LOS ANGELES - Californer -- Roadmap Writers, The Writers Lab, and Shore Scripts are the first organizations to publicly release their Annual Transparency Statements per the initiative Screenwriting Contest Transparency: A Call to Action, which was released in June 2022 by Women of Color Unite (WOCU).

Screenwriting Contest Transparency: A Call to Action is an initiative penned by WOCU members Dani Milton, Julia Morizawa, and Via Bia, that addresses bias in screenwriting and television writing competitions, labs, fellowships, and coverage services. The document shares anecdotal experiences that have negatively impacted writers from marginalized communities and demands that organizations increase transparency and accountability about their readers, judging and selection processes, statistics of past submissions and winners, and more. It also demands that these organizations offer implicit bias training to their readers and take steps to redress if a writer receives biased notes.

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As of February 2023, forty organizations and individuals have signed the pledge (https://wocunite.org/contest-transparency/) to participate by creating and releasing an Annual Statement of Transparency by early 2023. As of March 2023, the organizations that have released their transparency statements are Roadmap Writers (https://www.roadmapwriters.com/pages/annual-statement-screenwriting-contest-transparency-2023), The Writers Lab (http://thewriterslab.nyc/faqs/us-lab/), and Shore Scripts (https://www.shorescripts.com/annual-transparenc...).

"As screenwriting competitions continue to pop up exponentially and some of the biggest screenwriting organizations in the business merge and share script readers, it's more important than ever that writers have an understanding of who's reading their scripts. Roadmap Writers is proud to be the first company to answer WOCU's call to pull back the curtain for writers with the release of our first annual transparency report." -Joey Tuccio, CEO of Roadmap Writers

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"The Writers Lab believes in honoring the work of writers, and we work hard each year to ensure that our team gives every submission appropriate consideration – not just because it's the right thing to do, but because we all benefit when writers choose to apply based on a clear understanding of our mission and process." -Elizabeth Kaiden, Cofounder of The Writers Lab

"This project has been such a beneficial initiative to be involved in - making us more mindful of the everyday actions and activities we undertake. In this time of unparalleled creativity and yet persistent inequality, projects like WOCU's transparency initiative is helping multiple organizations take meaningful steps toward EDI improvement. Moreover, by working together with a common purpose, there is an increased likelihood that this will substantively change the number and diversity of opportunities available within the industry." -Shore Scripts