FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 4, 2014
Contact: Brian Pacheco, NHMC bpacheco@www.nhmc.org (213) 718-0732
Scriptwriters Program Aims to Increase Latino Writers Staffed on Television Shows
PASADENA, Calif. - The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) congratulates the writers selected to the 2014 class of the NHMC Television Writers Program. The NHMC Television Writers Program is an intensive scriptwriters workshop that prepares and places Latinos in writing jobs at the major television networks. 10 participants were selected from among more than 350 applicants from throughout the nation. The writers are: Laura Alexander, Sabrina Almeida, Alexander Felix, Zayre Ferrer, Frank Nestor, Edlin Ortiz, Daniel Perez, Jorge Perez, Jess Pineda, and Claudia Restrepo. The five-week, total immersion workshop is designed to hone participants' scriptwriting skills and prepare them to best package and present their work to television network and show executives. Mentored and guided by former NBC vice president of script development Geoff Harris, the participants will complete at least one script that will be read by network executives. Writers whose scripts show promise will be interviewed and mentored by network executives, with the goal of placing them on a show. Each participant receives a weekly stipend. Flight, housing, and meals are also provided. The workshop is held in Studio City, California. Launched in 2003, the NHMC Television Writers Program was created to expand the amount of Latinos working behind the camera, as a way to increase fair and accurate portrayals of Latinos on television. During the 2012-13 television season, Latinos composed only 4% of writers staffed on TV shows, despite the fact that the Latinos make up 17% of the U.S. population, according to the 2013 Writers Guild of America-West TV Staffing Brief. Since its inception, the program has graduated more than 100 writers -- 25% of whom have been staffed on shows in networks such as ABC/Disney, NBC, CBS, FOX, Nickelodeon, CW, BET, LATV, VH1 and NUVOtv. The 2014 NHMC Television Writers Program is sponsored by Disney/ABC Television Group and Comcast/NBCUniversal. For more information, visit www.nhmc.org/writersprogram.###
About NHMC
The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) is a media advocacy and civil rights organization for the advancement of Latinos, working towards a media that is fair and inclusive of Latinos, and towards universal, affordable, and open access to communications. Learn more at www.nhmc.org. Receive real-time updates on Facebookand Twitter @NHMC.
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