Join NFMLA as we host Humanitas for an exploration of the New Voices Fellowship and College Screenwriting Awards. In addition to program information, this discussion will address what Humanitas looks for, what the application processes are like, dos and don’ts for artist statements, writing samples, and more. New Voices Fellowship and College Screenwriting Awards final deadline is April 15.
We’ll also talk more broadly about artist development opportunities and planning and budgeting for a submission season. This is a great opportunity for applicants to prepare for submission. Hosted by Daniel Plagens, Humanitas Program Manager.
J.D Shields
Filmmaker/Writer
Emma Soren
Writer
Hayley Tibbenham
Writer
Kayreth Williams
Writer
Daniel Plagens
Writer/Humanitas Program Manager
About J.D. Shields:
J.D. Shields is an award-winning writer and director from Atlanta, Georgia whose television credits include Emperor of Ocean Park (MGM+) and The Company You Keep (ABC). She has developed projects with Emmy-nominated showrunner Leslye Headland and Marsai Martin’s Genius Entertainment as well as written for DreamWorks TV Animation, Wondery and Sony Pictures Entertainment. J.D. was recipient of the 2018 Humanitas Carol Mendelsohn Prize College Drama Award and has participated in the Disney Writing Program, the HBOAccess Writing Program, Film Independent’s Project Involve and the AFI Directing Workshop for Women (DWW+).
Her award-winning short film Blue Hour had its premiere at the 2023 Brooklyn Film Festival and has screened at Cleveland International Film Festival, HollyShorts, Miami Film Festival, SCAD and over 60 other festivals. Generously supported by Women in Film and produced through AFI DWW, it is the first collaboration between the two organizations.
She penned the award-winning short film Wednesday, which screened at the LA Film Festival, Palm Springs Shortfest, and the American Black Film Festival where it was an HBO Shorts Finalist, later streaming on HBO.
J.D. began her career as a theater artist working in dramaturgy, literary management, and arts education at prominent regional theaters including the Nashville Repertory Theatre, 7 Stages Theatre, Synchronicity Theatre, and the Tony-Award winning Alliance Theatre.
She earned her MFA in Screenwriting & Directing from Columbia University, having previously studied at NYU Tisch School of the Arts Asia in Singapore. She holds a BA in English & Theater from Vanderbilt University.
About Emma Soren:
Emma Soren is an LA-based comedy writer who is currently writing a sitcom pilot for NBC and has a horror comedy feature in development with Speck + Gordon. She previously was a staff writer on Koala Man, wrote for Illumination, developed an original animated feature for Warner Brothers, and was a 2021 Humanitas New Voices Fellow. She also writes for publications including The New Yorker, Vulture, and McSweeney’s.
Before becoming a full-time writer, Emma was a script coordinator, writers’ assistant, and showrunner’s assistant on shows including One Day at a Time, United We Fall, and Life in Pieces. When she was support staff she served on the IATSE Local 871 negotiating committee, which inspired her current work as a WGA captain. Emma grew up in the Chicago suburbs and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in PPE (Philosophy, Politics & Economics) and French.
About Hayley Tibbenham:
Hayley Tibbenham is a writer fascinated with music, magic, and messed-up ladies. Born and raised in the suburbs of Detroit as the daughter of two engineers, Hayley rebelled by attending music school with hopes of becoming an opera singer. However, she soon surrendered to her love of film after her first short was invited to the Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner. Since then, Hayley’s scripts have won the Humanitas Carol Mendelsohn Award for Drama and the Fadiman Award for Screenwriting, along with placing in the Top 50 Semifinalists of the Nicholl Fellowship. She is currently a Staff Writer for a new Paramount TV show. Hayley is a proud alumni of the University of Michigan and the AFI Screenwriting program.
About Kayreth Williams:
Kayreth Williams is a Jamaican-born writer who grew up in Brooklyn. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Hunter College before relocating to Los Angeles. There, she began as an assistant and later earned a promotion to Staff Writer on Welcome to Flatch (Fox).
Kayreth is a recipient of the Humanitas New Voices Award and is also part of the Rideback Rise Circle cohort.
In her writing, Kayreth is dedicated to highlighting underserved communities and aims to “send the ladder back down” to help the next generation of writers. When she’s not writing, Kayreth dreams of being a very ON the grid homesteader while traveling the world.
About the moderator:
As Humanitas’s Program Manager, Daniel oversees the Humanitas Prizes, New Voices Fellowship, College Screenwriting Awards, and the Groceries for Writers project while also handling other day-to-day administrative matters. He came to Humanitas after working for several years in the unscripted television and documentary worlds, and is a writer himself. He was recently a semifinalist for Filmmatic’s Inroads Fellowship, and he was named to the University of Michigan Entertainment Coalition’s Blue List in 2020, a compilation of the school’s up-and-coming screenwriting alumni. When he isn’t thinking about movies and TV, he’s writing The Book of Jobbed, his weekly Substack newsletter about sports and the existential angst they cause.
