Apply Now: SeriesFest Partners with Janelle Monáe’s Wondaland for Script Competition

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Apply Now: SeriesFest Partners with Janelle Monáe’s Wondaland for Script Competition

In collaboration with multi-hyphenate Janelle Monáe and her production company, Wondaland Productions, SeriesFest is seeking radical, rebellious episodic scripts “that feel disruptive and sticky and buzzy,” the Denver-based festival announced. 

According to the contest description, Wondaland Pictures will be prioritizing “stories that are elevated and fun, odd/left of center, and culturally relevant. Compelling characters from marginalized POVs.” The team is also looking for exceptional story structure and series potential in entries.

“Thematically it should be saying something timely; medicine we aren’t hand fed. — The pill inside the apple sauce. Grounded Afro-futurism. Elevated true crime. Elevated comedy. Most importantly, does it spark joy?” Wondaland and SeriesFest ask. 

Winners of the script competition will be entitled to opportunities to share their ideas via visual media and television, a live script read at SeriesFest: Season 9 held next May, as well as the chance for an exclusive development deal with Wondaland Pictures. 

Three finalists will be handpicked for a creative workshop with industry experts. The two-day virtual event will include sessions on how to pitch along with mini writers’ rooms for all three scripts.

“We see a pressing need to tell stories that center on Black and Queer people and explore race, class, and gender in fresh ways,” the announcement emphasizes. “Shifts how people see each other and the whole world around them.”

Entry materials include a pilot script for an episodic story of 80 pages or less or a 30-minute to hour-long pilot script; as well as a Series Format Deck containing a logline, series regular and recurring character descriptions, and season one story arch or future episode descriptions. 

Entrants must be aged 18 years or older. Script entries are limited at one per person. 

“Storytelling is at the center of who I am, and Wondaland Pictures and I are devoted to expanding the database of writers and talent who receive funding so the next generation of storytellers can be representative of the audiences that consume them,” Monáe enthused.

The deadline for submission is November 3 and late entries will be accepted until January 10 of next year. The standard submission fee is $45 while late submissions are $70.

Submit an entry for the script competition here.

An eight-time Grammy nominee, Monáe’s albums include “Dirty Computer” and “The Electric Lady.” “Hidden Figures,” “Moonlight,” and “Harriet” are among her screen credits. She’ll be seen next in “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” set to hit select theaters in November and launch on Netflix December 23.