WeForShe
A women's advocacy group that finds practical ways to bring about a gender-balanced landscape in television.
2018 WRITEHER LIST
Thank you to everyone that participated and supported the creation of this year's list. It is our great pleasure to announce . . . the 2018 WriteHer List!
Congratulations to all!
BELLA VISTA
By Jill Blotevogel
In 1973, after Caroline Cooper kills her abusive Vietnam vet husband in self-defense, she avoids prison by letting herself be committed… and letting the Machiavellian psychiatrist who suggested the deal, become guardian to her two children.
Contact: Lindsay Howard at APA
Genre: Hour
SINS OF THE FATHER
By Jude Roth
A political thriller about a human rights worker who discovers her father's an NSA “economic” hitman and sets out to right the crimes he committed.
Contact: Noah Jones at Gersh
Genre: Hour
CASEY CAN'T
By Kaitlin Fontana
A dark comedy about a reckless former Riot Grrrl rock journalist who's facing down the end of her career, her relationships, and her 30s all at once.
Contact: Cait Taylor & Brad Petrigala at BEP LA
Genre: Half Hour
*BEP attached
SHERRY
By Jacquie Walters & Taylor Cox
In a failed attempt to change her sexual preferences, a young woman unleashes the long-repressed--albeit free-spirited--childhood version of herself.
Contact: Manal Hammad at Abrams Artists
Genre: Half Hour
DRAGON STATE
By Laura Whang
Forty years after land leasing New Mexico to China, the contract is up and the U.S. wants its state back. China appoints the American-born daughter of the ambassador to renegotiate the terms, but when she uncovers a conspiracy in the New Mexico desert, her allegiance wavers and she is thrust into a deadly game of political tug-of-war.
Contact: Carrie Isgett & Kendrick Tan at Madhouse Ent.
Genre: Hour
TITLE IX
By Lauren Greer
In 1969, a female professor and a young athlete face sex discrimination in their respective fields -- and find that the only way they can follow their dreams is to fight the law. Based on true events that paved the way for the landmark 1972 gender equality legislation.
Contact: Sean Barclay at Gersh and Brandy Rivers at Industry
Genre: Hour
IN LOVING MEMORY
By Allison Davis
Natalie is the quintessential "it" girl on the rise, poised to take her party-hard brand from New York City to the world. But when her brother is killed by an off-duty police officer and foul play is suspected, she becomes radicalized in her mission to find and expose the truth.
Contact: Olivia Blaustein, Wilhelmina Ross, Jonas Books, Praveen Pandian at CAA
Genre: Hour
THE HUNTRESS
By Johanna Factor
Eva – a Latina housewife with a difficult past – is forced to move her family to the Bronx after her wealthy husband dies, and her well-heeled life falls apart. Fighting to keep her head above water and her family together, Eva must make a choice: between staying in this mediocre existence, and seizing a dangerous opportunity to get back what she lost.
Contact: Michael Charny at ICM
Genre: Hour
INTENDED
By Elizabeth Higgins Clark
An ensemble drama that follows the hopes, conflicts, and realities of surrogates and the families who rely on them.
Contact: Ally Shuster, Mina Ross and Christopher Licata at CAA
Genre: Hour
THE MERCERS
By Kiki McKnight
"The Mercers" explores the lives of four strangers from different cities, races, genders and social classes who share the same DNA through slavery. Their messy, complicated lives are linked together through two older women who meet up to get answers about their twisted family tree -- a black descendant of the Mercer slaves and the white descendant of the Mercers who owned them.
Contact: kikimcknight100@gmail.com
Genre: Hour
LOVELY WOMEN
By Eboni Freeman
After the unexpected death of her brother, Mary Lovely, already raising her teenage sister, steps in to care for her 11-year-old niece -- while dealing with the daily crises of her grown siblings.
Contact: Margaret Mendelson and Brandon Lawrence at CAA
Genre: Half Hour
PUSHED
BY Lakshmi Sundaram
Feeling oppressed by her uptight family and her Staten Island Catholic school, 15 year old Riv Krishnan decides that the only way to help someone she loves is by casually committing a major crime.
Contact: Ryan Draizin at WME and Britton Rizzio & Courtney Conwell at Writ Large
Genre: Hour
THE MORNING AFTER
By Rochelle Zimmerman
When legendary foreign corespondent Freya Mayette finds herself in hot water after recklessly chasing down a story one time too many, she finds herself in tv-journalist jail: forced to co-anchor The Morning After, a Today-Show-esque hour of fluffy pop culture. With the largest platform she's ever had, Freya must lean how to communicate with a public more interested in keeping up with Kardashians than the serious, hard-hitting stories she has devoted her life to covering.
Contact: Garrett Greer at Haven Entertainment
Genre: Hour
UNORTHODOX
By Lauren Pomerantz
Unorthodox is a family comedy about three sisters who seem to have only their DNA in common.
Contact: Tim Phillips at UTA and Julie Darmody at Rise Management
Genre: Half Hour
SALT FLATS
By Shaz Bennett
Suspended cop Lucy Waters finds a beaten and bloody young girl in the middle of the desolate Bonneville Salt Flat on the border of Nevada/Utah. The Salt Flats are home to Daredevil speed racers; Goshute Indians; down on their luck Gamblers; a private military base used to test bombs and chemical weapons; a polygamist offshoot of the Mormon church called the Levitical Brotherhood - and secretive, closed communities collide.
Contact: Amotz Zakai at Echo Lake Entertainment
Genre: Hour
*Discount Sushi Productions attached
WHIPPED
By Gina Fattore
A young woman struggling to get by at an elite college in Washington D.C. jumps headfirst into the world of fetishes and domination and discovers she has a taste for it. Based on the memoir I Was a Teenage Dominatrix by Shawna Kenney.
Contact: Zach Druker at WME
Genre: Hour
ONES TO WATCH
CHAMBER MUSIC
By Jackie Thornton
Set in 1970, CHAMBER MUSIC tells the story of Vernice Chambers, a poor mother of five, who sixteen years ago as a singer missed her chance at stardom. She gets a second chance for it with her musical children. Vernice is willing to sacrifice her marriage to their father, whose faith and love for his children stands in her way.
Contact: jackie.thornton63@gmail.com
Genre: Hour
LADY PANTHER
By Ebony Gilbert
Determined to solve her brother’s murder, a woman is recruited by the FBI to infiltrate the Black Panther Party and finds herself torn between two worlds with two very different systems of justice.
Contact: Lee Stobby at Lee Stobby Ent.
Genre: Hour
FOREIGN BABES IN BEIJING
By Rachel Dewoskin & Zayd Dorhn
The story follows 21-year-old American girl, RACHEL, who flees her predictable life in the Midwest and travels halfway across the world to China. Desperate to uncover a mystery about her family and her past, Rachel’s life is turned upside down when she becomes an unlikely soap opera star, playing the "American vixen" on the mega-hit Chinese nighttime television drama, Foreign Babes in Beijing.
Contact: Dan Halstead, Manage-ment and Rob Kenneally at CAA and Jill Grinberg
Genre: Hour
LONDONDERRY
By Amanda Lin Costa
Famed cyclist Annie Londonderry enters the dangerous world of espionage after the US War Department blackmails her into becoming a spy during her attempt to become the first woman to bicycle around the world in 1894.
Contact: Kevin Slack at The Cartel
Genre: Hour
IT'S A PLAID, PLAID WORLD
By Lisa Frye
After a near death experience, a reckless, troubled teenager is sent to a Christian boarding school where she grapples with the mysteries of faith and starts to reevaluate the meaning of life.
Contact: fryelm@gmail.com
Genre: Hour
*Where we were able to confirm additional rights holders, it was noted. Scripts are listed in alphabetical order.
ABOUT THE WRITEHER LIST
The WriteHer List is anchored in shining a light on talented female writers and the diverse, compelling, original stories they have to tell. Every year we are honored to curate a range of voices reflecting the rich perspectives that make up our human experiences. This year we have seen the surge in rallying cries for authentic female-driven narratives. We are in a watershed moment for women in Hollywood, and there is still a lot of work to do to reach gender-balanced television.
The percentage of female characters featured on broadcast network programs was the same in 2016-17 as it was nearly a decade earlier in 2007-08. Women comprised 21% of creators on broadcast network programs in 2016-2017, well below gender parity and a decline from the previous year.*
We thank you for your continued support year after year. Because of you, we are able to chip away at these dismal statistics. The writers showcased on our list get staffed, have pilots optioned, secure new representation and set up deals at networks.
Sourced from industry executive favorites, the 2018 WriteHer List showcases writers from different levels of industry experience. Some of the scripts are funny, some of the scripts are dark; all are worth your time. Thank you again to all of those that nominated and participated in the making of the 2018 WriteHer List.