The U.K.’s Independent Film Trust and U.S.-based Roadmap Writers have revealed a new transatlantic initiative to empower under-represented writers on both sides of the pond.
Called Creative Corrider, it will run from November to December and unite five writers from underrepresented groups in each country to collaborate and explore new film and television projects that could potentially be developed in either or both territories.
The initiative is sponsored by SMASH and the selected writers can use the SMASH pitch builder to work on their pitches in both written and verbal form.
Creative Corridor has already tapped a number of top executives and industry leaders from both the U.K. and U.S. to contribute to the initiative, including the BBC’s head of new writing, Jessica Loveland, Merman’s Clelia Mountford and Netflix’s director of U.K. feature Fiona Lamptey as well as reps from Lawrence Bender Productions, Bohemia Group, Anvil Pictures, Fictional Entity and Anonymous Content.
Jen Smith, the BFI’s head of diversity and inclusion, who advised on the creation of Creative Corridor, said in a statement: “It’s important that our creative industries reflect our society, both on and off screen. Initiatives such as Creative Corridor, coupled with our own BFI Diversity Standards, help to focus the industry on who is telling the stories we see on screen, and open up opportunities for a wider diversity of voices to be heard and to develop their craft on an international stage.”
Tolu Stedford, head of creative development at IFT said in a statement: “By not investing in diversifying our talent pool, we are squandering great British talent and stories, consequently not representing a true reflection of the world. We must not lose the rich, innovative narratives to ensure Britain remains at a world-class standard.”