Savannah Lobel, Annie C. Wright, Jade Puga & Richard Montes and Kimba Henderson.
Emily Lambert Photography/Joshua Matthew Peters/Keli Squires Taylor/Safada Y Sano Productions/Kimba Henderson
EXCLUSIVE: Fox Entertainment has announced the names of the five Fellows for the 2023 Fox Writers Incubator (FWI), an initiative designed to nurture diverse and creative voices, as well as provide training to five writers of all genres, including comedy, drama and animation.
Savannah Lobel, Annie C. Wright, Jade Puga & Richard Montes and Kimba Henderson were named the 2023 FWI Fellows. They were selected from more than 1300 applicants.
Now in its second year, the Fox Writers Incubator initiative is a rigorous three-month workshop focused on honing writing skills, professional development, and the exploration of the business of media and entertainment. It also provides its Fellows with one-on-one mentorship opportunities with Fox executives.
Following successful completion of the FWI, fellows will work across series produced by Fox Entertainment’s in-house production unit, Fox Entertainment Studios, and animation studio Bento Box Entertainment.
“Last year’s inaugural FWI was a resounding success, resulting in some of the most exciting new creative voices in our orbit,” said Michael Thorn, president scripted programming, Fox Entertainment. “Year two continues to attract gifted writers who embody creativity and inclusivity. We’re excited to work with Savannah, Annie, Jade, Richard and Kimba on bringing their visions to life.”
The FOX Writers Incubator 2023 Fellows:
ANIMATION
Savannah Lobel
Savannah Lobel is a writer, director, comedian, and producer originally hailing from Boston, Massachusetts. After graduating from The Hartt School with a BFA in Musical Theatre, Savannah moved to New York City and took up stand-up comedy. After taking online writing classes at The Second City, she wrote and codirected the short film, Santa Con: The War on Christmas, which starred Catherine Curtin and was selected in twelve film festivals worldwide– winning Best Comedy Short at the London International Short Film Festival. Her original pilot, John Proctor Must Die, placed in the finals of the 2022 Script Pipeline TV Writing Competition and won the 2023 Scriptmatix Pilot Season Screenplay competition. Her most recent short film, Salud, was produced by the 2022 Women’s Weekend Film Challenge and premiered in New York City at Village East.
COMEDY
Annie C. Wright
Originally hailing from Rhode Island, Annie C. Wright is a comedy writer, a sometimes director, and a proud, card-carrying member of the Dramatists Guild of America. Her original pilot, BUDS, based on her experience working in the long-term care industry, was selected for the second round of the Sundance Episodic Lab and was nominated for a jury award at the 2021 Austin Film Festival. She writes character-driven comedies that generally involve fat people, old people, queer people, and thick New England accents. Her work has been performed on stages and screens throughout Southern California, and she may have written some of the streaming ads you’ve opted to skip.
DRAMA
Jade Puga & Richard Montes
Jade Puga and Richard Montes are a writing and filmmaking team. Richard directed their indie features: Pass The Mic, a 60 min documentary on the contributions of Latinos to the HipHop genre (screened at the American Film Institute’s Music Documentary Series) and Aguruphobia, a narrative satire. Their short films have had over 40 film festival screenings. Richard was a Native American Media Alliance (NAMA) Features Lab Fellow and Jade was a NAMA TV Writers Lab Fellow. Their historical drama was in the top 10% of the 2022 Nicholl Fellowship. The two were 2018 semi-finalists for the CBS Writers Mentoring Program and their TV pilots rounded in various labs, including the Sundance Institute’s Episodic and New Voices Labs. Jade was a Hola Mexico Film Festival “Tomorrow’s Filmmakers Today” Fellow and in 2021, she was named the California Arts Council Arts Administrator of Color Fellow for the Los Angeles Region. Richard Montes is a graduate of Cal State Long Beach (BA Degree) and Chapman University, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts (MFA Degree). Jade attended USC’s School of Theater (BA Degree). In 2022, Richard and Jade wrote a Historical-Cultural Monument Nomination for a significant Highland Park Chicano mural.
Kimba Henderson
Kimba Henderson was born in Detroit, the youngest of three Navy brats and grew up in San Diego. While studying Dramatic Writing at NYU, she discovered her penchant for crafting stories that explore the beauty and complexity of diverse worlds and cultures, often with the theme of legacy at the core. She started her career writing for docuseries and true crime shows. A playwright, her work has garnered awards from the NAACP and New York’s United Solo Festival. Most recently, Kimba was a finalist for the Universal Screenwriters Lab and Walt Disney TV Writing Program. She also wrote the book and author introductions for the photography book, Black Hollywood: Reimaging Iconic Movie Moments. She also works with the alumni group, Tisch Represents, which fosters career development for underrepresented writers, actors and directors through collaboration between emerging, mid-career, and established alumni.
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