It's no longer a secret that Hollywood fails women and minorities. That's why the NYC Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment allocated $5 million to bolstering diversity in the industry earlier this year, making New York City the first municipal entity in the country to address gender inequity. 

As part of that initiative, MOME has partnered with IFP and the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema for the Made in NY: Series Competition, which will award two pilot screenplays made by or about women $15,000 each to be produced by Feirstein grad students. The pilots will air on NYC Media, the official broadcast network of the City of New York, with the possibility of going to series.


"We are focused on increasing access and opportunities for women writers, as well as written work about women and their shared experience," said MOME Commissioner Julie Menin. "This screenwriting competition will provide up-and-coming writers with a key opportunity to have their work viewed by millions of New York City residents."

Note that the rules prevent you from promising your project to any other outlet in advance of applying, and from entering it into any other contests or contracts during the Competition Entry Period and until the winners have been publicly announced.

Application Requirements

  • The story must be by, for or about women
  • The story must be based in NYC 
  • Applicants must reside within one of the five boroughs of NYC
  • U.S. citizenship is not required
  • Pilot must not exceed a run time of 26:46
  • Applicant(s) must be 18 years old or older

Submission Materials

  • Series Bible
  • WGA certificate
  • Script
  • Artistic statement
  • Lookbook (optional)

Just 22.6% of series creators were women across broadcast, cable, and streaming content in 2015, according to the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film. Here's to changing that statistic once and for all.

The final deadline for submission is December 16, 2016. Apply here.

Featured image from 'Broad City' on HBO