Writers' Access Support Staff Training Program

Programme · 2027Prestige 62/100

Writers Guild Foundation training for writers' assistant and script coordinator roles. Free, and explicitly not a writing fellowship.

Official site ↗

Deadlines & fees

Application deadlineNext deadline
13 Sept 2026America/Los_AngelesFree

Dates and fees checked against the official site 8 Aug 2026.

Key facts

Eligibility: US residents18+Underrepresented backgrounds
Open to: United States
Required materials: Summary of past writing experience or relevant formal education · Preferred genres and a brief overview of creative influences · Responses to three or four essay questions of 100 to 200 words · Personal statement of 400 words · Professional resume

Applicants must be at least 18, authorised to work in the United States, able to demonstrate ongoing efforts to break in as a television writer, and interested in support staff work. No professional writing experience or credits are required. Anyone who has already worked as a writers' assistant or script coordinator is ineligible, though former writers' PAs and showrunner's assistants may apply. Los Angeles residents receive admissions priority and no more than 10 per cent of each class is reserved for applicants living elsewhere. Writers who identify as BIPOC, LGBTQ+, disabled or over 50 are encouraged to apply. Using AI to generate or edit application materials is grounds for disqualification.

Prizes

No cash prize or stipend. Participants receive the training course itself, an assigned mentor, guest showrunner sessions, and placement on the Writers Guild Foundation talent list circulated to studios, networks and showrunners, plus inclusion in the annual lookbook.

Judging

Applications are collected via Submittable and reviewed through a five-stage process by an admissions committee of television creators, executive producers, showrunners and writers, most of whom worked as assistants or coordinators themselves. The 2026 committee is published by name and runs to 67 members. The programme was founded by Tanya Saracho, Mike Royce and Liz Hsiao Lan Alper, and is taught by Debbie Ezer and Clay Lapari. Around 2,000 people apply for 16 to 18 places. No interviews are conducted and no feedback is given on unsuccessful applications.

The PreList verdict

This is not a screenwriting fellowship, and the Writers Guild Foundation says so three separate times on its own pages. It trains you to work as a writers' assistant or script coordinator, which is how a great many working television writers actually got into a room. Fourteen weeks of Thursday evenings on Zoom, an assigned mentor, guest showrunners, and on graduation your name goes onto a list the Foundation actively markets to studios and showrunners. It was founded by Tanya Saracho, Mike Royce and Liz Hsiao Lan Alper, and the admissions committee is published by name, all 67 of them.

The honest part: roughly 2,000 people apply for 16 to 18 places. You must already be authorised to work in the United States, which rules out most writers reading this from outside it. Los Angeles applicants get admissions priority and no more than one place in ten goes to someone living elsewhere. There is no stipend, so you are covering your own time for fourteen weeks. And if you have already worked as an assistant or coordinator you are ineligible, though former writers' PAs and showrunner's assistants can still apply.

Apply if you are in Los Angeles, legally able to work there, and willing to take the assistant route rather than waiting for a script to open the door for you. It costs nothing to apply and nothing to attend. Applications open on 13 August 2026 at 11am Pacific and close on 13 September at 11.59pm, with results on 15 December. One warning worth heeding: using AI anywhere in the application is grounds for disqualification.

Dylian Salvatore, Founder of The PreList · Updated 8 Aug 2026

Frequently asked questions

Is this a screenwriting fellowship?

No, and the Writers Guild Foundation is emphatic about it. Their own page states: this program is not a writing fellowship, it is a professional training program that focuses specifically on support staff roles. You are training to work as a writers assistant or script coordinator, and you never submit a script.

What does it cost?

Nothing to apply and nothing to attend. There is no stipend either, so you are covering your own time across the fourteen weeks.

Do I need to live in Los Angeles?

Not strictly, but it helps enormously. LA applicants receive admissions priority and no more than 10 per cent of each class is reserved for people living elsewhere. You must also be authorised to work in the United States, which is a hard requirement.

What are the dates?

Applications open on 13 August 2026 at 11am Pacific and close on 13 September at 11.59pm Pacific. Results are shared on 15 December 2026, and the course itself runs from January to April 2027.

Is your script right for Writers' Access Support Staff Training Program?

Upload your screenplay and The PreList scores how well it fits this programme: genre, format, eligibility and readiness, before you spend anything.

Check your script's fit Apply on the official site ↗

Similar competitions

4Screenwriting

Programme · 2027

Opens soon

Channel 4 has confirmed that entries for the 2027 course open in September 2026. The last window ran 22 September to 6 October, closing at 5pm.

Channel 4's free development course: 12 writers new to TV drama, paid to develop an original one-hour pilot.

TV PilotDrama

Checked 25 days ago

Athena Film Festival Writers Lab

Lab · 2026

Closed for this cycle

The 2025-26 cycle has closed and a new window has not been announced; windows usually open in late spring, and the site still shows the previous cycle.

Virtual three-phase lab for woman-centred film and TV scripts, from Barnard's Athena Film Festival.

FeatureTV PilotActionAdventure+18

Checked 9 days ago

BBC Writers Open Call

Programme · 2026

Free

1 Dec 2026

The BBC's free flagship route for UK writers: drama or comedy-drama scripts assessed for development.

FeatureTV PilotComedyDrama

Checked 25 days ago

AFF Script Competition: Austin Film Festival

Contest · 2026

Closed for this cycle

The 2026 competitions closed early: Austin states that submission volume reached capacity in all categories ahead of the published late deadline of 27 May, so the effective close fell somewhere between 1 and 27 May and no exact date was published. Winners are announced on 31 October 2026, with reader comments sent by mid-November. The 2027 competitions open in December 2026, which Austin has published. The annual shape is reliable across four evidenced cycles: entries open in the first half of December (7 December 2022, early December 2023, 9 December 2024 and 8 December 2025), early bird lands in late March, regular in mid-to-late April, and the late deadline in the last days of May. All deadlines close at 11:59pm Central. Winners are announced at the Awards Luncheon during the festival in late October or early November. Two changes make the late deadline less dependable than it looks. The capacity cap is new for 2026, pre-announced and then triggered for the first time, and the Extended tier that existed in 2023, 2024 and 2025 was abolished. Deadlines have also tightened year on year, from a late deadline extended to 31 May in both 2023 and 2024, to a firm 28 May in 2025 and 27 May in 2026. Enter early: the published date is now a ceiling rather than a promise.

Premier US screenplay competition since 1994. Cash prizes, fellowships, and direct producer/rep access.

FeatureTV PilotShortActionDrama+16

Checked today