The Chesterfield Writer’s Film Project (WFP) offers fiction, theater, and film writers the opportunity to begin a career in screenwriting. Each year, a minimum of five writers are selected by competition from some 3500 fiction, theater and film submissions. The Chesterfield fellows each receive a $20,000 stipend and form a screenwriting workshop in Los Angeles, using their storytelling skills to begin a career in film. The writers create two original screenplays under the guidance of studio executives and top screenwriters, including Steven Zaillian, Stephen Gaghan, David Koepp, Scott Frank, Scott Alexander & Larry Karazewski, Robin Swicord and Tom Schulman.
About The Program
Since its inception at Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment in 1990, Chesterfield’s mission has been to discover and develop new screenwriting talent outside the agency system. Chesterfield screenwriters have written for some of the most successful filmmakers in the industry, including Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Ron Howard, Francis Ford Coppola, John Wells, Scott Rudin, Denise DiNovi, and Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall. In the past several years, Chesterfield writers have had over 25 films, mini-series, MOWs and episodic TV shows produced, including Warner Brothers’ “A Walk To Remember,” Miramax Films’ “Proof,” HBO’s “From the Earth to the Moon,” Gramercy’s “The Matchmaker” (starring Janeane Garofalo), TNT’s “Hope” (directed by Goldie Hawn and starring Christine Lahti and J.T. Walsh), Paramount’s “Breakdown” (starring Kurt Russell; uncredited rewrite), Warner Brothers’ “Free Willy 2” (produced by Richard Donner), Universal’s “Julie Johnson” (starring Courtney Love), and Timothy Hutton’s directorial debut “Digging to China” (starring Kevin Bacon and Mary Stuart Masterson).
How Scripts Are Judged
The WFP looks for writing and storytelling talent. We choose a mix of screenwriters, novelists, short story writers, and playwrights. The only criterion is excellence in writing and storytelling. We are not looking for particular kinds of stories or genres. The selection process consists of separate rounds.
Site Specs:
Web Site: http://www.chesterfield-co.com/
Location: Los Angeles, CA |
