The Emerging Writers Fellowship is an exciting new program at Universal Pictures that is designed to identify and cultivate new and unique voices with a passion for storytelling. They are looking for "talented screenwriters who have the potential to thrive, but don’t have access to or visibility within the industry."
Emerging writers who are chosen to participate in the program will work exclusively with the studio over the course of a year to hone their skills.
During this program, fellows will be given the opportunity to work on current Universal projects as well as pitch original story ideas.
Fellows will also attend workshops, receive mentoring, interact with top literary agents and sit in on Universal’s executive meetings.
Fellows admitted into the program will be hired under a writing service agreement and must be committed to working full-time for one year.
They will take only the first 500 applications and the link to the application will be live at midnight (US Pacific time) September 3. .
Interested applicants should submit an original screenplay as well as additional background materials in order to be considered. All semi-finalists will then be asked to submit a second screenplay. Ten finalists will be selected and interviewed in Los Angeles. Up to five fellows will be chosen to participate in the program.
This program is not intended for candidates who received Producer, Director, Assistant Director, Co-producer, Associate Producer, 2nd Unit Director, Director of Photography, Writer or Source Material credits on any feature film commercially released theatrically or television show that has been aired within the U.S. Candidates may not have any attachment to third-party projects that are currently in development. Any candidates who do not meet the aforementioned criteria will be disqualified.
I can't find anything on the site that limits this to writers living in the US, although you'd have to be able to get a visa for the year and before that to travel to Los Angeles if you are selected as a finalist, so it's most practical for US-based writers.
Even though applications can't be submitted before midnight of Sept. 3, if you plan to apply you'll want to have your screenplay ready (and a second one, as well, in case you are a finalist). I'd also suggest staying up until midnight that day because I bet it won't take long for 500 people to apply.
You can get more information here: http://www.nbcunicareers.com/universal-pictures%E2%80%99-emerging-writers-fellowship
