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The Islamic Scholarship Fund will launch its inaugural Muslim Centered Writers’ Lab. The organization says the initiative is designed to give more opportunities to Muslim screenwriters to be at the center of their stories. It will take place from Nov. 11 to Nov. 13, 2022, and was made possible with support from Extracurricular and The Black List. The fund’s leadership says it is undertaking the lab because there is a correlation between how Muslims are represented on the screen and how they are perceived in public.

“Media representation is integral to helping reduce stereotypes and marginalization that so many communities face,” said Executive Director Somayeh Nikooei. “Specifically for American Muslim youth, it offers them the chance to see themselves and their community on the big screen in a nuanced and empowering light.”

The three-day lab will offer workshops that will instruct participants in the art of everything from writing a script through pitching it to studios.

Paul Alan Smith and Lee Rosenbaum’s ESArtists has brought on literary agent Neda Niroumand and manager Sonia Gambaro.

Niroumand brings a strong client roster to ESArtists, including writer Justin Monjo, whose movie Storm Boy, starring Geoffrey Rush, will be released in the U.S. this spring; Philip Stark; Cailan Rose; BAFTA Award-winner Alex Rose; Michele Giannusa (Dead Girls Detective Agency) and award-winning director Vincent Lannoo (Trepalium).

Niroumand was most recently a literary agent at Buchwald, and before that she successfully ran her own management and production company. She previously launched the Literary Department at Vince Cirrincione & Associates, held a position with The Gersh Agency and spent time at Kustom Entertainment and MGM.

Producer/manager Gambaro brings a strong roster of clients from her company Pollinate Entertainment, including publisher Emet Comics; Lorien McKenna; writer/director Vr...

Tom Huang will be awarded the Loyola Marymount University School Of Film And Television Screenwriting Fellowship, granting him $10,000 to develop his script for the Screenwriting Lab.

The Lmu Film and Television alumnus, among seven writers and six projects selected, is one of the chosen participants for Film Independent’s 17th annual Screenwriting Lab.

This is the fourth year Film Independent will present the Lmu School of Film and Television Screenwriting Fellowship.

The workshop is a four-week programme designed to help writers by providing individualised story sessions and connecting them with industry professionals. This year’s creative advisors include Maya Forbes from Infinitely Polar Bear, Ligiah Villalobos for Under The Same Moon and David N Weiss from Shrek 2.

2015 Screenwriting Lab participants and their projects are: Thomas Huang for Dealing With Dad; Linda Yvette Chavez for Fieras, Puja Maewal for Jaya; Darren Grodsky and Danny Jacobs for The Midwestern; Q. Terah Jackson for Rustin; and Ani Simon-Kennedy for The...