Fellowships

WIF is committed to advancing the careers of women, nonbinary, and trans people in the entertainment industry.

APPLICATIONS WILL OPEN IN THE FALL.

Thank you for your interest in the WIF Fellowship program. The general and Membership exclusive deadlines for the 2026 Fellowship application have passed.

WIF Members enjoy a slate of perks and benefits throughout the year. Learn more at wif.org/membership

Created in honor of our 50th Anniversary, this flagship program welcomes Fellows from all areas of the entertainment industry for a year of mentoring, workshops, network building, and one-on-one career strategy sessions.

Meet the 2025 WIF Fellows


The 2025 WIF Director and Cinematography Fellowship cohorts are generously supported by:

The 2025 WIF Business Fellowship cohort is made possible through the generous support of:




FELLOWSHIP SPECIFICS

The WIF Fellowship Program reflects our commitment to advancing the careers of women, nonbinary, and trans people across all areas of the industry. It is our belief that a true culture shift includes support and community for every entertainment industry role. To that end, if you don’t see your role represented in the list of application options, we still encourage you to apply.

The 2026 WIF Fellowship will run from June 2026 through May 2027 and includes five core components:

1. Community Building
 Fellows will expand their network of peers, collaborators, and advocates through in-person events, cross-cohort sessions, 1:1 meetings with other Fellows and alumni, mentor meetings, and industry generals.

2. Cohort Mentoring
 Each career-track cohort (e.g., Editors) will meet as a group in a Mentor Circle led by an experienced professional in their field. Each cohort will have several group Mentor Circle sessions throughout the Fellowship year.

3. Educational Sessions & Workshops
 The full Fellowship cohort will meet for presentations and workshops covering a range of industry topics. 

4. Career Strategy with the Programs Team
Each Fellow will meet with the Programs Team to dig deeper into the Fellow’s goals, projects, and next steps. 

5. Fellowship Year Goals
Each Fellow will develop personalized goals to complete during the Fellowship year, aligned with their career track, experience level, and priorities. For example, updating a professional reel or website, revising a script, workshopping a script through a table read, or screening a work-in-progress for feedback. Fellows will set benchmarks throughout the year, with support and accountability from the Programs Team.

FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITIES BY DISCIPLINE

WRITERS

WIF has two programs for writers: WIF | The Black List Episodic Lab and the WIF Writer Fellowship. The Episodic Lab is a month-long program focused on Episodic writers. The WIF Writer Fellowship is a year-long program that supports both episodic and feature writers.

Writers applying to the Episodic Lab may opt in to also be considered for the WIF Writer Fellowship by checking a box within the application.

Writers selected for the Episodic Lab will automatically be included in the WIF Writer Fellowship.

WIF | The Black List Episodic Lab

  • Applications open: October 1, 2025 – November 3, 2025

More information here

WIF Writer Fellowship

  • Applications open: October 1, 2025 – January 7, 2026
     **Extended deadline January 14, 2026, for WIF Members at the Creative level and above.

More information below.

ALL OTHER CAREER TRACKS


For all other career tracks, listed below, applications for the WIF Fellowship will be open October 1, 2025 – January 7, 2026. Extended deadline January 14, 2026, for WIF Members at the Creative level and above.

If you’d like to review the application requirements in detail, you can find a PDF of each Fellowship application linked below, by discipline.

Artisan & Crew

Career tracks supported in the past include: Casting Directors, Cinematographers, Colorists, Costume Designers, Editors, Intimacy Coordinators, Music Composers, Music Supervisors, Production Designers, Script Supervisors, Sound Designers, and a VFX Technical Director.

All are encouraged to apply. If you don’t see your career track listed, that means you could be the first in the Fellowship!

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

  • You must be local to Los Angeles in order to participate. The WIF Fellowship will include both in-person and virtual meetings. 
  • You must have a clear career focus that you can articulate in your application.

IMPORTANT DATES

October 1, 2025 – Applications for 2026 Episodic Lab & 2026 Fellowship program open

October 21, 2025 – 2025 WIF Fellowship AMA (“Ask Me Anything”) Virtual Panel

November 3, 2025 – Applications for the 2026 Episodic Lab close

January 7, 2026 – Applications for the 2026 Fellowship program close
January 14, 2026 – Extended deadline for WIF Members at the Creative level and above

Week of February 16, 2026 – All Episodic Lab applicants notified of status

March 3, 2026 – Episodic Lab begins

Week of May 4, 2026- Fellowship applicants notified of status

June 2026 – Fellowship begins

FAQs

  1. Which program should I apply to?
    If you are a multi-hyphenate, we encourage you to apply to the career track that you are most interested in. You may apply to more than one Fellowship cohort, but you must submit a separate application for each cohort you would like to be considered for.
  2. How can I apply for the Writer Fellowships?
    You may apply for the Episodic Lab and/or the Writer Fellowship. Writers applying to the Episodic Lab may opt in to also be considered for the WIF Writer Fellowship by checking a box within the application. Writers selected for the Episodic Lab will automatically be included in the WIF Writer Fellowship. If you wish to apply only to the Writer Fellowship, you may do that directly through the Fellowship application. You can apply to the Writer Fellowship with a TV pilot, feature screenplay, or both. 
  3. What if I don’t see my discipline?
    Typically the Artisan & Crew Fellowship is able to accommodate most unspecified roles. But if your specific career focus does not fit into any of the fellowships listed, please contact the Programs team at programs@wif.org to discuss.
  4. How do I know if I qualify for the program? Am I too early on in my career?
    All required experience is posted or requested within each application. The WIF Fellowship supports Fellows at a range of experience levels. If you are a director, producer, artisan, or crew member, generally you need to have made/worked on at least one outstanding short film. Writer applicants need to have at least one completed and strong episodic or feature script. Business applicants need to have professional experience at the coordinator level or above. As a note, while all eligible applications are considered, the program is competitive, and selections are informed by qualifications found within the applicant pool.
  5. Do I have to have completed a Feature Film?
    No. Ideally, Director and Producer applicants will have completed at least one short film. For our Writers, we require a complete, unproduced Feature or Episodic script for consideration.
  6. What are you looking for in a Fellow?
    Beyond the items required in the application, we are most interested in those applicants who have a clear idea of their career goals and are able to articulate those goals in their application.
  7. What is on the application?
    Please see the linked PDF of each career track application linked above.

For any questions, please contact programs@wif.org