Rideback RISE Fellowship Program

Rideback RISE is soliciting applications for the third year of the Rideback RISE Fellowship. Based in Los Angeles, Rideback RISE is a prestigious creator and content accelerator that offers visionary, intersectional film and television storytellers (“Fellows”) a substantial economic stipend, and access to a development fund for the purpose of optioning IP and/or creating visual proof-of-concept materials. The 12-month Fellowship also provides expert in-depth, one-to-one mentoring, programming year-round, as well as resources and benefits while the Fellows each develop and refine a specific television or feature film project before it is taken out to market. Fellows are experienced writers but may also be multi-hyphenates who will be supported in their directing work.

In a supportive and collaborative environment, Fellows work closely with the RISE team and receive counseling from notable industry luminaries and experts, all while getting to know each other and becoming familiar with each others’ projects. This is an opportunity for exceptional storytellers who desire to tell commercial stories aimed at a wide audience, but who still possess their own distinct voice, point of view and perspective.

Requirements

The Fellowship focuses on self-identified POC storytellers.
1. Applicant must be at least 21 years of age before the start of the Fellowship Program (i.e., before Dec 5, 2025).
2. Applicant must be a writer and may or may not also be a director, actor, performer or producer.
3. Applicant must be a U.S. Citizen, or a Permanent Resident with unrestricted authorization to work in the United States of America.
4. Applicant must have representation with a guild-registered talent agency and/or management company.

QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS
To qualify as a potential Fellow, an Applicant must, in the last three years, satisfy one or more of the following conditions:
–Has previously been staffed and credited in a writing capacity on a produced U.S. scripted television series;
AND/OR
–Has either written OR written and directed a produced feature film;
AND/OR
–Has written and directed a short film that screened at a noted film festival—e.g., Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, Toronto, Venice, SXSW, Telluride, etc. in the last 3 years;
AND/OR
–Has written a spec feature screenplay (either original or based on underlying material) that was optioned or purchased by a recognized U.S.-based producer, distributor or studio;
AND/OR
–Has been in or is currently in active development on a project with a WGA-signatory organization (such as a mini major, studio, network, etc.)

Application Instructions

Applicants must submit a complete application package by June 30, 2025 that includes the following:

1. A complete APPLICATION FORM. Incomplete or illegible application forms will not be accepted.

2. A WRITING SAMPLE, screenplay or teleplay. The title page of your script sample should show only the name of your script (and a WGA registration number, if applicable), i.e., do not include your name, your representative’s name or any contact information either on the title page itself or anywhere within the script. The writing sample must be written solely by you, the Applicant, i.e., no shared credits or writing teams, and script cannot have already been produced. Please submit your Writing Sample in the section designated “Sample PDF” on the first page of the application process. (Your 3 Project Ideas will be submitted later in the application process)

3. THREE (3) IDEAS in one-pager format, either original or IP-based, that you aspire to develop into either a feature film or television series. We are genre agnostic. A maximum of one of these ideas can already be in screenplay form as long as the rights to the screenplay are free and clear, has not previously been exposed to the marketplace, and is WGA registered. (Aforementioned writing samples may be WGA registered but are not required to be.) We encourage you to have at least one of the ideas above be IP-based (a novel, comic book, video game, remake, etc.). For any IP that you are planning to option using the RISE IP Fund, before sending in your application, please make sure that either the rights are available or that it is in the public domain. Include a brief explanation on how you plan to adapt it. ANY ONE-PAGER SUBMISSION LONGER THAN ONE PAGE WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE DISQUALIFIED.

4. The RELEASE FORM must be completed, signed, and dated in order for an application to be accepted.

5. A RESUME outlining your professional writing credits and other experience. Please do not enclose resumes that are longer than two pages.

6. A PERSONAL ESSAY on life experience(s) you’ve had that have influenced your writing and the stories you want to tell. 500-word maximum.

7. Contact information for THREE (3) entertainment industry professionals you have worked with who can provide a recommendation for you. TWO (2) must be supervisory (supervisors, managers, showrunners, etc. that you reported to) references and ONE (1) can be a direct report (someone you have supervised) or peer reference. Please DO NOT include contact information for agents, managers, or lawyers.

After the Rideback RISE Selection Committee has reviewed all the applications, we will narrow it down to a smaller group. If you make it to that group we will contact you to re-confirm both your availability for the Fellowship (Dec 5, 2025 - Dec 4, 2026) and to organize an in-person interview. We will select the Fellows at the end of the interview process.

Applicants can only submit their application package once.