Diversity Initiative Competition

 October Winner!

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Blaine Ross
Blaine is a Texas born USC graduate with an addiction to chicken strips and storytelling. His first literary job was writing comical relationship articles for the now defunct Examiner.com, but he swears his advice on love wasn’t the company’s downfall. His dating adventures eventually led to him crossing paths with his now wife. More than a decade of marriage, two charming yet rambunctious toddlers, and an imaginary dog all play a big role in Blaine’s writing style which consists of finding sincere comedy in everyday drama.

In 2021 Blaine’s pilot REBOOT was a finalist in the 2021 Black List & Google Assistant Storytelling Fellowship. The project is his own fictional comedic account of what life would be like if he ever divorced and had to face his ungodly fear of dating in this app obsessed culture. Fortunately, he and his wife share this fear and have a binding agreement to remain perpetual “roommates”.

Each month, Roadmap selects one diverse screenwriter to participate in the Pitch Prep Program (Step 1 of our Career Writer Program) for FREE!

Also, each month (1)Winner and (1) Runner-Up will receive a certificate for a free copy of Final Draft courtesy of our friends at Final Draft!

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The lack of diversity and representation in Hollywood has been at the forefront of the national conversation for a while now. At Roadmap, we want to do our part to help bring more diversity to the big screen (and the small)! For us, that starts with the screenwriters.

That's why we are proud to sponsor the Roadmap Writers Diversity Initiative Competition!

We launched this tribute in memory of Roadmap Writer Coletta Preacely-Garcia, whose budding career was cut short when she passed suddenly shortly after Roadmap's launch in 2016. Coletta was an extremely hardworking screenwriter who was always working to better her craft—tirelessly writing, rewriting, and taking advantage of every opportunity presented to her to gain skills, make connections, and polish her screenplays. This tribute highlights diverse writers that embody this same spirit.

Who should apply? This program is for diverse screenwriters with at least one completed original Feature or TV Pilot who are ready to tackle the marketing aspect of their career and start getting their work out there! Roadmap defines "diverse" as anyone belonging to a group whose voice has traditionally been marginalized in Hollywood, particularly BIPOC, AAPI, LGBTQIA+, women over 45, and Disabled.