CBS DIVERSITY INSTITUTE
2009 WRITERS MENTORING PROGRAM
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
IMPORTANT PROGRAM DATES
SUBMISSION PERIOD: April 1, 2008 thru June 1, 2008
POST MARK NO LATER THAN JUNE 1, 2008
APPLICATION MATERIALS
1) APPLICATION
Please download the Application Form on this page and print or type your information. Be sure to include e-mail contact information, as this is necessary for any further communication from CBS. Inquiries should be made via email, rather than telephone.
2) RESUME OR BIO
Please include an up-to-date work resume or bio.
3) LETTER OF INTEREST
Your letter should be addressed to the CBS Writers Mentoring Program and will be used to evaluate your personal qualifications for participation in the Program. Please tell us why you should be selected as a part of the Program and what talents and personal qualities you have to offer as part of a future writing staff on a television show. Include a few lines about the value of your diverse voice as a writer of color, and its impact on television writing. PLEASE keep your letter to one typewritten, double-spaced page.
4) WRITING SAMPLES
The CBS Writers Mentoring Program is seeking creative, talented and highly motivated individuals to participate. In order to evaluate a writer's originality, one (1) original writing sample is required. This can be a screenplay, a stage play or a short fiction story. No original television pilots will be accepted.
In order to evaluate a writer's ability to capture the tone and structure of an existing television show, one (1) episodic writing sample is required. The writing sample can be either a half hour or an hour episode, based on a primetime drama or comedy series which aired new episodes, on any network or cable channel, during the 2007-2008 television season.
It is strongly recommended that all writing samples be registered with the Writers Guild of America, west, Inc. or the Library of Congress. For information on registration of material at the Writers Guild of America go to www.wga.org or contact the Intellectual Property Registry department at (323)782-4500. To contact the United States Library of Congress, go to www.copyright.gov or call (202)707-5959.
5) SUBMISSION RELEASE FORMS
A completed, signed and notarized release form MUST be included, otherwise your submission will not be processed. Please download the Submission Release Form here. The form must be signed and notarized.
APPLICATIONS CANNOT BE RETURNED.
APPLICATION PROCESS
Application packets should be sent to :
CBS Diversity Institute
Writers Mentoring Program
7800 Beverly Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
All Submissions Must Be Mailed. No Hand Deliveries Will Be Accepted.
All applications must include an e-mail address in order to receive further communication from CBS.
If any of the application items are missing, the application cannot be processed.
Semi-finalists will be notified in October, 2008 and a personal interview will be scheduled shortly thereafter.
Program finalists will be notified in October 2008.
The 2009 Writers Program is scheduled to begin in early November, 2008 and continues through June 1, 2009.
PARTICIPATION IN THE CBS WRITERS MENTORING PROGRAM IN NO WAY GUARANTEES FUTURE EMPLOYMENT.
* Or such later date as to be determined by CBS.
Click here to download the Writer's Mentoring Program Application
Click here to download the Submissions Release Form