IN THE SPOTLIGHT: JESSICA SHIELDS

Jessica Shields, who participated in MPI’s 2018 Pilot Writing workshop, was selected for the fiercely competitive 2019 HBOAccess Writing Fellowship. As Deadline reports, she will join seven other writers in an eight-month program that offers classes and mentorship with a creative executive as they develop a pilot script for the premium network.

Recently awarded the Humanitas Prize’s Carol Mendelsohn College Drama Fellowship, Shields was a Film Independent Project Involve Screenwriting Fellow in 2018, during which time she penned the short film Wednesday, currently a finalist for the HBO Shorts Competition at ABFF 2019.

Shields attended MPI’s panel at the Writers Guild Festival earlier this year. She said this about the experience:

“The MPI panel reiterated the importance of expressing your unique point of view as well as being ready to pitch your project at any time. A word of general advice that resonated most with me was the importance of discerning what you’d love to make from what’s smart to make. The panel concluded with a warning that you’re only as good as your last project and I feel better equipped to make that next project a reality.”

We can’t wait to see what she does next!