The nonprofit Inevitable Foundation, which exists to help screenwriters with disabilities, has launched Elevate Collective, a program targeted at mid- and upper-level writers.
Among the offerings are $5,000 grants that will be awarded quarterly, with applications available on Elevate’s webpage. The grants are intended to help further these writers’ careers by helping them pay for career coaching, script consultation, work-from-home setups, IP acquisition and other professional development. Elevate also plans to provide community building and professional networking opportunities for the dozens of qualifying writers each year.
“We are thrilled to launch Elevate Collective and provide mid- and upper-level disabled screenwriters targeted support, education, connections and financial resources to level up their careers,” Inevitable Foundation co-founders Richie Siegel and Marisa Torelli-Pedevska said in a joint statement. “We built Elevate Collective based on a year and a half of learnings from running our Fellowship program. Elevate Collective is the latest addition to the ecosystem we are building to empower disabled writers, which also includes our Concierge service for creative executives and showrunners, the Disability is Diversity campaign and our screenwriting fellowship.”
The foundation is also offering two additional $5,000 Elevate Collective Awards in partnership with two organizations. The Inevitable Foundation x Caring Across Generations Care Award will additionally grant its recipient access to script and development consulting services with Caring Across Generations.
“Care is a crucial part of all of our lives, and it’s time to normalize that idea onscreen,” Caring Across Generations associate director of culture change Lydia Storie said in a statement. “We are connecting disabled people and others with lived care experiences to Hollywood in order to change the stories we tell about aging, illness and disability. Partnering with the Inevitable Foundation on this Elevate Award is the perfect alignment of our respective missions.”
Meanwhile, the recipient of the Inevitable Foundation x Humanitas Alumni Award will be abl to attend virtual and in-person Humanitas workshops and other events, as well as the 2023 Humanitas Prizes.
“Humanitas champions projects that explore the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful way, which can only be done effectively when programming slates are diverse in terms of subject matter and inclusivity behind and in front of the camera,” Humanitas executive director Michelle Franke said in a statement. “We believe deeply in the Inevitable Foundation’s message that there is no diversity, equity and inclusion without disability, and are honored to partner with them on an Elevate Collective Award benefitting an alum of our New Voices Fellowship and College Screenwriting Awards programs.”