ABFF & Turner Announce Writing Contest Winners Posted by Wilson Morales
June 9, 2017
The American Black Film Festival (ABFF) and Turner, a global entertainment, sports and news company, are proud to announce Derege Harding and Darrin Dortch as the winners of the inaugural writing contest.
The ABFF & Turner Writing Contest is part of a three-year partnership between Turner and ABFF to promote greater diversity and inclusion within the film industry. Turner received more than 250 submissions.
“ABFF is appreciative of Turner’s investment and commitment to the American Black Film Festival to explore ways to grow and bring visibility to a wide range of diverse perspectives behind the scenes” said Melanie Sharee, head of programming, ABFF. “We look forward to continuing our partnership with Turner to elevate emerging talent like Derege and Darrin.”
Harding, the winner for the drama entry, gave judges a twist in his script “Fulfillment.” Harding’s script provided a strong plot, writing and creative characters. Dortch was selected as the winner for comedy, given his strong writing and humor in his script “Short Changed.”
As part of their prize packages, both winners will receive a free trip to this year’s ABFF in Miami which takes place June 14-18, as well as a cash prize and the opportunity to meet with TBS and TNT programming executives.
“Diversity fuels our stories,” said Angela Santone, executive vice president and global chief human resources officer for Turner. “We would like to congratulate our winners and we’re looking forward to supporting them.”
As a premier sponsor of ABFF, Turner will support a variety of the organizations’ initiatives to foster diversity and inclusion within the film industry. During the festival, all registered ABFF attendees will have the opportunity to attend a recruitment fair, receive career coaching and grow writing and production skills directly from Turner executives. For more information on how to participate, please visit: www.abff.com.
