ISA Student Fellows Are Ready To Launch Their Screenwriting Careers – 2026

The International Screenwriters Association created this new Student Fellowship program in an effort to uplift the next generation of screenwriters by introducing them to the industry and giving them access to resources to build their network. As part of our commitment to introducing them to the industry, we’re publishing a profile on the three winners and their projects.

Ree Harrison – I Want To Know What Love Is

Ree Harrison

Ree Harrison is a writer, producer, and creator dedicated to telling meaningful, faith-centered stories that explore family, identity, and real-life struggles. She is the founder of CedarVine Media and the creator of Choices, a short-form teen web series told through 60-second episodes that honestly portray the pressures and challenges teens face today. She is the creator of The Tides That Bind, an original audio drama about a family confronting prejudice, adversity, and the complexities of community.

In addition to her creative work, Ree is a homeschooling mom and currently works as a scopist. Her storytelling is driven by a passion for authentic, redemptive narratives that spark conversation and reflect everyday faith lived out in imperfect families.

What do you hope to achieve from this Fellowship?

I’m incredibly grateful for this opportunity. As an emerging writer, what I hope to gain most from this fellowship is guidance and growth. I want to continue refining my craft, strengthening the structure and long-term arc of this series, and learning how to position it effectively in the marketplace. I would value mentorship, honest feedback, and meaningful connections with industry professionals. My goal isn’t just to sell a script; it’s to build a sustainable writing career rooted in emotionally truthful stories.

What is the elevator pitch of your project?

Set in Washington, D.C., I Want to Know What Love Is follows Anaya, a light-skinned Black girl growing up amid family conflict, colorism, and emotional neglect. Spanning from the 1970s to the 2000s, the series explores her search for love, identity, and purpose in a world that often confuses attention with affection.

What is your personal connection to the story?

This story is deeply personal. It comes from observing and living through the quiet ways family dysfunction and unspoken pain shape a young woman’s understanding of herself. I’ve seen how instability, comparison, and emotional neglect can coexist with love, loyalty, and humor. Anaya’s question, “What is love?” is one I’ve wrestled with myself. The series reflects the tension between longing for love and not knowing what healthy love looks like. It’s an exploration of emotional inheritance and the courage it takes to break unhealthy patterns.

What are the unique and surprising aspects of your project that make it stand out? (i.e the hook)

The hook is emotional honesty. The series moves between childhood and adulthood, revealing how the moments we dismiss as small quietly shape the trajectory of our lives. When Anaya loses her job and her relationship begins to unravel, she’s forced to confront the deeper wounds rooted in her family history and the patterns she inherited. What makes the story stand out is its specificity: late-90s Washington, D.C., Black family life, church culture, music, humor, and contradiction. It carries a sense of nostalgia, but it doesn’t look away from the hard parts.

The show doesn’t dramatize trauma for effect. Instead, it sits in the quiet, ordinary moments that slowly shape who we become. The show asks a universal question through a culturally specific lens, and I think that emotional intimacy is its strength.

Who is your dream cast for the main characters?

I’m very open when it comes to casting. I would actually love to see fresh faces in many of the roles, especially Anaya. There’s something powerful about discovering new talent and allowing the audience to fully see the character without preconceived expectations.

That said, I have thought about a few actors who embody the emotional depth of the world. I could see someone like Morocco Omari in the role of Anaya’s father. For one of the aunts, I think Tasha Smith would be amazing.

Ultimately, I’m most interested in actors who can bring authenticity and emotional truth to these roles.

Shitty Year by Greer DuBois

Greer Dubois

Greer DuBois is a transmasculine/nonbinary writer from Chicago who specializes in dramedies about complex, messy women, trans people, and queers. Their playwriting has been seen at Forward Theater of Madison, the Milwaukee Chamber Theater, and the Loft Ensemble of Los Angeles.

What do you hope to achieve from this Fellowship?

I’m hoping to use this as an opportunity to further develop my script and really make it good. With the help of ISA’s different resources for feedback, I plan to work on making this a more producible project and to learn as much as I can from that process. I also hope to get ISA’s help with my career planning .I’m about to graduate, so that will be a huge help!

What is the elevator pitch of your project?

What is your personal connection to the story?

The biggest one is that something like this happened to me once. When I was in college, I read Anna Karenina and got obsessed with it, and then broke up with a partner and tried to get together with someone new because of how swept away by the book I was (this was quite a few years ago now, lol). But it’s also about my experience as a young adult trying to learn about long relationships, and the difficult trial and error process of figuring out if the person you are with is someone you want to spend your life with. That’s something I have thought a lot about over the past couple of years.

What are the unique and surprising aspects of your project that make it stand out?

This script is about queer women and has an almost entirely-female cast. I hope it speaks to people who love female-driven stories, and like thinking about marriage and relationships from female perspectives.

Who is your dream cast for the main characters?

Ooh that’s so hard! There’s so many people I could name. I guess my dream would be pretty much all of my favorite queer female actresses act in this or at least get a cameo: Alia Shawkat, Kate McKinnon, Clea DuVall… but I could go on and on.

The Park by Christiaan De Necker Smit

Christiaan De Necker Smit

What do you hope to achieve from this Fellowship?

The student fellowship is such an honor and my first big win. The fellowship is an opportunity to have my work seen by industry professionals and to eventually partner with the caliber of representative who can help me build my career.

What is the elevator pitch of your project?

“What happens when a broke, blue-collar waitress inherits a roadside diner after her employer passes away?” The Park tells the story of Debbie and her cohorts striving to keep a roadside diner alive in an America that is feverishly automating and leaving any sense of community behind. Think 2 Broke Girls meets Roseanne.

The story centers around a working-class mother-son duo who embark on this messy new business venture alongside their friend, Queenie. Each member brings their own level of attitude and chaos.

Episodes will tackle the everyday challenges of keeping this classic diner afloat – rising costs, local politics, technological automation, and personal struggles – all while trying to keep a family together. And though love is plentiful, resources are scarce.

It is a funny, deeply human portrait of resilience, set in one of the few spaces where people still gather in person. Because sometimes saving a place is more about saving those who patronize it.

What is your personal connection to the story?

I wrote this project as an homage to my love of sitcoms and my own experience growing up in a poor, working-class family. I started working at a roadside cafe in rural South Africa at 13 years old, serving alongside a lot of amazing people like my main characters.

I also had a single mom who worked every day of her life to provide for her children. My main character, Debbie, definitely has some strong elements of my mom, who sadly passed away in November 2024. As the show continues to develop, I want to put as much of my mom in Debbie as I possibly can.

What are the unique and surprising aspects of your project that make it stand out?

My aim with this show is to have a similar tone to the sitcom, MOM, which tackled hardship and struggles with nuance, care, and hilarity. Barely scraping by financially is no laughing matter, but it is the reality for so many people not only across America, but throughout the world. And if we can find the humor in the struggle, it might make things a little easier for people who are living it.

There is a lot of dry humor, quick quips, and sharp bites between the characters, and that is what makes it a great story. Through wit and retorts, the audience will come to see all the love between the characters.

Who is your dream cast for the main characters?

Dream cast would be someone like Katy Mixon from American Housewife as my lead, Debbie. Queenie would definitely be a comedian, someone like Jackie Fabulous. Wren would be a Pete Davidson type. Annie would have to be someone like Kimiko Glenn. And for our lovable, dimwitted friend of Wren, Rufus, someone like Jake T. Austin.

by Staff Writer

From our in-house editorial team.