A jury of seven has announced Patty Carey-Perazzo and Robin Rose Singer as the winners of NYC Media and the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema’s new script-writing competition for work that showcases stories by, for or about women.
The winners’ scripts — “Half Life” and “Adult Behavior,” respectively — will be developed into pilots to air on NYC Media, the New York City broadcast network that reaches 18 million. One of the two winning pilots will be selected to receive four additional episodes that will also air on NYC Media in the summer of 2018.
Teams of graduate students from Brooklyn College’s City-funded Feirstein Graduate School will work to bring Carey-Perazzo and Singer’s scripts to life.
“I’ve been working in film and television production right here in NYC for over 20 years, but I’ve always worked on someone else’s show,” said Carey-Perazzo, who took time out from her day job as a location manager to write her script. “To have this opportunity to break through to another level and see my own project come to fruition means everything to me.”
Carey-Perazzo’s “Half-Life” explores a working mom from Manhattan’s attempts to manage her home life as a mother while fulfilling the expectations of her production job and realizing her own creative ambitions. “Adult Behavior” focuses on a Kansas-born nurse who recently relocated to work at a Bronx senior living facility and is struggling to cope in a different world.
The competition, established to highlight women’s experiences and promote the work of women in the entertainment industry, is part of a series of new initiatives from the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME) targeting the under-representation of women in film, theater, and television.
MOME also has several other programs in place to expand inclusion in the arts sector, including the Made in NY Writers Room, a mentorship program for TV writers from diverse backgrounds, and the creation of a $5 million women filmmakers fund.
