Guyana Animation Network (GAN) Inc. and its affiliate, GAN Studios, are launching a Screen & Scriptwriters Database for Animation, Film and TV.
(Eligible partnering producers, directors, networks, showrunners and studios will have exclusive access to animation, film and TV writing talent from Guyana and the Caribbean.)
The first database cohort runs from December 1 – 31, 2023. It is managed by GAN project leaders and co-creators, Amelia Clover and Xarielle Gittens.
The Guyana Animation Network (GAN) Inc. and GAN Studios are launching a Screen & Scriptwriters Database for talented Guyanese and Caribbean screen and scriptwriters in animation, film and TV. The database aims to help Guyanese and Caribbean writers, who are usually underrepresented within international animation, film and TV, to gain access to local and international screenwriting opportunities. It also aims to create a source of Caribbean and Guyanese talent for hire on national and international projects.
We intend to fulfil these aims by inviting eligible candidates to sign up through the database form. After receiving exclusive access to the database form link, eligible candidates will be prompted to answer a brief series of questions. The questions asked within the form will include requests for contact and portfolio-related information. Thereafter, candidates’ submissions will be vetted by our team. Candidates’ information will be presented to a select pool of producers, directors, showrunners, executives, studios and other industry professionals who are hiring talent.
This database initiative by GAN Inc. and GAN Studios is spearheaded and led by Amelia Clover and Xarielle Gittens. Clover and Gittens are passionate screenwriters and both past students of GAN’s Scriptwriting for Animation Workshops in 2022 and 2023. Clover and Gittens also recently represented GAN at the Animae Caribe Animation and New Media Festival, along with 4 other young people, where their idea for the database emerged. With the support of GAN’s Founder, Jubilanté Cutting, both Clover and Gittens hope to help showrunners, executives, and clients discover animation writers with a variety of backgrounds and experiences. They also intend to facilitate exposure and collaborative opportunities, foster learning exchanges and promote networking among Caribbean creators. Ultimately, the database initiative will become a leading tool utilized for cross-cultural productions by the local and global animation industry.
Disclaimer:
The database is managed by the Guyana Animation Network (GAN) Inc. and GAN Studios’ Scriptwriting and Programme teams and will be shared exclusively within our teams and to select third parties including (but not limited to) our stakeholders, investors, industry experts, producers, executives, showrunners, and talent recruiters. Reach out and connect with the GAN Inc. and GAN Studios’ teams to find out how you or your organisation can participate in this opportunity.
This database is the official property of the Guyana Animation Network (GAN) Inc. and GAN Studios and all rights are reserved to GAN Inc. and GAN Studios and its representatives to qualify or disqualify any individual/organisation/company/studio, with or without cause or reason, for participation or non-participation in our database project or other programming, selection for writing or other projects, entry to the database form, or access to its information. Contact us at [email protected] or [email protected].
Amelia Cover, Cartoon Consultant and Animation Writer; Project Lead, Writers Database at GAN
Xarielle Gittens, Afro-Caribbean Screenwriter, Specialises in TV, Animated Series and Dramedies, Project Lead, Writers Database at GAN
In our first cohort, all screen and scriptwriters applying to join our workforce Database will be selected through existing GAN programming and partners within the animation, film and TV spaces in Guyana and the Caribbean.
Reach out to the GAN Organising Team to find out how you can become involved with its organisation’s activities to apply.
This Database will be open from December 1 – 31, 2023 to eligible candidates.
If you are selected to join the database independently or through your organisation/company/studio, you will be notified to provide the following information for the database form:
Some of the GAN Programmes or Partnering Institutions eligible are:
Reach out to our Organising Team if you are interested in your organisation/company/studio becoming part of this listing.
Eligibility Criteria:
The opportunity to join the Database is open to eligible candidates who are past students of GAN Inc. and GAN Studios’ Scriptwriting Workshops or are screenwriters within existing partnering organizations, studios and companies of GAN. Eligible candidates must also be 18 years or older.
Notably, although the opportunity to join the database is open only to eligible candidates of legal working age, we invite our younger screenwriters to join our writing workshops and classes offered at the Guyana Animation Network (GAN) Inc. and GAN Studios, annually. Visit our social media pages to stay up-to-date on upcoming writers’ workshops.
English Language Criteria:
Please note that most of the opportunities in our first cohort for the database will be conducted in English. Eligible candidates will be accepted for the development of English language scripts with variations of Caribbean creole, dialect and slang translatable to their English equivalent. However, we will open further opportunities for diverse languages across the Caribbean and in Guyana.
Access to apply for the database in our first cohort is strictly on a selection basis. Unsolicited applications may not be considered for opportunities. Our database form should not be shared for general or uninvited applications. For partnering organizations, our database form should only be shared within your organization to eligible candidates. Candidates must only sign up if they would like to have their information shared with third parties and/or be contacted for potential job, exposure and education opportunities.
Accepted candidates will have their information shared within GAN and with producers, directors, studios, showrunners and other industry professionals looking to hire or train writing talent. By participating in our database, candidates permit GAN to share their information and data internally and with select third parties.
The database is managed by both GAN Inc. and GAN Studios’ teams. All rights are reserved to determine access to the information submitted by candidates.
Database Registration: December 1 – 31, 2023
For questions on partnerships, please contact our organizing team:
Amelia Clover, Project Lead, Writers Database at the Guyana Animation Network(GAN) Inc.- [email protected]
Xarielle Gittens, Project Lead, Writers Database at the Guyana Animation Network(GAN) Inc. – [email protected]
Jubilante Cutting, Chief Executive Officer and Founder at the Guyana Animation Network(GAN) Inc. – [email protected]
For business or animation collaboration queries, please contact:
GAN Inc. and GAN Studios Teams – [email protected]
Aim:
We are equipping Guyanese with the skills they need to take up immediate jobs in animation, film and TV.
Social Media:
To receive social media updates
Amelia Clover is a cartoon consultant, writer, and voice-over actor currently residing in Los Angeles, California.
As a cartoon consultant, Amelia has also helped develop preschool and bridge shows for Chatrone LLC and GIANT Animation, respectively. Amelia wrote for the Discovery Kids series, ”Ba Da Bean” and helped develop the “Cupcake Tree” episode for the Dreamworks hit show “Gabby’s Dollhouse”. The one-minute horror short Amelia wrote, produced, and acted in, “Another Mouth to Feed” won Honorable Mention in the 2022 Nyx Horror Collective 13 Minutes of Horror competition. In 2015, Amelia won the Nickelodeon Scripts First contest, developing a pilot with Nickelodeon Studios. Amelia has also written story games for app companies such as Pocket Gems “Episode” and bedtime stories for “Calm.com”. Amelia has taught improv comedy with the Rogue Theater Company to children in domestic abuse shelters and currently teaches improv comedy at M.I.’s Westside Comedy Theater and business improv with Laughter on Call. You can catch Amelia performing at the Youth Academy of Dramatic Arts with The Rockin’ Awesome Improv show and around Los Angeles on her improv team PUG.
In voice-over, Amelia has recorded commercials for giants such as Target, iTunes Radio, Google Play, Hilton Hotels, Nintendo, GNC, Sketchers, Spotify, and many, many more. Amelia has also done narration for companies such as PBS and PETA and lent her voice to the video games Contagion 2, Heroes of Newerth, and Strife to name a few. In animation, Amelia played the female lead, Parker, in the Lego series “Hidden Side”. Amelia is currently co-writing on the horror comedy feature, “Vicky’s Big Break” and developing a bridge show with GIANT Animation. Amelia considers herself a big thinker because she sees beyond labels and borders to help bring quality content to the animation world.
Xarielle is an Afro-Caribbean screenwriter, content writer, content creator and digital content producer born and raised in Guyana, South America. With a knack for the funnies and uplifting people’s spirits, Xarielle specialises in writing live-action and animated comedies. She also explores writing dramedies and action.
She has screened and read scripts for the Pasadena International Film Festival and Austin Film Festival 2023. Xarielle has also previously participated in the Global Film Industry Café Writers Lab Surgery, Trojan Horse Was A Unicorn (THU) Career Camp and Networking Event 2022 and the Unstoppable Screenwriting Course with Trevor L. Smith as a selected participant. She also participated in the following opportunities: as a shortlisted writer for Coverfly (Fall 2021) Pitch Week, a screenwriting internship with AAMBC Inc., and in the Platano Pipeline, an initiative by Blactina Media. Xarielle is a past student and participant in the Guyana Animation Network’s International Animation Writers Workshop 2022 with Mr. Richard Pursel and Dara Harper as mentors.
Xarielle holds a Certificate in Global Entrepreneurship and Innovation from the
University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA as part of the GE2 Global Entrepreneurship Workshop. She was selected as a Finalist and third-place winner in the UMass Lowell Global Venture Plan Competition. She is an awardee of numerous prose writing opportunities and innovation and entrepreneurship fellowships. Xarielle currently spends her time combining her love for writing and entrepreneurship into new ventures and opportunities.