Meryl Streep has always been a trailblazer in Hollywood. Lately, she’s been helping other women become their own trailblazers by advocating for women who work behind the scenes in film. During a panel discussion at Tribeca Film Festival in April, it was announced that Streep will fund a screenwriter’s lab for women writers. Called The Writers Lab, the program aims to provide more opportunities for women screenwriters over the age of 40. New York Women in Film and Television will run the lab alongside IRIS, a collective of women filmmakers. Influential women within the film industry are slated to participate as mentors during the program’s first year. Among these mentors are writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood, producer Caroline Kaplan, and writers Kristen Smith and Jessica Bendinger,Variety reports. From the NYWIFT website: “The only program of its kind, The Writers Lab evolved in recognition of the absence of the female voice in narrative film, along with the dearth of support for script development.”

Read More at  www.makers.com