The Black List and Sony Pictures Animation have selected Fredrick Leach as their first-ever Writers Program Fellow, per Deadline. Leach has the distinction of being the program’s inaugural fellow and will have the six-month luxury of working as an official in-house writer for Sony Pictures Animation. While under their tutelage, the talented filmmaker will compose dialogue for custom animation segments, dip into scripts on the development schedule, pitch original ideas, and anything else he’d like to tackle.
“We are very excited to hit the ground running with Fredrick for this inaugural writers program,” said Kristine Belson, president of Sony Pictures Animation. “Fredrick’s professional background, transitioning from teaching into screenwriting, gives him a perspective that is evident in his work, and his sensibilities and attitude make him a great fit for Sony Pictures Animation. We are grateful to our partners at The Black List for their efforts in helping us identify such a strong candidate for our program.”
The Sony Pictures Animation x Black List Writers Program’s genesis came in April of 2022. Its mission statement was to seek out and cultivate writers who align with Sony Pictures Animation’s multi-cultural international audience.
Texas native Fredrick Leach migrated to Los Angeles in 2015 following a three-year job teaching eighth-grade history via Teach For America. He broke into the entertainment business writing, directing, and editing for the web platform Black&SexyTV. Leach also wrote and directed the 2019 feature Caged Birds which screened at 2021’s Pan African Film Festival where it was awarded the jury prize for Best First Feature.
“What can I even say here? Results like this are why the Black List exists,” added Black List Founder Franklin Leonard. “Exceptional writer meets incredible opportunity, and the rest is history we’ll all hopefully get to watch quite soon. Congratulations to Fredrick, obviously, for being chosen, and congrats too to the entire Sony Pictures Animation team for selecting him to join their ranks.”
Source: Deadline.com
