WELCOME TO THE
2024 WOMEN'S LIST
Help us shine a bright light on the best screenplays and tv pilots written by women. We are thrilled to announce this year's selections! Thanks to all who entered and congratulations to those who earned a place on the list.
2024 WOMEN'S LIST SELECTIONS
The Women’s List 2024
FEATURES
(in alphabetical order)
Across Enemy Lines – Julia Bergeron
Contact: julia.bergeron@gmail.com
When a resilient WWII army nurse and her team are shot down over Nazi-occupied Albania in winter 1943, they make a harrowing escape over the treacherous Accursed Mountains and across hundreds of miles of enemy territory, relying on grit and the help of an Albanian opposition leader with his own agenda.
Dream Cast:
Theresa:
Thomasin McKenzie
Margaret Qualley
Florence Pugh
Claudia Jessie
Camden:
Rachel Zegler
Ariana Greenblat
Jenny Ortega
Bee:
Elle Fanning
Joey King
Cailee Spaeny
North:
Dominic Sessa,
George MacKay
Joseph Quinn
Flyboy:
Nicholas Galitzine
Tom Blyth
Ewan Mitchell
Savior:
Kelvin Harrison Jr.
Algee Smith
Asante Blackk
Jharrel Jerome
Jet:
Raymond Ablack
Fabien Frankel
Staz Nair
Addie and Esther – Annie Wood
Contact: TheWomensList@gmail.com
Addison, a sensitive teen artist, deals with the suicide of her mother by drawing and by searching for answers from a cantankerous eighty-five-year-old JuBu
(Jewish/Buddhist) yoga teacher she meets at the park.
Dream Cast:
Addison:
Odeya Rush
Esther:
Rhea Perlman
Authoress – Carolyn Kras
Contact: TheWomensList@gmail.com
Before she is a legend, Jane Austen is a struggling writer who has a complicated
romance with a mysterious sea captain who inspires her final novel, PERSUASION.
Dream cast:
Actors with a passion for stories about love and creativity.
Crow House – Ellen Ireland
Contact: eireland514@gmail.com
Alice is a washed-up former nun, full of regrets, who tutors a child with reading
trouble. They live in a new house on an old foundation that buries a tragedy, and
when evil seeps in and the child disappears, Alice learns that she’s not beyond
redemption after all -- it’s waiting for her at Crow House.
Dream Cast:
Alice Campbell:
Dakota Fanning
Henry Marsh:
Colin Hanks
Frannie Marsh:
Violet McGraw
Dare – Shea E. Butler
Contact: Shea.B1@outlook.com
In an ongoing game of “Dare,” a Beverly Hills rich kid finds himself on the mean streets of LA with no ID, no money, and no memory. His lifeline - a homeless teenage girl masquerading as a boy for her own safety, her eight-year-old brother, and a transvestite former Marine Medic, now a hooker. “Dare” is a first
love, coming-of-age story about accepting responsibility and the meaning of family, friendship, love, and tolerance.
DREAM CAST:
Mac:
Bella Ramsey
Chase Infiniti
Storm Reid
or an amazing unknown
Bax:
Tenzing Norgay Trainor
Jharrel Jerome
Milo Manheim
or an amazing unknown
Dave:
Coleman Domingo
Jeffrey Dean Morgan
Esai Morales
CeeCee:
Laverne Cox
MJ Rodriguez
Trace Lysette
Bill:
James Franco
Jeffrey Wright
Matthew McConaughey
Father Vincent:
JK Simmons,
Forrest Whitaker,
Obba Babatunde
Freaky Furday – Lisa Kors
Live Action Feature
Contact: lisamkors@gmail.com
Cat-astrophe ensues when a vain, pampered Corgi and a scrappy, feral cat switch bodies right before a high-stakes dog show.
Great With Kids – Leah Curney
Contact leah@leahcurney.com
Meg, a single mother of two, is just trying to get through the day – until an unconventional babysitter shakes up her household and sparks possibilities for success, parenting and partnership she thought she'd given up on...
Dream Cast:
Meg:
Carrie Coon
America Ferrera
Stephanie Beatriz
Kerry Washington
Eileen:
Jean Smart
Allison Janney
Lorraine Toussaint
Emma Thompson
Mary Sibyl Hall House - Naomi Brodkin
Contact: eric@gotham.com or ross@gotham.com
A stuck-in-the-past historian fights to save the house and legacy of an obscure 17th century writer by recruiting the subject’s great-great-great-great-great-great-nephew, serial online dater Gus, in this off-beat romantic comedy.
Dream Cast:
Kate:
Kristen Wiig
Gus:
Charlie Day
Natalia Rising - Donna Bonilla Wheeler
Contact: GNDPROD12@gmail.com
When a teen prodigy composer is squelched by her overprotective dad, she creates a new style of music with a vivacious singer and her psychic dog, in a win/lose battle for her autonomy.
DREAM CAST:
Natalia:
Latina/ Indigenous up and comer TBD
Annie:
Faith Hill
Sara Bareilles
Cynthia Erivo
Rebel Wilson
Laura Passina
Fiona Apple
Norman:
John Carroll Lynch
John Hawkes
Over The Hill – Laura Kemp
Contact: laura_m_kemp@hotmail.com
When two women ride into the Montana wilderness to scatter a loved one's ashes,
they must face their damaging past and death itself to earn a new shot at living.
Dream Cast:
Mojo:
Jamie Lee Curtis
Frances McDormand
Rosie:
Michelle Pfeiffer
Geena Davis
Toby:
Ben Foster
Aaron Paul
Pagans – Catherine McGrotty
Contact: catherinemcgrotty@gmail.com
Whilst planning her escape from the ‘Alcatraz’ of Magdalene Laundries, a
pregnant teen uncovers an unholy secret about the order of nuns watching over
her.
Seasons of the Dragon – Brusta Brown and John Mitchell Todd
BwritesTV@protonmail.com
Festivus4therestofus@protonmail.com
Four Chinese sisters survive the attack of the invading Japanese army during the Nanking Massacre of 1937. With nothing but their scars and their vengeance, the sisters find refuge behind the walls of a Buddhist Temple where a Shaolin Master trains them to avenge the death of their family; but when one embarks on a journey of revenge, you must dig two graves... They will dig far more than two.
Dream Cast:
Sook Yin:
Michelle Yeoh
Master Si-Sheng:
Jackie Chan
John Rabe:
Nicholas Hoult
Jiao-Long:
Ke Huy Quan
Summer of Diva Loca – Monica Moreno-Lapp
Contact: TheWomensList@gmail.com
When Avalon’s mom leaves her at the projects for the summer, Avalon (15) is determined to find a way out. In navigating this new world, Avalon didn’t count on meeting Gilberto (17) — a first love with complications.
Switch Track – Jenna Macari and Logan L. Russell
Contact: TheWomensList@gmail.com
A lone wolf photographer adventures west on Route 66 toward the life she’s always wanted after a fatal diagnosis numbers her days. Along the way she picks up an unlikely travel buddy - a suicidal, yet otherwise healthy, young graduate.
The Mercury 13 – Maria Burton
Contact: Mercury13film@gmail.com
The Mercury 13 scripted feature tells the story of little-known heroes of the early days of the Space Race: the women who were tested to be astronauts at the same time as the Mercury 7 male astronauts, as well as the visionary scientist who championed them - people with the Right Stuff at the wrong time.
Dream Cast:
Jackie Cochran:
Cate Blanchett
Jerry Cobb:
Saoirse Ronan
The Seahorse – Susan Brightbill
Contact: susanbrightbill04@gmail.com
A successful businesswoman’s well-ordered life is thrown into disarray when she’s forced to care for her estranged father, a notoriously difficult, acclaimed author in the early stages of dementia.
Dream Cast:
Campbell:
Rachel McAdams
Jennifer Aniston
Blake Lively
Carrie Coon
Carrie Mulligan
Kate Hudson
Anna Kendrick
Keri Russell
Kristin Wiig
Amanda Peet
Mandy Moore
Wells:
Kevin Kline
Jeff Bridges
John Goodman
Mandy Patinkin
Michael Douglas
Harrison Ford
Bryan Cranston
Michael Keaton
The Stratford Wife – Sarah E. Sinclair
Contact: TheWomensList@gmail.com
In Elizabethan England, a brilliant playwright enters into a devil's bargain with her fame-hungry husband to write plays under his name, but as the legend of William Shakespeare grows, she must fight him for creative control, even as she makes his name immortal.
The Surveillance of Ordinary Things – Susan Brunig
Contact: Sb.screenwritr@gmail.com
A middle-aged, suburban housewife in the midst of a dark, existential crisis decides to run away and end it all. But when she stumbles upon an unplugged community of creative misfits, she rediscovers the artist she once was.
Unimaginable – Paula Goldberg
Contact: welltoldgold@gmail.com
When a woman who has lost her purpose in life is tasked with delivering a gift to her estranged father, she suddenly travels back in time to the horrors of the Nazi occupation in Poland. There, she confronts the demons holding both their lives hostage.
Dream Cast:
Elizabeth Olsen
Margaret Qualley
Anya Taylor Joy
Scarlett Johansson
Upstaged – Cynthia Riddle
Contact: cindir21@hotmail.com
A tale of friendship, jealousy, and survival as a legendary actress and her best friend battle each other for fame and love in the cutthroat world of theater.
Dream Cast:
Saoirse Ronan
Alicia Vikander
Hailee Steinfeld
Rebecca Ferguson
Lea Seydoux
Warbirds – Chris Hulen
Contact: Chulen27@gmail.com
This high-flying WWII adventure follows a naive farm girl leaving the only life she's ever known to chase her dream of joining the elite Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs), only to discover that dream threatened when she falls for a fellow female recruit.
Dream Cast:
Ginny:
Maya Hawke
Victoria Pedretti
Maggie:
Charlotte Rothwell
Daisy Ridley
Georgia:
Joey King
Renee Rapp
Major Reeves:
Matt Bomer
Comm. Abernathy:
Jodie Foster
Olivia Coleman
Comm. Dodge:
Naomi Watts
Laura Dern
Willie:
Kaitlyn Dever
Patsy:
Jenna Ortega
Butch:
Beanie Feldstein
Emma:
Ella Hunt
Betty:
Rachel Brosnahan
Mouse:
Pauline Chalamet
When The Whale Comes – Pamela Winfrey
Contact: pamelawinfrey100@gmail.com
When a 70-year-old hoarder becomes friends with a 14-year-old dope dealer they surmount hauntings, violence, and lies to conquer their own personal demons.
TELEVISION
(in alphabetical order)
Act Two – Lynelle White
One-Hour Dramedy Series
Contact: lynelle135@gmail.com
Logline: A timid, 45 year-old data analyst who lives life vicariously through her daydreams, often to her own detriment, embarks on a true-life adventure to become a Hollywood screenwriter. THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY meets AMERICAN FICTION.
Dream Cast:
Sharon:
Yvette Nicole Brown
Regina Hall
Uzo Aduba
Henrietta:
Lynn Whitfield
Loretta Devine
Jackeé Harry
Raquel:
Kelly Rowland
Brandy Norwood
Keshia Knight Pulliam
Blood In the Water- Liz Tenan
One-Hour Drama Series
Contact: lizfin@gmail.com
When a dead Native woman surfaces at the Paradise Springs Indian Reservation, FBI Special Agent Chelsea Laforte can’t understand why the community won’t seek justice. She finds an unlikely ally in tribal outsider Samantha Deboda who has nothing left to lose. The two women must work together in order to expose the work of a nefarious organization hellbent on exploiting the secrets buried in the tribe’s bloodline. It’s MARE OF EASTTOWN meets WIND RIVER.
Dream Cast:
Chelsea
-
Lily Gladstone
-
Sarah Podemski
-
Tanaya Beatty
Samantha
-
Devery Jacobs
-
Amber Midthunder
Iris
-
Elva Guerra
-
Paulina Alexis
Genevieve
-
Robin Wright
-
Jennifer Garner
Choctaw Law – Kris Crenwelge
One-Hour Drama Series
Contact: kris@kriscrenwelge.com
When a disgraced attorney is forced home after her mother’s mysterious death, she partners with her estranged daughter, a by-the-book litigator, to save her Choctaw community from corrupt developers while uncovering family secrets and confronting her past mistakes.
Dream Cast:
Kate Chapman:
Kimberly Guerrero
Taylor Chapman:
Amber Midthunder
Jesse Sloan:
Michael Greyeyes
Carter McCann:
Adam Beach
Sharla Barnes:
Reese Witherspoon
Come to Jesus – Joy Gregory
Half-Hour Comedy Series
Contact: joygregory@mac.com
Delia Ann Harper is hiding out in the desert with her two traumatized teens after the televangelist empire she built with her husband, Don Harper, was brought down by betrayal, embezzlement and a sex scandal. A black comedy about crucifixion, resurrection and how hard it is to admit you fucked up.
Dream cast:
Jennifer Coolidge
Sam Rockwell
Colman Domingo
Two amazing teen actors no one’s heard of yet.
Esperanza – Jamee Decio
One-Hour Drama Series
Contact: TheWomensList@gmail.com
In a small New Mexico town ridden with crime, racism and misogyny, a newly elected Sheriff must reconcile herself to the unexpected return of her estranged Navajo daughter at the parole hearing of convicted killer, responsible for fracturing their relationship decades earlier.
Dream Cast:
Lydia Scott
Connie Nielsen
Ajei Scott
Lily Gladstone
5 Mics – Raqiyah Mays
One-Hour Drama Series
Contact: maryjane@echolakeentertainment.com
An ambitious student, reeling from her recent expulsion from Columbia University, secretly accepts an internship at a music magazine where she fights to survive the seductive and violent world of hip hop as she ascends the ranks to become the most powerful Editor-in-Chief in the industry.
Dream cast:
Young Sheila Knight:
Quvenzhané Wallis
Dayshuan Jackson:
Ashton Sanders
Lisa Nox:
Jennifer Hudson
Higher Ground – Maggie Greenwald
One-Hour Drama Series
Contact jackie@slosslaw.com
A nun with a gambling addiction agrees to foster the baby of a teen mother incarcerated in the prison where she works, in order to make sure the girl does not lose her baby. This incurs the wrath of the warden, upsetting the status quo in the prison and transforming the lives of everyone involved, including the other nuns in her convent.
Dream Cast:
Sister Joan:
Margo Martindale
Deputy Supervisor Davenport:
Lorraine Toussaint
Amber:
Millie Bobby Brown
Jenny Jacobs: Unlicensed – Victoria Gallant
One-Hour Dramedy Series
Contact: TheWomensList@gmail.com
In the middle of a millennial mid-life crisis and searching for meaning, Jenny Jacobs uses her superior internet sleuthing skills to become an alternative investigator in her hometown.
Dream Cast:
Jenny Jacobs:
Nichole Sakura
Jana Schmieding
Ego Nwodim
Devin Cook:
Scott Eastwood
Simu Liu
Manny Jacinto
Pilgrimage - Danielle Evenson and Heather Huntington
Half-Hour Comedy Series
Contact: danielleevenson1@gmail.com
hrhuntington@gmail.com
What if the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of 1620s England got stuck with the OGs of the patriarchy - the Puritans?
Dream Cast:
Ayo Edebiri
Michelle Buteau
Hugh Grant
Priceless – Betsy Nagler
One-Hour Drama Series
Contact: TheWomensList@gmail.com
While searching for the legendary Amber Room, Sotheby’s Worldwide Head of Antiquities and her team take on spies, thieves, cutthroat competitors, and personal demons, as they confront the question of who owns history.
The Lads – Mary-Lyn Chambers
One-Hour Drama Series
Contact: islandgirlfilms@gmail.com
Amid the violent anti-apartheid protests against the Springbok rugby tour in Wellington, New Zealand, in 1981, a male chauvinist's teen daughter vanishes, revealing a buried secret about his role in the suicide of a young gay violinist that threatens his marriage, friendships, and everything he thought he knew about his glory days on the rugby field. It's MARE OF EASTTOWN meets THE BEAR.
Dream Cast:
Keira Knightley
Sarah Snook
Jessica Gunning
Michelle Blundell
Florence Hartigan
Chris Rankin
Uli Latukefu
Sala Baker
Stacey Leilua
Frankie Adams
Up-and-coming teen Samoan and Caucasian actors
The Man from Elsewhere – Alli Rock
One-Hour Sci-Fi Series
Contact: TheWomensList@gmail.com
A washed-up Private Investigator must dive into a multiverse of historical what-ifs to track down his new client — but the deeper he goes, the more he questions the case, and the closer his personal demons get to catching up with him.
UAP – Jackie Zabel and Bryce Zabel
One-Hour Drama Series
Contact: jackiezabel@gmail.com
A group of Washington, D.C. insiders — — a hotshot Naval aviator who may have been abducted by aliens, an accidental president new to office, an ambitious staff director for the Senate Intelligence Committee, and the unconventional leader of the government’s new UAP investigation — — search for answers to the frightening still secret reality that UAP have become a significant threat, and figuring out what they are, who makes them, and what they want – fast! - could save the Earth.
White Hat – Sarah Granger
One-Hour Drama Series
Contact: TheWomensList@gmail.com
On the brink of losing their funding, a female led startup of ethical hackers chase a long shot government deal in an attempt to show competitors and investors that they have what it takes.
Dream Cast:
Lenna - Rebecca Fergusson
Michelle - Natasha Liu Bordizzo
Ben - Sebastian Stan
Kate - Kylie Bunbury
Denise - Vanessa Osman
Oscar - E.J. Bonilla
WHY THE WOMEN'S LIST?
Film and television are the most powerful forces shaping the perception of women worldwide, yet women play only a small role in creating that image. The fact that women have such a negligible voice in the entertainment industry is one of the most significant issues in our profession.
We want to throw the doors wide open for women writers, and create new opportunities for all female film and television professionals.
Most important, we want to change the narrative that women writers are less accomplished than their male counterparts and their stories less significant. Through your stories, we hope to create new role models for girls and women across the globe.
Our goal is to become the go-to resource for overlooked writers and their stories, and for the producers and directors looking to discover them.
THIS IS NOT
YET ANOTHER
SCREENPLAY COMPETITION: IT'S A TREASURE HUNT
Script competitions are great -- for the winners. But the odds are terrible: by their nature, the competitions are a crapshoot, only recognizing a handful of scripts out of hundreds or even thousands of submissions.
The Women's List won't be limited to half a dozen "winners": we're looking for as many outstanding scripts written by women as we can find. The final count could be 3 or 300.
HOW IT WILL WORK
Once a year, we will solicit scripts from women writers, both for feature scripts and original TV pilots. Submissions will be blind and all genres are welcome -- but they must be written in English or translated into English. Submissions will open on March 15, 2024 and close on
May 31, 2024. Please see Coverfly, https://writers.coverfly.com/competitions/view/the-womens-list for more details.
THUMBS UP.
OR
THUMBS DOWN.
Expert readers will cull any scripts that don't meet professional standards. Those that pass the test will be read by entertainment industry veterans, including writers, producers, directors and actors.
The scripts will be judged purely on quality. They don't need to portray all women in a positive light or pass the Bechdel test: they just have to be great stories, well told by women writers.
HOW WE WILL PROMOTE THE SCRIPTS
All successful scripts will be featured on our website. We will include loglines, synopses, and contact information so producers, directors, and agents can easily reach out to the writers.
We’ll promote The Women’s List on all available social media venues. Among them, Facebook, Instagram, BlueSky, etc., as well as in traditional media and on industry podcasts.
We plan to host professional gatherings that will connect the chosen writers to the people who can put their scripts into production, schedule table reads, and produce any other events that can further our goals of increasing the participation of women in the entertainment industry.
HOW TO APPLY
Look for us on Coverfly,
https://writers.coverfly.com/competitions/view/the-womens-list
and follow directions for submission.
Thanks to The Women's List, actors, producers, directors, agents and showrunners who are looking for well executed scripts, or talented women writers, can never again claim that they'd make them or hire them if only they could find them.
Now they can.
FREQUENTLY ASKED How many winners will there be? The Women’s List is not a contest; it’s a search for great scripts written by women. We’re not looking for one “winner” or even a handful of “winners”. Unlike many of the for-profit contests that have only one winner, writers will not be competing for a handful of slots. We’re looking for as many wonderful scripts as we can find. Who are your readers? We are recruiting industry professionals, writers, directors, actors and producers in various specialties to read the scripts. Because we’re looking for as many great scripts as we can find, writers are not competing against one another. If you’re a pro and want to help us uplift the female gaze, please let us know. We need you. Are you offering coverage or notes? No. We’re looking for highly polished scripts that are ready to shoot tomorrow. At that level, the only notes that matter are those of the people making the film or show. Why does The Women’s List matter? Film and television are the most powerful forces shaping the perception of women world-wide, yet women play only a minimal role in creating that perception. The fact that women have such a small voice in the entertainment industry is one of the most significant issues of our time. Perhaps that’s why women are considered less talented than men and less capable of taking on leadership roles. Why women are paid less than men. Why there’s still a glass ceiling in the c-suite. Why we’re not believed when we are sexually assaulted. Why we are not trusted to make decisions about their own bodies. Why there’s never been a female President of the United States. How can The Women’s List Help? The film and television industry is in flux. Women’s scripts and the female perspective are likely to be overlooked now more than ever. Having an agent or manager can be helpful, but if they’re not wild about your script or don’t have the contacts to get it to the right people, your work can end up being siloed away where the people who might love it can never find it. If producers, directors, and actors can’t find your script, they can’t make your script. If you don’t have representation, your only option is to submit to for-profit contests where you have no idea who is reading your script or even if they are. Many only offer prizes to one writer. We now have the added fear that they may be training AI on our scripts. What about Labs and Fellowships? Labs and fellowships can be wonderful and inspiring, but many women already have polished scripts. What they need is access to potential filmmakers. The Women’s List will make their scripts easy to find by featuring the script titles, loglines and contact information for the writer on our website, Facebook page and other social media platforms. We will repeatedly push the list to as many producers, directors, and actors as we can reach. If you have questions that we have not addressed here, please contact us. Or contact us anyway, we'd love to hear from you.
WHO WE ARE
We are writers, directors, producers, and actors who have been working on a way to bypass industry gatekeepers and give women writers the attention they deserve.
Get in Touch
