.svg){kind=logo}
.svg)
YMA TAAFI JOHN ROONEY CREATOR SCHOLARSHIP
In memory of John Rooney the Youth Media Alliance and TAAFI have established the John Rooney Creator Fund to support LGBTQ2S+ talent in children's, youth and family animation.
TWO STREAMS OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
One outstanding Canadian candidate will be selected for the content development stream while up to two (2) candidates will be selected for the scriptwriting stream. The Fund enables scriptwriting stream recipients to participate in a writers’ summit for a television series, and for the content development winner to pitch their content at conferences of their choosing throughout the year.
- CONTENT DEVELOPMENT (1 Creator): The winner will receive $5,000 (CAD) for mentorship from industry professionals for creative development which can be spent on contracting professional resources for the creation of their concept and for travel and registration costs which will allow the winner to network at conferences that align with their career goals. The objective of this stream is to expedite the winner’s journey to becoming an established content creator.
- SCRIPTWRITING (2 Writers): Each successful candidate will be placed in a writing room for a show in production. The purpose of this placement is for the candidate to gain an understanding of the script writing process, how stories are developed for series, and if possible, contribute to the room creatively. The Fund will cover a maximum of 10 working days, at $250 per day, for a total allocation of $2,500 per writer. The objective of this stream is to expose a writer to a professional writer’s room to experience the dynamic between writers, story editors, commissioning broadcasters and other participants in the scripting process.
At the completion of each project, all grant recipients may be asked to write a brief overview of their experience, for use in reporting or as a YMA blog post.
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Opens Dec 20 2023 to January 21 2024
Submit an application - scriptwriter Submit an application - content creator
Cindy holds an MFA from the Columbia University Film Production Program (Creative Producing Concentrate) and has been the writer and producer of several creative projects including advertising, corporate videos, short films, and animated productions in Taiwan, China, the US, and Canada. Her main inspiration comes from the touching response the five-year-old niece of a friend had when she gave her a DVD copy of her own puppetry short The Lion Paradise as the child was going through the traumatizing experience of her parents’ divorce. Moving to Canada at the age of 17, Cindy is blessed with an outsider’s perspective, cultivating a perpetual yearning for a sense of belonging that resonates with so many immigrant children in Canada. 
