• by Tanya Gazdik , April 25, 2023

General Motors via its GM Incubator Fund is partnering with The Black List to support emerging diverse filmmakers.

The Writer-Driven Shorts Program will provide two individuals $100,000 each toward production of a film based on their feature scripts with use of GM vehicles in their films. The films will be submitted to major festivals to compete for 2024 awards consideration.

In alignment with GM’s sustainable, all-electric future and focus on diversity, films showcasing sustainability, electrification and/or diversity will be highly considered. Scripts with scenes of excessive violence, illegal drug or substance abuse, car crashes, unsafe driving and/or explicit sexual acts are out of the running.

The GM Incubator Fund focuses on making strategic investments to give underrepresented communities opportunities to create innovative content and storytelling, says Tarshena Armstrong, GM director of multicultural marketing and development. 

“We look to make a meaningful impact within local communities while fostering equitable representation,” Armstrong says in a statement. 

The relationship between GM and The Black List was brokered by UTA Entertainment and Culture Marketing, the brand consulting division of United Talent Agency that represents General Motors.

The Black List provides an annual survey of Hollywood executives' favorite unproduced screenplays. Since its founding in 2005,  at least 440 Black List scripts have been produced, grossing over $30 billion in box office ticket sales worldwide. 

Black List movies have won 54 Academy Awards from 267 nominations, including four of the last 12 Best Picture Oscars and 11 of the last 28 Best Screenplay Oscars.

Filmmakers, writers, directors and writer/director teams who have directed at least one narrative short film and have a completed, feature-length screenplay are eligible for the Writer-Driven Shorts program consideration via the Black List’s website through Aug. 15.

As part of a broader commitment to a more equitable Hollywood, the Black List and the GM Incubator Fund will also grant fee waivers for one free month of hosting and two free evaluations on blcklst.com to the first 200 writers from traditionally underrepresented communities.