Letter from ScreenCraft Fellowship Winner Mark Stasenko

As part of our ongoing Letters from Past ScreenCraft Winners series, our 2015 ScreenCraft Fellowship winner Mark Stasenko shares some thoughts on his experience.  Since winning ScreenCraft, Mark has gone on to staff as a TV writer for Netflix, Amazon and Apple TV+, and he's sold projects to major studios. This letter was written in 2020. Update below!

Dear Writers,

You know that scene in the film Back to the Future II where Doc Brown explains that the time continuum had been disrupted creating this new sequence of events that resulted in some sort of alternate reality? And then he gives us visual movie exposition of that complex thought by drawing a line on the chalkboard representing their timeline and then showing that at some point they split off onto a new line on the chalkboard.

Remember that? Well for me, the point where I split off onto a new line on the chalkboard: that was winning the ScreenCraft Fellowship back in 2015 when I was an aspiring screenwriter.

Put your future on the right track with the ScreenCraft Fellowship!

Let’s start at this point on my timeline today -- Right now I just finished a staff writing job on a critically acclaimed Netflix series, a studio just acquired my TV pilot script, I have 3 agents at UTA (two TV and one feature agent) who worked hard to make that happen, and one incredible manager at 3 Arts who has been behind me 100% to make every little success possible. My manager has developed my voice, been a creative champion for me, and has fought for me and my writing every step of the way. And if we trace the timeline back, we can see that it is John Rhodes and Cameron Cubbison of ScreenCraft who discovered this writing sample I had submitted for the Fellowship, chosen me as one of the winners, and made the introduction to my manager.

The ScreenCraft Fellowship week was insane -- we met with studio executives, Academy Award-winners, managers, agents, everyone. It was also an incredible learning experience. It honed my pitching, gave me insights into the business of Hollywood, and gave me confidence in the room. But for me, what really put me onto a different timeline, one where I was going to be a working writer, was that introduction to my manager. But that was no accident or coincidence. John and Cameron spend so much time reading the ScreenCraft Fellows, working with them to put together a specific plan, and making critical introductions to the industry. For them, it’s not about if they’re going to connect their writers to that person in the industry who can carry them to the next level, it’s how. It’s why you may have seen emails going out saying “Every ScreenCraft Fellowship winner signed last year.” It’s why two years after winning I decided to join John and Cameron as a partner at ScreenCraft to be a resource for writers.

"Finding that door that opens into a career as a writer is a long, difficult search. For me that meant there were a lot of specs never read by the industry, a lot of network events I felt a little awkward at, a lot of competition placements that didn't always feel impactful... and then there was the ScreenCraft Fellowship win [in 2015]. It wasn't until that win that it felt like door I had been searching for was opened, because it was through the ScreenCraft Fellowship that I was introduced to my current manager who has been a champion for my writing and career ever since. Winning the fellowship wasn't just about an award; it was about meetings and connections with execs, producers, and managers who actually wanted to meet with the winners.

Since that 2015 win, it's been a long journey -- but that was the starting point. While it still took a few years to get that first paid writing job, since then I've staffed in four rooms for Netflix, Apple TV, and Amazon, I've watched shows air that I've written for (American Vandal, WeCrashed), I've been promoted to Supervising Producer, I've made deals for my own TV content with three different studios, and have been hired for an OWA for a big action film. Without ScreenCraft opening that first, critical door, all of those opportunities would've been passed me by. I'm forever grateful to ScreenCraft for making those introductions and opening that ever-elusive door."

To anyone who loves writing and is committed to telling stories, there is going to be that moment where the timeline splits and it puts us down that path of being a working, professional writer. And there are so many fantastic ways writers create their own futures where their stories are told on the screen. For me, the ScreenCraft Fellowship was what made that possible. And for you reading this letter, it will be the ScreenCraft Fellowship that makes that possible. From one ScreenCraft Fellow to hopefully the next, I’d highly recommend you give it a shot.

Happy Writing,

Mark Stasenko

Mark won the ScreenCraft Fellowship in 2015, where he was introduced to his manager. He went on to write for a successful Netflix series, an Amazon series and a series on Apple TV+. He has also sold TV shows to two different studios.

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