The First Voices Television Writers Fund was founded by April Barnett, a writer, producer and longtime entertainment industry professional. Over the course of her career, she has worked with filmmakers and performers including Antoine Fuqua, Adam Shankman, Jeff Goldblum, Wendy McLendon-Covey and Taraji P. Henson. She has also written and produced three short films and received recognition for her screenwriting.
April became increasingly aware of how few Native American stories she was seeing on television. While groundbreaking series such as Reservation Dogs, Dark Winds and Rutherford Falls, along with productions such as Echo and Resident Alien, demonstrate the richness of Native storytelling and representation, they also highlight how rare those opportunities remain.
That realization led to the creation of the First Voices Television Writers Fund: a way to help emerging Native writers gain access to professional television-writing education and develop the stories they want to tell.
