Coverfly was conceived, launched, and operated with the founding principle of helping writers. Navigating a career in the entertainment industry can be confusing, self-contradictory, defeating, and expensive. By building a platform that would provide writers with tools and insights into tracking their growth while providing an overall diagnostic of how others were responding to their material, we hoped it would offer clarity and opportunity.
But we always knew there needed to be a human component. In an industry built on relationships, there would never be a replacement for introductions, personal referrals, or finding the personality people can believe in. Coverfly’s Writer Development efforts started with one person, then another, then another, and then another until it became a full-fledged department, always with the focus being how we could bridge the gap between the talent of the writers on our platform and the opportunities in the industry. As our team and reach continued to grow, the sheer magnitude of what we saw writers accomplish in 2021 didn’t sink in until we took a step back to appreciate it.
- Over 300 writers signing with representation or landing their first paid opportunity
- Over 1,000 free consultation and career development provided to Coverfly writers
- Over 200 writers participating in Pitch Week
- Over 30 writers receiving episode credits on their series
Some of the most impressive stories within those high numbers seemed emblematic of what Coverfly is supposed to be about.
Providing Opportunity
Staffing positions in writers rooms feel like the elusive treasure for emerging writers and even their reps-- you’ve heard they’re out there, but never seem to find one. Not a problem for Kyra Jones, who met with an executive during Coverfly’s free Pitch Week while the exec was staffing a series and was a staff writer on a Hulu series a week later. She has since signed at a major management company, agency, and been staffed on an ABC series.
Championing Underrepresented Voices
We found industry members using Coverfly to discover the writers, projects, and voices that didn’t have an existing reliable discovery mechanism breaking them into the industry. So when we knew Netflix was looking for romcom features from new perspectives, Shiwani Srivastava’s WEDDING SEASON was at the top of our list. Since packaging the project at Netflix, the film has been co-produced with Imagine Entertainment, was shot in spring 2021 and will be released next year.
Providing Free Resource to Everyone
Of all the deals, signings, staffings, and options we saw, the milestone we were most proud of was the number of writers we were able to reach and help take the next step in their career regardless of what that step was. Having a platform you can turn to for guidance, support, and advocacy was what we always envisioned providing when we launched the site way back when. To have personally interacted with over a thousand, and provided feedback + opportunity to thousands more was easily the most exciting development of the past year.
Looking Ahead
As our team continues to grow, we will have more and more chances to connect with amazing writers and their projects. To those out there we haven’t had the chance to work with yet-- congrats on the goals you reached this past year, tackle the ones you didn’t next year, know Coverfly is here to help however we can, and always always always keep writing.
Looking forward to 2022.