Lilly Wachowski’s Anarchists United Sets Writers Discovery Fellows Amid Shifting Hollywood Landscape: “Making Television Looks Very Different”
The program “remains rooted in traditional television development,” but Wachowski says the org wants to also “focus on alternative and concurrent methods toward building a brand within the industry.”
Lilly Wachowski’s Anarchists United Foundation lined up its latest roster of fellowship recipients.
The organization — co-founded by the Matrix co-filmmaker to address inequity in the entertainment industry across film and television — has selected Emma Bruno, Erin Deason, Sarah Granger, Coquie Hughes and Chelsea Javier for its 2026 Writers Discovery Fellowship. The program officially launched May 4 and is sponsored this year by Amy Poehler’s Paper Kite Productions, Drew Goddard’s Goddard Textiles and Eric Heisserer’s Chronology.
Wachowski co-founded Anarchists United with Lawrence Mattis and Sarah Marie Flores, and they have helped steer the fellowship as a way to champion artistry, equity and underrepresented voices across film and TV. The program fully operates under Anarchists United Foundation after five years in partnership with Circle M+P (formerly Circle of Confusion).
Once again, it’s a six-month fellowship, but this year, the org didn’t just release the names via press release and pat itself on the back. Wachowski and team explained how they are pivoting and expanding the program’s scope in response to Hollywood’s shifting landscape to include the creator economy, digital storytelling, indie television and emerging media platforms. It “remains rooted in traditional television development” by covering mentorship, mock general meetings, pitch sessions, networking opportunities and the creation of submission-ready pilots, but there will be exposure beyond the studio system.
“The fellowship will still introduce the cohort to traditional pathways in the TV industry, but we also want to focus on alternative and concurrent methods toward building a brand within the industry,” Wachowski said in a statement. “Making television in 2026 looks very different than it did when we first launched this program.”
Fellows receive a $10,000 stipend and will be guided by a mentor roster that includes MACRO’s Fior Fabian, Atomic Monster’s Lizz Gezana, producer-manager Richard Gonzalez, Universal International Studios’ Bobbie Lucas and 3Pas Studios’ Jordan Rubio. The mentors are said to be donating their personal time as a way to “help shape the next generation of TV storytellers” and uplift the fellows.
L.A.-based Bruno works as an actor, writer and director with work that blends existential absurdist comedy with emotionally grounded storytelling. In addition to stage productions at Open Fist Theatre, she co-hosts the Life in Quarters podcast. Deason, a bisexual screenwriter and co-host of the weekly podcast This Feels Bi, has written genre-driven scripts that were recognized by ScreenCraft and Stage 32 x The Blood List competitions.
Granger draws from a background in technology and cybersecurity to create grounded sci-fi and drama. She’s a recipient of both the SFFILM Rainin Filmmakers with Disabilities grant and the Loreen Arbus Fellowship. Chicago filmmaker and entrepreneur Hughes is the founder of Pocket Set Studios and the nonprofit Lights Camera Youth Action. Javier is a multi-hyphenate filmmaker and performer whose dark comedy projects include Halloween Club and the feature Smile or Hug, which premiered at the Bentonville Film Festival.
