About
ABOUT THE COLLECTIVE
Pre-WGA screenwriter, Layla Soileau, formed the collective on Twitter in June 2021 after reading an Open Letter to Hollywood by the WGA West LGBTQ+ Writers’ Committee. In order to fight LGBTQIA+ discrimination and exclusion in the entertainment industry, we must know each other and know each other’s writing so that we can lift each other up when opportunity knocks.
The group meets up every month on Zoom. We also have a Slack group where everyone can keep in touch asynchronously. Smaller writing circles are forming within the group to offer more personal support and feedback.
Pride Screenwriting Collective is free to join and is operated and organized by volunteers.
Our Mission
The Pride Screenwriting Collective’s mission is to build an international community of screenwriters in order to champion, advocate for, and promote up-and-coming LGBTQIA+ talent.
Social MEdia
Founders
Aiko Hilkinger (she/they)
Aiko Hilkinger is an award-winning, queer, screenwriter of color from Colombia. Hilkinger writes magical stories, blending the past and future, to create new worlds filled with diverse characters that children and teenagers can relate to and see themselves represented in. Her goal is to be a commercial animation writer, who pushes for diversity and inclusion in her stories.
Layla Soileau (she/her)
Layla’s screenwriting is fueled by her experiences growing up as a closeted, gender non-conforming queer in a loud Catholic, Cajun family and learning to survive as an out adult in the American South. Her work explores themes of family, queerness, race, class, grief, and gender identity. Layla is committed to bringing more diverse voices and characters to Hollywood through screenwriting and community-building.