Film alum Ivan Rome ’24 has been selected for the 2025 class of the Black Boy Writes / Black Girl Writes Mentorship Initiative for emerging voices.
Rome is a filmmaker from Columbus, Georgia who brings a passion for Black culture and a helping of “Southern flavor” to his work. His films have played at several venues, including the Nashville Film Festival and Atlanta Film Festival. His latest short, TikTok Challenged, about a Grandma pursuing internet fame with the help of her grandson, even screened on American Airlines flights. During his time at Columbia, Rome was also the inaugural recipient of the Bobby Kashif Cox ’12 Memorial Scholarship, established in honor of the young filmmaker who died in 2017.
Created to champion pre-WGA (Writers Guild of America) Black screenwriters, the Black Boy Writes / Black Girl Writes Mentorship Initiative features a yearlong mentorship including monthly writing workshops, round tables with industry professionals, and an opportunity to meet with agents and managers at Culture Creative Entertainment and M88.
Rome joins nine other fellows in a cohort of five men and five women. The mentors include screenwriters Jackie Penn (4400), Andre J. Ferguson (Power Book II: Ghost), and Cynthia Adarkwa (Saint X). Black Boy Writes Media was founded in 2020 by Mike Gauyo, a writer on Netflix comedy series Ginny & Georgia, which returns for Season 3 this summer.
“We’re thrilled to welcome the latest group of mentees,” said Gauyo, in a statement to Deadline. “Their varied perspectives and diverse backgrounds are just what this industry needs.”
See the full list of this year’s fellows here.
