Montreal, December 18, 2024 – The call for applications for the 2025 YMA-TAAFI John Rooney Creator Scholarship is open now and until January 19, 2025! 

Since 2021 - and in memory of John Rooney - the Youth Media Alliance (YMA) and Toronto Animation Arts Festival International (TAAFI) are establishing the John Rooney Creator Fund to honor Rooney’s ardent support of LGBTQ2S+ talent in children’s, youth, and family animation. 

The YMA TAAFI John Rooney Creator Fund will launch 2 streams of professional development: Content Development ($5000 CAD) and Scriptwriting (2X $2500 CAD). One outstanding Canadian candidate will be selected for the content development stream while up to 2 candidates will be selected for the scriptwriting stream. The Fund enables scriptwriting stream recipients to participate in a writers’ summit for a television series, and for the content development winner to pitch their content at conferences of their choosing throughout the year. 

Content Development Stream (1 Creator): The winner will receive $5,000 (CAD) for mentorship from industry professionals and for creative development which can be spent on contracting professional resources for the creation of their concept, and for travel and registration costs which will allow the winner to network at conferences that align with their career goals. The objective of this stream is to expedite the winner’s journey to becoming an established content creator.  

Scriptwriting stream (2 Writers): Each successful candidate will be placed in a writing room for a show in production. The purpose of this placement is for the candidate to gain an understanding of the script writing process, how stories are developed for series, and if possible, contribute to the room creatively. The Fund will cover a maximum of 10 working days, at $250 per day, for a total allocation of $2,500 per writer. The objective of this stream is to expose a writer to a professional writer’s room to experience the dynamic between writers, story editors, commissioning broadcasters, and other participants in the scripting process.  

At the completion of each project, all grant recipients may be asked to write a brief overview of their experience, for use in reporting or as a YMA blog post. 

The application form is available on the WAN website at the following link: https://www.ymamj.org/en/scholarship-john-rooney   

The deadline for applications is January 19, 2025. 

The YMA wishes to thank the following financial partners who have made the creation of this fund possible: Andrew Shenkman, Apartment 11 Productions, Big Bad Boo Studios, Brenda Bisner, Christin Simms, Corus Entertainment, eOne, Eryk Casemiro, Fresh TV, Friends & Enemies, J.J. Johnson, Jason Bailey, Jessica McLaughlin, Little Engine Moving Pictures, marblemedia, Marie McCann, Rick Clodfelter, Sinking Ship Entertainment, Tammy Semen, and 9 Story Media Group Inc.