Transgender Film Center Announces 2025-26 Career Development Lab Fellows

Deadline reported that the Transgender Film Center announced its 2025-26 Career Development Lab fellows. Ten film and television artists completed the 12-week professional accelerator, which is funded by Netflix and now in its second year. The cohort finished 12 in-person sessions and experiences along with eight virtual workshops.

All sessions were led by working film and television professionals including showrunners, writers, directors, producers, agents, and managers. Fellows met in Los Angeles during the fall for several days of meetings, seminars, and networking events. Weekly virtual workshops included industry leaders such as Lilly Wachowski and Mark Duplass.

The group also received a behind-the-scenes look at the Tribeca Film Festival with sessions on navigating the festival circuit. Each fellow will depart the program with a refined 90-day roadmap and receives a $15,000 honorarium. Fellow selection occurred through a highly competitive multi-step process.

Rodgers added that the Lab emphasizes practical skills, real relationships, and sustained momentum after graduation. The 2025-26 fellows are Stella Alfjaro, developing her debut narrative feature through Moodrealm Films; Dusty Austen, completing her newest feature Fiber Burn; Betti Platt, securing a premiere for her debut project Mones; Gugu Issa, developing her coming-of-age feature Khutbah with Sundance Institute support; Ocean Vashti Jude, expanding into television directing; Eva Reign, working toward producing and directing her first feature film; Chris Renfro, developing and pitching their first television series; James Tom, scripting his first feature, a trans-masculine bachelor-party buddy comedy; Jess Waters, currently a writers’ room PA on Majesty Season 1; and Riley Westling, expanding storytelling into feature film and created-by television.