Pasifika Entertainment Advancement Komiti unveiled the second cohort of its annual scholarship by advanced writers.
The cohort includes Benjamin Pola, Pingi Moli, Ciara Lacy, Lauren toʻomalatai and Conrad Lihilihi.
Supported by Netflix, the scholarship identifies and supports five writers in promising sale who create stories from a perspective of Pasifika (People of Pacific Islander) when they launch their career on television. Founded by the co-founder, director, screenwriter and showrunner Dana Ledoux Miller and co-managed by the director and screenwriter Bryson Chun, the initiative remains the only Hollywood writing program created by a unit Pasifika.
The scholarship is structured to guide emerging writers towards securing their first writing roles. Each participant will be twinned with an experienced industry mentor to help raise their original scripts in polished professional samples. Boursiers participate in a series of panels and conversations with leading voices in cinema and television, providing them with the tools and ideas necessary to thrive in the entertainment sector.
The scholarship holders will receive the mentorship of Migizi Pensoneau (“Reservation Dogs”, “Alien: Earth”), Dre Ryan (“Lady in the Lake”), Elsie Choi (CJ Enm America / Studio Dragon Global), Alex Lazarowich (“Alien resident”) and Jody Lambert (“People Like Us”).
The executive director and co-founder of master’s Kristian Fannene Schmidt said: “Dana has this gift of bringing out the best of people and she has been framed so many for so long, including our new co-managementary Bryson for example, so it’s really pleasant to see all the different ways in which these relationships have an individual impact and to strengthen work.” He added: “With regard to scholarship holders, we are all very impressed by the caliber of their narration and their grain. These are a reminder of the promise of our future. ”
The scholarship holders are below.
Benjamin Pola – “Kinsthip”
When a Samoan teenager is deposited to live with his Mormon uncle, he relies on his charm, his undeniable book and his Ride or Die grandmother to survive his new wacky house.
Pola is a proud Sāmoan writer of Long Beach, California. After obtaining his diploma in higher education at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism of the USC, he moved his attention to higher education – where he worked as an advisor and speaker – to script, inspired by the narration power that drives the media industry. Pola Currently Serves as the Social Media Manager and Editor/Writer at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and is Directing His Debut Short Film, “Tuimaseve,” Which Draws on His recent Experience of Receiving His High Chief Title from His Family’s Village of satupai’i, Samoa in 2024. The movie in 2024. The movie Will Premiere at the 2026 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival as a part of the Visual Communication’s Armed With A Camera (AWC) Fellowship.
Pingi Moli – “Côte -Nord”
The KUALIʻI Family, Rightful Heirs of Hawaiʻi’s Last Untouched Land On The North Shore, Wield Their Power Shipping Empire To Defend Their Ancestral Birthright Against Relentless Outside Forces, Including Land Developers, The US Government, and Global Crime To Claim What Has Been Theirs since Before Colonization, but when a brutal Act of Retribution Ignites a War with the Yakuza, the Family Must Navigate Crime, Politics, and betrayal to protect his heritage at all costs.
Moli is a first generation American -based writer, director, actor and tongue stuntman based in Los Angeles. Former football player in division I and a martial artist forever, he exploited his athletic history to enter the industry through waterfalls, with credits such as “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw” and “The Accountant 2.” He wrote, produced and played in his first short film “Vaha’a” the distance between “, which was presented at the Hawaii International Film Festival and returned to Los Angeles at Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.
Ciara Lacy – “Panté Panté”
A pet psychic with an acute and reluctant language – which prefers to be left alone – is stuck by translating the anxieties of the most neurotic pets in Brooklyn and their owners even more disturbed, while juggling with her day work in a high -end shop that certainly does not allow animals.
Lacy’s films showed up at Sundance and Berlinale as well as on platforms such as Netflix, PBS, ABC, Al Jazeera and the Criterion collection. In particular, she is the first Sundance Institute Merata Mita Fellow and her work was supported by Sundance, Tribeca, Princess Grace Foundation, the native Arts and Cultures Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Pacific Islanders in Communications and Firelight Media. Whether the content on which she works is a live action or an animated, a documentary or a fiction, a short length or features, Ciara aims to create stories that feel immediate, personal and revealing.
Lauren toʻomalatai – “La Guilde Moana”
After the death of his mother, Ruth Fauʻatasi finds himself in the rearfulness of a secret ocean society on Oʻahu who not only offers her answers on the past of her mother, but also holds truths on herself that she could never have imagined possible.
Toʻomalatai is a Sāmoan filmmaker and a programmer born in Kahuku, Hawai’i and raised in West Valley City, Utah. She is currently a main programmer for the Māsima Film Festival, which she co -founded in 2019 with the Salt Lake Film Society under the series of films on the island of Utah Pacific. Māsima specifically focuses on the support and presentation of films and filmmakers from the Pacific Island. As a writer, she was selected to participate in the Laboratory of Imaginenative 2021 scripting features where she finished an original scenario of horror features, “Blood in the Bowl”.
Conrad Lihilihi – “Aloha, please hold”
For guests, these are a dream vacation. For employees? It’s just another change in the longest show on earth: hospitality.
Lihilihi uses a genre to explore culture and social problems. Its use of comedy and horror offers a fresh and engaging perspective on cultural experiences. Notable projects include the Smithsonian series “Language of a Nation” and Sketch Comedy for the YouTube channel of Tunadun Films. He is currently an assistant editor -in -chief at Warner Brothers and a “mixed flat storytime” product, a YouTube channel dedicated to the promotion of literacy through the children’s books on the Pacific Island.