{"id":15022,"date":"2026-07-23T20:55:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T15:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=15022"},"modified":"2026-07-23T20:55:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T15:55:11","slug":"create-the-writers-room-five-film-fridays-streaming-on-roku-channel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=15022","title":{"rendered":"Create the Writers Room &#8216;Five Film Fridays&#8217; Streaming on Roku Channel"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tCreate the Writers Room, a creative incubator for underrepresented storytellers, is expanding its ongoing partnership with <a href=\"https:\/\/variety.com\/t\/the-roku-channel\/\" id=\"auto-tag_the-roku-channel\" data-tag=\"the-roku-channel\">the Roku Channel<\/a>. Select films from CTWR\u2019s \u201cFive Film Fridays\u201d are streaming the Roku Channel, giving the filmmakers and talent exposure to the platform\u2019s 100 million subscribers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tCreate The Writers Room was founded in 2018 by filmmaker Rickey Castleberry with the mission to provide filmmakers with exhibition opportunities, as well as to equip them with the tools, education and industry insight necessary to retain creative control and build sustainable careers. \u201cFive Film Fridays\u201d is CTWR\u2019s bespoke screening series: each quarter, five standout short films or proof-of-concepts are handpicked by industry insiders and showcased. The initiative also features intimate panels and fireside chats centered on ownership, authorship and navigating the evolving entertainment landscape.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\t\u201cI was inspired to create Five Film Fridays as an outlet for creatives to network, build community, and truly understand the business behind their art,\u201d Castleberry said in a statement. \u201cOur collaboration with Roku reinforces our commitment to not only visibility \u2014 but education, ownership, and long-term creative control.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tCreate The Writers Room titles currently streaming on the Roku Channel include \u201cSincerely Brad,\u201d \u201cTrailer Trash Magic,\u201d \u201cThe Outtakes,\u201d \u201cThe Errand\u201d and \u201cThe Distinguished.\u201d Additional titles from CTWR\u2019s Five Film Fridays programming are slated to debut on the platform.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tThe June 26 edition of Five Film Fridays featured \u201cSee You Soon,\u201d written and directed by Jay Pendarvis Jr. and starring Asante Blackk and Isaiah John; \u201cHalfrican,\u201d created by Vic Mensa, directed by Edgar Esteves, and starring Mensa and Olly Sholotan; \u201cBubble Pop,\u201d written and directed by Aeryn Michelle Williams and starring Emmy Raver-Lampman, Cailyn Rice and Marc Forgot; \u201cMirage,\u201d written and directed by Jhanvi Motla, and starring Shavya Samala and Abhimanyu Katyal; and \u201cBukra,\u201d written and directed by Alex Aljouni, starring Lamitta Saloum and Laith Nakli. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tThe next installment of Five Film Fridays will take place on Oct. 16 in Los Angeles, with a special edition expanding to New York City. Submissions are now open and close on Sept. 25, and for the first time, CTWR is accepting feature-length films.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-margin-lr-auto  lrv-a-font-body-m   \">\n\tMaya Jackson, director of television development at 1Community, serves as head of programming for CTWR\u2019s \u201cFive Film Fridays\u201d; Dwayne Davis joins the initiative as creative operations manager. Castleberry is represented by Khalid Jordan at M88. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Create the Writers Room, a creative incubator for underrepresented storytellers, is expanding its ongoing partnership with the Roku Channel. Select films from CTWR\u2019s \u201cFive Film Fridays\u201d are streaming the Roku Channel, giving the filmmakers and talent exposure to the platform\u2019s 100 million subscribers. Create The Writers Room was founded in 2018 by filmmaker Rickey Castleberry&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15023,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/rickey-castleberry-create-the-writers-room.jpg?w=1000&h=563&crop=1","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15022\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}