Writers Guild Initiative Sets April 19 Free Rebroadcast of All-Star Gala Livestream

The Writers Guild Initiative (WGI) will restream the all-star reading featured at its 2021 benefit gala. In This Together: Stories from the Workshops of the Writers Guild Initiative will stream for free on Monday, April 19, 2021 at 7:00pm EDT on the WGI's digital platforms. The reading was originally part of the WGI's annual benefit gala held on March 22nd.

The one-hour event is hosted by Lewis Black and features readings by Brooke Adams, Ato Blankson-Wood, Rachel Brosnahan, Juliana Canfield, Kemiyondo Coutinho, Melissa Fumero, Kathryn Hahn, Sunita Mani, Andrea Martin, Denis O'Hare, Matthew Rhys, Tony Shalhoub, Haaz Sleiman, Lois Smith, and Meryl Streep. These actors bring to life 11 selected shorts written by participants of the Writers Guild Initiative's writing workshops, including Covid-19 frontline medical staff. The workshops promote empowerment through writing for vulnerable populations.

The gala was first streamed on March 22nd to an audience of donors and invited guests as the WGI's annual fundraising event, which transitioned from an in-person to a virtual event due to the pandemic. The program was so well received that the WGI decided to bring these stories to a wider audience by making it available on April 19th on its Facebook and YouTube channels, as well as on its website.

"Amidst the challenges of the past year, the Writers Guild Initiative is still working to help vulnerable communities to find and amplify their voices and tell their stories. We have continued to have our workshops with longstanding partners and have expanded our reach to new groups. We are so excited to have the opportunity to share the incredible works created by our workshop participants through this virtual event and build support as we continue to grow our programs," said Writers Guild Initiative Executive Director Jenna Jackson. "We hope our making this great program available to everyone and free of charge will enable these stories to reach a much wider audience, as our participants so deserve to have their powerful stories heard."

"There's no greater gift to a writer than hearing Kathryn Hahn, Lois Smith, Andrea Martin, and Sunita Mani offer their interpretation of a piece you wrote. I'm speechless. I'll be forever indebted. This has been truly life changing," said Carrie Meyer, WGI writing workshop participant, whose work is one of the 11 stories read during the evening.