GALECA and Rotten Tomatoes partner for “Crimson Honors” scholarship, awarding financial support to underrepresented LGBTQ women and nonbinary college students of color in Southern California

GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics and Rotten Tomatoes, entertainment fans’ go-to resource for movie and TV recommendations, today announced the launch of The Crimson Honors, a new college film & TV criticism scholarship program for LGBTQ women and nonbinary students of color in Southern California pursuing a career in journalism or entertainment criticism. GALECA will award more than $6000 in financial assistance, funded by Rotten Tomatoes.

The Crimson Honors scholarship is open to qualifying community or state college students in the Southern California area who are seeking a career in entertainment criticism. A select panel of GALECA members will review and consider all student submissions of film/TV criticism and/or commentary featured in a campus media outlet in 2022. After deliberation, the panel will honor three students who demonstrate excellence in their craft. See list of criteria and eligibility below.

The grand prize winner will receive $3000, with two finalists each collecting $1,500. All three winners will also receive $100 Fandango and VUDU gift cards to watch movies in theaters or at home, and a complimentary yearlong GALECA membership, with opportunities to meet editors and Advisory Board members in the group.

Rotten Tomatoes’ support of GALECA’s Crimson Honors scholarship is the latest initiative in the brand’s Grants and Scholarships program, established in 2018 to increase inclusion in entertainment criticism and support the next generation of critics through donations to educational programs, film festivals’ inclusion initiatives, and other industry efforts.

Eligible candidates—including nonbinary persons or women of color who identify as gay, bisexual, transgender or queer—must be students studying journalism, cinema/TV studies or communications at a public two-year community or four-year state college in the Southern California area.

Applicants may submit to GALECA up to 3 reviews or essays relating to film and/or TV, each originally published or posted in 2022 by an official campus media offering (newspaper, magazine, website, radio station, podcast, TV/radio program). In addition, applicants must also include a resume as well as a personal 300-word statement on why they hope for a career as a critic and entertainment journalist.

Applicants can submit all materials here by the deadline of 11:59 p.m. PT on December 31, 2022. All entrants will be notified that their submissions were received with winners being announced on Monday February 27, 2023. 

CRITERIA, NOTES AND RULES

• Entries must be submitted to, and will be reviewed and judged by, GALECA.

• There are no entry fees.

• Students currently employed by a media outlet are not eligible. Internships, however, are fine.

• Non-English language submissions are eligible, but please include an English translation along with the original piece.

• Qualifying pieces must pertain to film and/or television and be critiques or essays (e.g., think pieces, commentaries).

• The films or programs covered in the student’s pieces may concern mainstream and/or LGBTQIA+- subject matter.

• Contestants are gay, bisexual, transgender women or queer of color, or nonbinary people of color, and are full-time students attending, or who have attended, a Southern California community (2-year) college or state university in 2022, studying journalism, communications or film/TV studies.

• They must include a resume and a cover letter noting their college/university, campus media outlet, the date(s) the submitted pieces were published/posted, their journalism teacher and/or name and contact information of the campus outlet’s editor/producer.

• The cover letter includes a 300-word statement on why a career in film/TV criticism and entertainment journalism is appealing.

• Applicants may submit one (1) to three (3) examples of their writing on film and/or TV that were published in an official campus publication, website, podcast, TV or radio program in 2022.

• Work can be attached in link, screenshot/PNG, PDF or JPEG form, with files named with contestant’s last name and a keyword for the subject matter.

• Video or audio segments must be two (2) to five (5) minutes in length. Please submit a script along with a link to the posted piece. Please note the timestamp of the beginning of your piece. If the video or audio of your is no longer posted, you may be sent via Dropbox or post on YouTube or Vimeo.

• Please note that materials sent will not be returned.

• Word documents or cut-and-pasted copy in email will not be accepted.

• Submissions must be sent by December 31, 2022.