LGBTQ Entertainment Critics Relaunch GALECA’s Crimson Honors for Aspiring LGBTQ Journalists

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Three Public College Students Will Win $1000 Each in Scholarship Funds

GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics has re-launched its Crimson Honors, a college film & TV criticism contest for LGBTQ students seeking a career in entertainment journalism. GALECA will award a total of $3000 in financial assistance to the top three contenders in the program. Students from all disciplines and majors are encouraged to apply.

“As journalism and media face obstacles coming from all directions, we at GALECA are determined to make sure standout fledgling voices in our field are heard,” said board member Grace Han, who’s leading the project. “Advancing diversity is as critical as ever for Hollywood and beyond.” 

The Crimson Honors scholarship program is open to qualifying community or state college students, as well as 2024 graduates, in the United States and its territories. A select panel of GALECA members and advisory board members will review and consider all student submissions of film, TV and/or Broadway/Off-Broadway criticism and/or commentary featured in a campus media outlet and/or personal outlet sometime during March 2024 through March 20, 2025. After deliberation, the panel will honor the three entrants who have best demonstrated excellence in criticism/commentary. The scholarship contest’s criteria and eligibility requirements are listed below.

The honorees will receive $1000 each, along with two years of free membership in GALECA. The victors will also have opportunities to meet members such as editors and advisors in the organization, which counts over 500 established journalists covering film, TV and/or Broadway/Off-Broadway.

Applicants may submit up to three reviews or commentaries relating to film, TV and/or the New York stage published via official campus media (newspaper, magazine, website, radio station, podcast, TV program) and/or a self-run outlet. In addition, applicants must also include a resume as well as a 300-word statement on why they hope for a career as a critic and entertainment journalist.

Contest entrants may submit all materialsat Galeca.org/Crimson-Honorsby the deadline of 11:59 p.m. PT on March 20, 2025. Winners will be announced in late April, 2025. 

The three college students who received laurels in GALECA’s inaugural Crimson Honors, presented in 2023, have all risen the ranks in entertainment journalism. Ariana Martinez has written film reviews for The Wrap and has a monthly film column for Little Village, Iowa’s popular independent print and online magazine. Taila Lee works on contract for The Recording Academy’s Grammy Awards, writing online music features while helping coordinate the “Grammy U” membership program for fledgling music industry professionals. And Asha Pruitt is Junior Editor at SLUG, Utah’s legendary independent print and digital arts and community publication. 

Eligibility Criteria

• Current full-time undergraduate students or 2024 graduates at a public two-year community or four-year state college in the United States and its territories, who identify as gay, bisexual, transgender, nonbinary or queer.

• Students currently paid or employed by an external media outlet are not eligible. Credited internships are fine, however. 

• Non-print entries (radio, podcast, YouTube, etc.) will also be considered.

• Nonbinary persons of color, or women of color, are especially encouraged to apply.

Required Materials

• Applicants may submit one (1) to three (3) reviews and/or features relating to film, TV and/or Broadway/Off Broadway, each originally published or posted sometime during March 2024 through March 20, 2025. 

• 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. 

• Only up to one entry posted on external media outlets will be eligible. Otherwise, entries must be posted in an official campus media offering (e.g., newspaper, magazine, website, radio station, etc.) or a personal blog/podcast/YouTube channel.

• Applicants must also include a resume and a 300-word statement on why they hope for a career as a critic and entertainment journalist.

Other Rules and Notes

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

• Please note that materials sent will not be returned. 

• PDF and other formats must include “Last Name_Crimson Honors” in title.

• For audiovisual entries, please include relevant links in your application. Word documents or cut-and-pasted copy in email will not be accepted.

Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013. He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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