Five Writers Named to Third PEAK Fellowship Class
Five emerging writers have been named to the third class of the PEAK Writers Fellowship, a television writing programme run by the Pasifika Entertainment Advancement Komiti, according to Variety. The new fellows are Kanani Koster, Erin Lau, Sean Oketani, Neil Tinkham and Pouariʻi Tanne.
"Pasifika" is a shared term for the Pacific Islander communities of the region. The fellowship selects writers whose work honours Pasifika experiences, and it is supported by Netflix. It was founded by Dana Ledoux Miller and is co-managed by Bryson Chun.
Three of the fellows have named projects. Koster is writing "Clinic Daze," Lau is working on "The Hālau," and Oketani is developing "[Pair]adise." Each fellow receives mentorship, professional development and networking aimed at building a career in television.
The 2026 mentors are Ryan Belezon, Jeffrey Gelber, Aminta Goyel, Lauren Thompson and Michelle Giannusa, according to the same report.
PEAK was founded in 2022, and its stated aim is to widen storytelling and representation for Micronesians, Melanesians and Polynesians, the three broad groupings of Pacific peoples. The first fellowship class, announced in July 2024, had six writers, according to Deadline.
The programme runs on a set calendar. The 2026 classes ran from August 31 through October 21, meeting twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays. Monday sessions run from 6:45pm to 9pm, according to the PEAK website.
The next deadline is the one that matters most for the writers. Final scripts are due on November 20, 2026. After that date, the fellows' work moves from the classroom and into the hands of the people who will read it next.
For anyone hoping to follow the programme, the pattern is clear. A small group is chosen each year, paired with working writers, and given a deadline. What happens to the scripts after November is not yet public.
