4 days ago
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Pasifika Entertainment Advancement Komiti has unveiled the second cohort of its annual PEAK Writers Fellowship.
The cohort includes Benjamin Pola, Pingi Moli, Ciara Lacy, Lauren Toʻomalatai and Conrad Lihilihi.
Backed by Netflix, the fellowship identifies and supports five up-and-coming writers who create stories from a Pasifika (people of Pacific Islander descent) perspective as they launch their careers in television. Founded by PEAK Co-Founder, director, screenwriter, and showrunner Dana Ledoux Miller and co-managed by program director and screenwriter Bryson Chun, the initiative remains the only Hollywood writing program created by a Pasifika storyteller.
The fellowship is structured to guide emerging writers toward securing their first staff writing roles. Each participant will be matched with an experienced industry mentor to help elevate their original scripts into polished, professional samples. Fellows take part in a series of panels and conversations with leading voices in film and television, providing them with the tools and insights necessary to thrive in the entertainment business.
The fellows will receive mentorship from Migizi Pensoneau (“Reservation Dogs,” “Alien: Earth”), Dre Ryan (“Lady in the Lake”), Elsie Choi (CJ ENM America/Studio Dragon Global), Alex Lazarowich (“Resident Alien”), and Jody Lambert (“People Like Us”).
PEAK executive director and co-founder Kristian Fanene Schmidt said, “Dana has that gift of bringing out the best in people and she’s mentored so many of us for so long, including our new co-manager Bryson for example, so it’s really nice seeing all the different ways these relationships impact each individual and reinforce the work.” He added, “As far as the fellows go, we’re all very impressed with the caliber of their storytelling and their grit. They’re a reminder of how promising our future is.”
The fellows are below.
Benjamin Pola – “Kinship”
When a Samoan teenager is dropped off to live with his Mormon uncle, he relies on his charm, undeniable book-smarts and ride-or-die grandma to survive his zany new home.
Pola is a proud Sāmoan writer from Long Beach, CA. After earning his graduate degree from USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, he shifted his focus from higher education – where he worked as an advisor and lecturer – to screenwriting, inspired by the storytelling power that drives the media industry. Pola currently serves as the social media manager and editor/writer at the USC School of Cinematic Arts and is directing his debut short film, “Tuimaseve,” which draws on his recent experience of receiving his high chief title from his family’s village of Satupaitea in Savai’i, Samoa in 2024. The film will premiere at the 2026 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival as a part of the Visual Communication’s Armed With A Camera (AWC) Fellowship.
Pingi Moli – “North Shore”
The Kualiʻi family, rightful heirs of Hawaiʻi’s last untouched land on the North Shore, wield their powerful shipping empire to defend their ancestral birthright against relentless outside forces, including land developers, the U.S. government, and global crime syndicates, who seek to claim what has been theirs since before colonization, but when a brutal act of retribution ignites a war with the Yakuza, the family must navigate crime, politics, and betrayal to protect their legacy at any cost.
Moli is a first-generation Tongan American writer, director, actor, and stunt performer based in Los Angeles. A former Division I football player and lifelong martial artist, he leveraged his athletic background to break into the industry through stunts, with credits including “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw,” and “The Accountant 2.” He wrote, directed, and starred in his debut short film “Vaha‘a” The Distance Between,” which premiered at the Hawai’i International Film Festival and will make its Los Angeles premiere at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.
Ciara Lacy – “Pet Psychic”
A sharp-tongued, reluctant pet psychic—who’d rather be left alone—finds herself stuck translating the anxieties of Brooklyn’s most neurotic pets and their even more unhinged owners, all while juggling her day job at a high-end boutique that definitely does not allow animals.
Lacy’s films have shown at Sundance and Berlinale as well as on platforms including Netflix, PBS, ABC, Al Jazeera, and the Criterion Collection. Notably, she is the inaugural Sundance Institute Merata Mita Fellow and her work has been supported by Sundance, Tribeca, the Princess Grace Foundation, the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, Pacific Islanders in Communications, and Firelight Media. Whether the content she is working on is live action or animated, documentary or fiction, short or feature length, Ciara aims to craft stories that feel immediate, personal, and revelatory.
Lauren Toʻomalatai – “The Moana Guild”
After the death of her mother, Ruth Faʻatasi finds herself the unsuspecting recruit of a secret oceanic society on Oʻahu that not only offers her answers about her mother’s past but also holds truths about herself that she could’ve never imagined possible.
Toʻomalatai is a Sāmoan filmmaker and programmer born in Kahuku, Hawai’i and raised in West Valley City, Utah. She currently serves as lead programmer for the Māsima Film Festival, which she co-founded in 2019 with the Salt Lake Film Society under the Utah Pacific Island Film Series. Māsima specifically focuses on supporting and showcasing Pacific Island films and filmmakers. As a writer, she was selected to participate in imagineNATIVE’s 2021 Screenwriting Features Lab where she completed an original horror feature screenplay, “Blood in the Bowl.”
Conrad Lihilihi – “Aloha, Please Hold”
For guests, it’s a dream vacation. For the employees? It’s just another shift in the longest-running show on Earth: hospitality.
Lihilihi utilizes genre to explore culture and social issues. His use of comedy and horror offers a fresh and engaging perspective on cultural experiences. Notable projects include the Smithsonian docu-series “Language of a Nation” and sketch comedy for the Tuntadun Films YouTube channel. He currently is an assistant editor at Warner Brothers and produces “Mixed Plate Storytime,” a YouTube channel dedicated to promoting literacy through Pacific Island-based children’s books.
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