Black Magic

Cristin Stephens
2023-10-27

A diversity hire in a writer's room contends with the expectations of her boss at the cost of her identity.
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14 min

Black Magic is a traumedy that follows Alicia, a Black screenwriter, as she navigates her new staff writer position on a network drama. When she realizes that she’s nothing more than a fellowship diversity hire, Alicia tries to prove her worth to a room that must write in a "diverse" character to save their show. The character quickly devolves into little more than a trope, forcing Alicia to either compromise her hard-earned dream job or play nice with her colleagues and compromise herself. When she chooses the latter, she unwittingly embodies the character they’ve created.