Wayne State University student Antal Zambo has been selected to receive the Writers Guild of America, East Foundation's (WGAE Foundation) Michael Collyer Memorial Fellowship in Screenwriting. He will receive his honors during the 62nd annual awards ceremony on Feb. 20 at New York's Hudson Theatre.

Antal Zambo

The fellowship, which is funded by the Charles and Lucille King Family Foundation, is awarded to a student who plans to pursue a career in screenwriting upon his/her undergraduate course of study. Zambo will receive a $10,000 stipend to write an original screenplay under the mentorship of prominent screenwriter and WGAE Foundation board member Marshall Brickman.

Zambo is a senior in the Film Studies program at Wayne State. He was born and raised in Detroit, where his grandparents emigrated from Lithuania immediately after World War II to work in the industrial plants. Both his father and his uncles worked on Detroit's automobile assembly lines. Lithuanian cultural traditions were observed within his family household and Zambo embraced both his Lithuanian and American cultural heritages.

Following graduation from high school, he traveled extensively throughout the country and returned to Detroit to attend college. His interest in film was sparked at a young age while watching "2001: A Spa ce Odyssey" and "Apocalypse Now", and he pursued that passion during his studies at Wayne State.

His fellowship project, When the Sparrows Come Home, is loosely based on an old Lithuanian folk tale, a reflection of his immigrant roots.

The goal of the Writers Guild of America, East Foundation is to cultivate new generations of voices that have previously been unheard. The Collyer Fellowship is focused on locating young screenwriters and guiding them along a successful career path.

Wayne State University is a premier urban research university offering more than 350 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 32,000 students.