Yalcin Kumeli: Director, filmmaker and producer in Los Angeles, California.

Yazar Külhanı-Writer's Forge ignites where stories sweat and words brew, a nascent crucible rooted in the heart of a Turkish hamam. The “Külhan”—the fire pit that heats the bath, transforming wood into steam with patient flame—lends us its soul. Paired with the “Writer's Forge,” where authors hammer raw narratives into art, we craft not steam, but smoke: a haze where a character’s trauma drifts through the room before blazing on screen.

Here, writing is no solitary craft. It stirs in silence but thrives in unity. We toil together over scripts: “Does this beat sag?” “Is this the act out?” “Is this character arcing or just spinning?” In the final draft, we don’t adjust punctuation—we sense its pulse. Our circle binds voices from varied journeys: the 36-year-old whose thrice-optioned series awaits its moment, the dreamer with one pilot, still murmuring “this could be Hulu,” lost amid streaming rebrands. Some have saluted the WGA, others mark Sundance by the stars. Yet, for all, writing is discipline, not duty—a relentless art.

We don’t pen short films in isolation; here, we play the long game. Series pilots, season arcs, features, characters carved to their core… We think like showrunners, intuiting a producer’s “yes”—yet never barter the story’s essence. Marketability diverges from gutting its soul; the latter perishes in our forge. We enter contests for visibility, chase festivals for the stage. Yet no prize rivals the rush of dismantling a scene and forging a perfect fit in the room. We write to captivate each other first, then the world.

We’re forthright: our budget is an ember, not a fire. We offer notes over pay, sentences over coffee—though coffee simmers here, Turkish or filtered, a debate still warming the Külhanı. A sharp note outvalues a slim check. For those weary of Hollywood’s “spec script” graveyard, yearning for genuine camaraderie in writing, this forge beckons. We don’t ask, “Is this character too dark?”—we ask, what gem hides in that shadow? We chase more story, not more light.

Yazar Külhanı-Writer's Forge doesn’t burn, but it rejects half-cooked scenes. Stories here don’t just take shape—they roast, crackling to life. Some endure beyond the flame, compressing like coal until a diamond shines from within. If you’ve scripted for three or four years, dream in screenplay format, grasp the weight of a scene on a character’s back without breaking them—and tire of solitary toil—bring your pen. Join the Yazar Külhanı-Writer's Forge. In Los Angeles’s vibrant pulse, let’s shape our stories in the fire. No pay, but the forge’s heat, the thrill of contests, the radiance of festivals, and one day, a producer’s “yes.” Step into the flame, for every epic tale begins in an oven.

Contact: writerforge34@gmail.com

Los Angeles