When the Twilight film series ended, many people who are not readers of this site were despondent. “No!” they cried, as they rent their garments and gazed into the blackness of an unfeeling universe. How were they supposed to go on without the continuing cinematic adventures of the werewolf that can’t keep his shirt on, and the sullen girl, and the vampires that sparkled like diamonds? Oh sure, there was work, and religion, and politics, but they were all but shabby substitutes for the life-affirming thrill of watching Twilight adaptations. 

Twilight fans desperately seeking more of what they love and what puzzles everyone else are in for a treat, however, thanks to a project called The Storytellers: New Voices Of The Twilight Saga. As we previously reported when the project was launched last October, The Storytellers aims to encourage new voices by awarding six female screenwriters over the age of 13 the opportunity to write short-film prequels to the films. In other words, each will take place before sourpuss protagonist Bella arrives in Washington and begins moping about sullenly in ways that prove irresistible to lycanthropes and undead blood-suckers alike. 

Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the winning scripts for the project have been chosen by Twilight author Stephenie Meyer, Lionsgate, Women In Film, Facebook, and Volvo, and can be downloaded and read online here, if you’re just dying for a quick Twilight fix. The next phase in the project is selecting directors who will transform the winning screenplays into proper short films that will run on Facebook and net the winning screenwriters a modest payday, as well as an opportunity to get their foot in the door. Lionsgate is ponying up almost half a million to fund the project, which will keep Twilight going in lieu of feature-length films. 

As we’ve recently noted, Fifty Shades Of Grey began life as Twilight fan fiction before writer E.L. James was forced to tweak the names and transform it into an ostensibly original piece of erotic fiction. So the rewards for being able to write new and exciting adventures for characters rooted in the Twilight saga are potentially a lot greater than anyone could have possibly imagined.