Yahoo Lifestyle WGA East Reveals 2024 Showrunner Academy Graduates
EXCLUSIVE: The Writers Guild of America East has a new class of Showrunner Academy graduates.
The 2024 class includes Radha Blank, Eleanor Burgess, Dominic Colón, Grainger David, Gerry de Leon, Kate Erickson, Gina Gionfriddo, Eliot Glazer, Eric Anthony Glover, Leah Gotcsik, Joseph Hampton, Christina Kallas, Nambi E. Kelley, Greg Lisi, Ted Malawer, Tim Mason, M Raven Metzner, Nathan Min, Adam Whitney Nichols, Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu, Charlie Oh, Celeste Parr, Jacquelyn Reingold, Dan Perlman, Katie Rich, Zach Smilovitz, Lauren Ashley Smith, Iturri Sosa, Jim Strouse and Mfoniso Udofia.
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The WGAE’s Showrunner Academy is a training program that is designed for upper-level writers to hone their skills “to become successful showrunners and leaders in today’s television industry.”
The Academy is also “specific to the unique landscape and needs of the East Coast” in the instruction that it provides.
The full list of graduates and their bios are below.
Radha Blank is a Director, Playwright, TV Writer, Performer and proud Native New Yorker who The New York Times has hailed as a ‘brilliant filmmaker’. Blank’s first feature film, THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VERSION, was one of the most acclaimed debuts of 2020 for which she was awarded The Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Dramatic Directing Award, The Sundance Vanguard Award and The National Board of Review’s Spotlight Award. The film was placed on NBR’s highly regarded Top Films of 2020 list and also placed Radha on Variety’s “10 Directors to Watch” list that same year. Then in 2021, THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VERSION garnered The Gotham Awards’ Best Screenplay Award, The NAACP Image Award for Best Writing in a Motion Picture, The New York Film Critics Circle’s Best First Film, The Toronto Film Critics Award for Best First Film, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association’s New Generation Award, The Black Film Critics Circle’s Rising Star Award, The African American Film Critics Association’s Award for Breakout Performance and The San Diego Film Critics Society’s Awards for both Breakthrough Artist and Best Comedic Performance. Distinguished nominations for TTHE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VERSION included The DGA’s 2021 Outstanding Directorial Achievement of a First-Time Feature Film Director, The 2021 BAFTAs Leading Actress Award and The 2021 Independent Spirit Award for Best First Film. In 2021, THE FORTY-YEAR-OLD VERSION also made its New York City 35mm debut at The Paris Theater where Radha made history as the first Black Woman director showcased in the cinema house’s 75-year history. Radha has had success in the world of theater and television as well. A Helen Merrill Playwriting Award recipient, Radha’s acclaimed play Seed was deemed “fresh, lively…and poetic” by The Huffington Post. And her television writing credits include hit shows EMPIRE (Fox) and SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT (Netflix). In 2022, alongside luminary directors, Martin Scorsese, Tom Ford, Chloe Zhao and Julie Dash, Radha was invited by The Met Costume Institute to reimagine one of its period rooms for the ‘In America’ exhibit. Radha’s original piece ‘We Good. Thx!’ incorporated a 16-foot long braided wig as a signifier of Black Women as often-missing contributors to American culture. The piece gained critical acclaim and marked Radha’s foray into the fine arts world. When not writing for the stage and screen, Radha performs as RadhaMUSprime, whose brand of truth-telling, Hip-Hop comedy has sold out shows from New York to Norway.
Eleanor Burgess has worked on PERRY MASON for HBO, WECRASHED for Apple TV+, and INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE for AMC, and developed pilots for FX and the CW. She has also written feature screenplays for Bad Robot, Amblin, Anonymous Content, Netflix, and Universal. Her plays, including The Niceties, Wife of a Salesman, and Galilee 34, have been produced at theaters across the United States, including Manhattan Theatre Club, Geffen Playhouse, and South Coast Rep. Originally from Massachusetts, she studied history at Yale College and Dramatic Writing at NYU/Tisch.
Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu is a New York-based writer for stage and screen. Her work for the screen includes penning Episode 6 of Spike Lee’s SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT, SEASON TOO! for Netflix — “#WhenYourChickensComeHomeToRoost.” She is developing a pilot with Fifth Season (exec producer, Layne Eskridge). Antoinette’s stage productions include: Vanna White Has Got to Die! (Fire This Time Festival, NYC. 2013); Black Boy & The War (The Movement Theater Company, NYC. 2015); and Breach: a manifesto on race in America through the eyes of a Black girl recovering from self-hate (Victory Gardens, Chicago. 2019). In August 2021, Antoinette’s play Pass Over re-opened on Broadway at the August Wilson Theater after multiple critically acclaimed productions, including its World Premiere at Steppenwolf in Chicago (2017); its New York Premiere at Lincoln Center’s LCT3 (2018); and its international premiere at the Kiln Theatre in London (2020). Antoinette is a MacDowell Fellow; an Ars Nova Play Group alum; a Dramatists Guild Fellow; and a Eugene O’Neill Playwrights Conference Literary Fellow. She’s won a Lilly Award; a Lucille Lortel Award; the Whiting Award; the Samuel French Next Step Award; the Paula Vogel Playwriting Award; the Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award; & the Negro Ensemble Company’s only Douglas Turner Ward Prize. Her work has been supported by the Sundance Theater Lab, Space on Ryder Farm, Ignition Fest, and the Cherry Lane Mentor Project among others. She holds an AB in English Literature & Languages from Harvard College (magna cum laude); an MSc from The University of Edinburgh, Scotland; and an MFA from the Department of Dramatic Writing, NYU Tisch.
Dominic Colón is an award-winning writer, actor and director from the Bronx, New York. Dominic’s plays have been developed by Atlantic Theater Company, LAByrinth Theater Company, Latinx Playwrights Circle, The SOL Project and The National Queer Theater. Selected plays include The Empty Space or White People Ruin Everything (Finalist for the Relentless Award Picket Plays), Prospect Avenue or the Miseducation of Juni Rodriguez (EST Marathon & MTA Plays for Rattlestick Theater) and The Message (48 Hour Plays/Harlem 9), WHERE’S OUR ANGELS? (NATIONAL QUEER THEATER). Dominic’s play The War I Know was the recipient of the inaugural WRITE-IT-OUT Prize. a cash prize given to a playwright living with HIV, sponsored by the National Queer Theater, playwright Donja R. Love, GLAAD, and the legendary Billy Porter. The War I Know is the first in a trilogy of plays exploring the impact of HIV on the Latinx community in the Bronx from the late 80’s through the Covid-19 pandemic. Dominic’s television pilot PAPI, made THE BLACKLIST’s inaugural LATINX TV LIST, a curated list of the ten most promising pilots created by Latinx Writers. As one of the top three finalists Dominic received a blind pilot deal at HULU. Dominic wrote the episode”Our Lady of the Six Train” for the GLAAD NOMINATED Queer Latinx scripted podcast anthology, LOVE IN GRAVITY. He is a writer on the upcoming Netflix series, PINK MARINE, produced by television icon Norman Lear. Dominic is the co-writer/co-creator (alongside Emmy Award nominee Steven Canals) of BRONX GRACE, a one-hour medical drama being produced by Universal Television Studios for ABC. Dominic is working with Kenya Barris to as the co-writer/creator of the television adaptation of Fat Joe’s memoir THE BOOK OF JOSE for BET Studios
Grainger David‘s short film THE CHAIR screened in competition for the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, won the Jury Prize at SXSW, the Jury Prize at the Los Angeles Film Festival, Best Director at Hollyshorts and went on to play at major festivals around the world including Berlin and Telluride. A South Carolina native and graduate of Princeton University and NYU Grad Film, Grainger has received generous support for his work from the San Francisco Film Society, the Sloan Foundation and The MacDowell Colony. He has directed television commercials for Nike and the NFL and his feature script THE WALL AT THE END OF THE ROAD was selected for the Sundance Screenwriters Lab and the Sundance Directors Lab. Most recently, he created and is an Executive Producer on THE BONDSMAN, starring Kevin Bacon, which is in post-production and will be released in 2025 on Amazon Prime. Grainger is represented at Grandview.
Kate Erickson is a television writer who has written for hour-long shows ranging from historical to apocalyptic, including FEAR THE WALKING DEAD, MR. ROBOT, SEE and HEELS. She won a Writers Guild Award for MR. ROBOT. Prior to working in TV, she produced live storytelling for The Moth, served coffee, crewed a Beneteau sloop, nannied, drove a produce delivery truck, ran a community center’s after school program and volunteered extensively for 826NYC. Throughout both chapters, she has written personal essays and fiction, which appear in various publications including The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, Wellesley Magazine and Narrative Magazine. She is represented by CAA and Grandview.
Gina Gionfriddo is a two-time Pulitzer finalist for her plays “Becky Shaw” and “Rapture, Blister, Burn.” She has written for the television shows COLD CASE, LAW & ORDER, LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT, LAW & ORDER: TRUE CRIME, FBI: MOST WANTED, HOUSE OF CARDS, BORGIA and THE ALIENIST. She has developed two features for HBO and pilots for CBS and Wiip.
Eliot Glazer is a writer and comedian best known for his work both on screen and behind the scenes of the Comedy Central series BROAD CITY. He most recently served as Co-Executive Producer on iCARLY (Paramount+) and has written for, among others, NEW GIRL, THE BOYS and YOUNGER. He can be seen opposite Seth Rogen in the film AMERICAN PICKLE, HGTV’s HOUSE HUNTERS: COMEDIANS ON COUCHES and alongside Rachel Bloom on Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin’s Netflix special LADIES NIGHT LIVE. Eliot is creator/host of the Comedy Central Digital series 2 JEWS CHOOSE and producer/co-host of the LGBTQ comedy podcast YOU’RE MAKING IT WORSE. He frequently appears as a guest on The Howard Stern Wrap Up Show and has contributed to Vulture, BuzzFeed and The AV Club. Additionally, Eliot created, developed and starred opposite Colton Haynes (TEEN WOLF, ARROW) in the AMC Studio original half-hour comedy I RUN HOT for Peacock, directed by his sister Ilana. His first book of original essays, published by Simon & Schuster, will be released in 2026.
Eric Anthony Glover is a feature writer, TV writer, and graphic novelist. He was an Executive Story Editor on STAR TREK: STARFLEET ACADEMY and he wrote as a Staff Writer and Story Editor on The CW’s TOM SWIFT. Eric studied screenwriting at Sarah Lawrence College. After his sci-fi feature script earned him a fellowship through Final Draft’s 2016 Big Break Screenwriting Contest, Eric went on to write his first drama pilot, which earned him representation. Additionally, Eric was selected for the 2020 Humanitas Prize New Voices award, NBC’s Writers on the Verge 2020-21 fellowship, the 2021 Sony Pictures Television Diverse Writers Program and the 2021 WarnerMedia Access Writers Program. As a writer for the arts and entertainment company Meow Wolf, Eric developed storylines and wrote scripts for immersive science fiction exhibits across the country. His graphic novel, Black Star, was published in 2021 as a title in Abrams ComicArts’ imprint, Megascope, and he’s written digital comics for InterPop’s “Emergents” superhero universe. He is managed by Echo Lake Entertainment and represented by the Culture Creative Entertainment agency.
Leah Gotcsik is an Emmy-nominated writer and current EP on THE TINY CHEF SHOW for Nickelodeon. She has worked across networks and streamers for shows like SUPERKITTIES, ODD SQUAD, BUBBLE GUPPIES and DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD, and has originals in development at Netflix and Nickelodeon. With a background in improv and sketch comedy (ask her about her balmy cruise ship days!), Leah loves to tell character-forward stories with humor, high stakes and heart.
Joseph Hampton is a writer/producer for television and film. He has been a writer/story editor on over 400 episodes of network television and written several feature films. Arriving in Atlanta in the mid-2000s following film school at USC Los Angeles, he was part of the wave of filmmakers who helped turn Atlanta into the entertainment powerhouse it is today. Since his time as Executive Producer and Head of Content Development at Areu Bros. Studios, he has developed several television & film projects and is currently in pre-production on two series with partners in Atlanta and LA as well as a feature western drama with producer James Keach.
Christina Kallas is one of the few women writer-directors with three feature films under her belt actively working today. Having started out as a musician and lived in several countries and continents, Kallas’s background profoundly influences her filmmaking approach. A two-time Berlinale and Slamdance alumna, she has made her mark as the writer-director of critically acclaimed groundbreaking films PARIS IS IN HARLEM (2023), THE RAINBOW EXPERIMENT (2018), and 42 SECONDS OF HAPPINESS (2016), and as the writer-producer of the Golden Berlin Bear-nominated political thriller, THE COMMISSIONER, starring John Hurt. PARIS IS IN HARLEM premiered at Slamdance and Galway in 2022, receiving rave reviews and a perfect RT score. Currently touring international festivals, it has also been featured on airlines like Emirates and Qatar Airways. THE RAINBOW EXPERIMENT was lauded as a ‘21st Century Rashomon’ and was picked up by Paramount+ after its international debut at the Moscow International Film Festival and the FIRST International FF in China. In 2019, Kallas was nominated by a panel of 30 international film critics for Best Director in Film Threat’s and Comedy Central’s inaugural Award This! initiative, alongside Debra Granik, Josephine Decker, Chloe Zhao, Mimi Leder, Boots Riley, Bo Burnham, Alex Garland, Ali Abassi, and Paul Dano. Kallas served as President of the European Writers Guild equivalent, FSE, for eight years and is a voting member of the European Film Academy. Prior credits include BBC Films’ hooligan drama, I.D. and European TV series hits, EDEL&STARCK and DANNI LOWINSKI. Holding a PhD in film studies, Kallas has taught screenwriting and directing at Columbia, NYU, Feirstein, and the DFFB. She is also a mentor for the Venice International Film Festival’s Biennale College Cinema and the author of books such as ‘Creative Screenwriting: Understanding Emotional Structure’ and ‘Inside the Writers Room.’
Nambi E. Kelley served as a writer/co-producer on Peacock’s BEL AIR. Previous television credits include: LADY IN THE LAKE (Apple), OUR KIND OF PEOPLE (Fox), and THE CHI (Showtime). Nambi is also in development for television with multiple projects including a project executive produced by award winning rapper, Nas, TBA. Nambi’s newly formed production company, First Woman, recently produced a film version and two in-person national tours of Nambi’s young audiences’ play, Jabari Dreams of Freedom, winning the Black Panther International Film Festival in India, and The IBDFF International Film Festival in Toronto (Best Kids Film). Also an accomplished playwright, Nambi is developing multiple projects for Broadway. She received The Prince Prize to develop a play based on the life of Stokely Carmichael/Kwame Ture, which premiered in Chicago at Court Theatre this spring. Her play Re-Memori was presented at WP’s Pipeline Festival in New York City and recently celebrated a world premiere at Penumbra Theatre Company in St. Paul. Nambi was chosen by Toni Morrison to adapt her novel Jazz. Her adaptation of Richard Wright’s Native Son (Sam French, Concord Theatricals), has been produced all over the country and premiered in New York at The Duke on 42nd Street (The Acting Company, producer).
Greg Lisi & Gerry de Leon met at the American Film Institute Conservatory where they both graduated in 2010. Greg has created and sold TV projects to HBO, Hulu, CBS and Sony TV. Gerry has worked in various developmental aspects for Scott Rudin, Hilary Swank, Terrence Malick and Walter Salles. They recently sold a limited series to Peacock.
Ted Malawer is a playwright and screenwriter from New York. He co-wrote Prime Video’s RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE, which debuted at #1 on the streamer and received a 2024 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Television Movie. Ted was most recently a Co-Executive Producer on AMERICAN RUST: BROKEN JUSTICE and LAW & ORDER; additional TV credits include RISE and HALSTON, developmental rooms for Hulu and Showtime, along with WGA and Astra nominations. His musical ONLY GOLD had its world premiere at MCC Theater (Outer Critics Circle and Off-Broadway Alliance nominations, Outstanding Musical), and his plays have been produced and developed by Atlantic Theater Company, NYTW, Capital Stage, Magic Theatre, Palm Beach Dramaworks, and more. For iHeart Podcasts, Ted created the series DOES THIS MURDER MAKE ME LOOK GAY?!, a PEOPLE’s Pick and T List/New York Times recommendation. He has written five YA novels with Penguin Random House, and co-created the #1 New York Times bestselling series FALLEN. Ted has received awards from Lincoln Center, The Kennedy Center, and the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. He is a graduate of Columbia University and The Juilliard School, where he studied in both the Vocal Arts and Playwriting divisions.
Tim Mason was a member of The Second City Touring Company as well as a resident performer on The Second City .e.t.c. stage and The Second City Mainstage. He is also a screenwriter, filmmaker and director and was the Co-creator, Showrunner and Director for the Showtime series, WORK IN PROGRESS.
M Raven Metzner is a screenwriter who served as Showrunner and EP on Season Two of Marvel’s IRON FIST on Netflix, EP on Fox’s supernatural procedural SLEEPY HOLLOW, Consulting Producer on Fox’s NeXt and Disney+’s BIG SHOT while on an overall at ABC Studios and most recently was a Consulting Producer on the final season of STAR TREK: DISCOVERY. Raven was co-creator and Executive Producer of the ABC’s SIX DEGREES, EP/Showrunner on the Hub network’s adaptation of Hasbro’s CLUE and Consulting Producer on TNT’s FALLING SKIES, ABC’s WHAT ABOUT BRIAN and NBC’s HEROES REBORN. Raven has also co-written a number of feature screenplays including ELEKTRA and DEATHLOK for Marvel Comics Studios.Raven is currently developing a number of projects including an adaptation Disney’s MAIN STREET, USA attraction for D+ and the ORACLE audio book series for Amazon.
Nathan Min is a writer, actor, and comedian based in New York City. He started performing stand up comedy as a freshman at Johns Hopkins University and went on to win the DC Improv’s Funniest College Stand Up competition at the end of his senior year. He was selected as a finalist for the 10th annual Andy Kaufman Award. Currently, he is developing a half-hour comedy based on his life with A24 and Celadon Pictures. He has previously written for TEN YEAR OLD TOM, JOE PERA TALKS WITH YOU and THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON.
Adam Whitney Nichols is a writer who lives in rural Vermont. Adam’s newest television pilot, which he wrote with Brian Chamberlayne, is an hour-long drama that takes place in 1990s Washington, DC, and is in development at FX with Layne Eskridge producing. He recently worked with Danish filmmaker Elvira Lind to write a feature-length film for Mad Gene Media—Elvira Lind and Oscar Isaac’s production company. In addition to FX, Adam has written pilots for HBO and MAX and developed content for Fifth Season, POV Entertainment, Tomorrow Studios, and Danny DeVito’s Jersey Films 2nd Avenue. He was the story editor for the award-winning podcast Sandcastles, and his original pilot script, LONESOME VALLEY, was a finalist for the Humanitas New Voices Award. Before working as a screenwriter, Adam wrote for magazines and was Director of Media at Visionaire, where he produced A PORTRAIT OF MARINA ABRAMOVIC, which screened in competition at the Sundance Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival. Adam attended Sarah Lawrence College and, after graduating, moved to New York City at the suggestion of Patti Smith, who became his mentor and whom he credits for his first lessons in storytelling. Adam is repped by Cullen Conly at Anonymous Content.
Charlie Oh’s plays include Long (Kennedy Center’s Paula Vogel Award in playwriting, Mark Twain Prize, Relentless Award Honors), Coleman ‘72 (world premiere South Coast Rep, Paul Stephen Lim Playwriting Award, Los Angeles Drama Circle Award nominee), White Monkey (Goodman New Stages, Future Labs), and The Disruptors (Sloan Commission). Charlie is a Core Writer at the Playwrights’ Center, and a member, past fellow, or alumni of Ensemble Studio Theater’s Youngblood, Ars Nova Play Group, Page 73’s Writers Group, The Lark, and the Catwalk Writer’s Residency, among others. His work has been developed at Manhattan Theatre Club, South Coast Rep, The Lark, Second Stage, The American Musical Theatre Project, The Goodman, and more. He currently holds commissions from Manhattan Theater Club + the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, South Coast Rep, and is developing projects for television with Amazon Studios and Universal Studios. He is a recent graduate of The Juilliard School’s Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program.
Celeste Parr was most recently a Writer and Executive Producer for Season Two of CBC’s anthology series PLAN B. She has three original drama series in active development at three different broadcasters/streamers both in Canada and internationally. Celeste also works in features, writing the upcoming WWII musical drama ETHEL, which shoots in autumn 2024 with Shira Haas, Sarah Paulson and Whitney Peak starring.
Dan Perlman is a comedian, writer and director from New York City. He co-created, wrote, and starred in Showtime’s critically-acclaimed comedy series, FLATBUSH MISDEMEANORS. Dan made his directorial debut in the FLATBUSH episode, “boomerang,” which Vulture praised for its “masterful direction.” Dan also wrote and directed the award-winning short films, CRAMMING and PRACTICE SPACE. Dan first co-created the prize-winning digital series of FLATBUSH, which served as the foundation for the Showtime show. Made on zero-budget, the first installment became Oscar-qualified after winning Grand Jury Awards in its film festival run. As a stand-up, Dan has been featured on Comedy Central and has headlined venues across the country, including The Kennedy Center in DC. Dan is a regular at the Comedy Cellar in NYC. His writing has also appeared in The New Yorker.
Katie Rich is an Emmy-nominated and Peabody award-winning writer, actor and producer who attended Northwestern University before joining Chicago’s Second City. There, she wrote and starred in three Mainstage reviews, including the critically acclaimed South Side of Heaven. Second City is where Katie began her work as a corporate trainer, helping companies like Boeing and Proctor & Gamble build teamwork, develop ideas, and boost public speaking confidence. After Second City, Katie joined the writing staff of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, where she worked for seven seasons. She developed and participated in a speaker’s series at the Aspen Ideas Festival entitled: Laugh to Keep From Crying: Comedy Writers on Making Politics Funny Katie has performed all over the world, from TBS’ Just for Laughs to Ireland’s Cat Laughs Comedy Festival. Commercial credits include: Discover Card, Wal-Mart, Sonic Drive-in, Lexus, and more. She is an award-winning copywriter, creating campaigns such as KFC’s “I Ate the Bones,” Big Lots’ “Stand-Up Mom” and assisting Taika Waititi on the latest Idorsia campaign. She has also written for and consulted on many award shows such as The Emmys, The Academy Awards, The Golden Globes, The ESPYs and NFL Honors. You can hear her writing on NPR’s Live From Here or actually hear her voice on Showtime’s OUR CARTOON PRESIDENT, HBO’s Batman: The Audio Adventures and Netflix’s CHICAGO PARTY AUNT, on which she also served as co-creator and executive producer. Katie currently lives in Los Angeles where she is an executive producer on HARLEY QUINN.
Jacquelyn Reingold is a playwright, TV writer, teacher, and advocate. Her plays have been seen in New York at EST, MCC, Naked Angels, at Actors Theater Louisville, Portland Center Stage, PlayLabs Minneapolis, at theaters across the country, and in London, Dublin, Berlin, Belgrade, and Lima. Her newest play Fear Less was read in EST/Sloan Foundation’s First Light Festival, May 2024. Honors/awards include a 2023 Lilly Award as a playwright and advocate, the Kennedy Center’s Fund for New American Plays, EST/Sloan Foundation Commissions, Yaddo, MacDowell Fellowships, Hermitage Artists Retreat, a Susan Smith Blackburn finalist, Oscar Ruebhausen commission, New Dramatists’ Joe Callaway and Whitfield Cook Awards. She’s published by DPS, French, Smith & Kraus, and a collection of one-acts called Things Between Us. TV writing/producing credits include The Good Fight, East New York, Grace and Frankie, Smash, and In Treatment. She wrote a pilot, BEST OF BOTH WORLDS, for John Wells Productions, and is currently working on two series ideas. Jacquelyn is a member of EST, an alum of New Dramatists, and a founding member of Honor Roll!, an advocacy group for older women+ playwrights, whose goal is inclusion in theater. She and writer Cheryl Davis are currently on a campaign to meet all of New York’s Artistic Directors, to advocate for women+ writers over 50.
Zach Smilovitz is an Emmy-nominated, WGA Award-winning writer, producer, and performer. He was the Co-Creator and Head Writer of STEPHEN COLBERT PRESENTS TOONING OUT THE NEWS on Comedy Central. Previously, he was a Supervising Producer on OUR ARTOON PRESIDENT on Showtime. He began his career as a staff writer at LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN before writing for Robert Smigel on TRIUMPH’S ELECTION SPECIAL 2016 on Hulu.
Lauren Ashley Smith is an Emmy-nominated TV & film writer, producer and radio host. Currently, she is in an overall deal with CBS Studios to develop scripted TV comedies. Previously, Lauren was the head writer and co-executive producer of the first two seasons of HBO’s critically acclaimed A BLACK LADY SKETCH SHOW, for which she received a Television Critics Association award and three Emmy nominations. Prior to that, Lauren was the head writer of THE RUNDOWN WITH ROBIN THEDE on BET. She is the first Black woman to be the head writer of an American sketch television show and only the second Black woman to be the head writer of a late night show. Lauren’s other writing and producing credits include WATCH WHAT HAPPENS LIVE WITH ANDY COHEN on Bravo, VH1’s BEST WEEK EVER and an upcoming feature film produced by Oprah Winfrey. When she is not writing, Lauren co-hosts “Smith Sisters Live,” a daily pop culture radio show on SiriusXM’s Radio Andy, which won the 2022 Gracie Award for Best Nationally Syndicated Talk Show.
Iturri Sosa came to tv writing after a career in psychological research and anthropological fieldwork, graduating with a degree in cultural/clinical psychology. She completed her clinical training at Cook County/Stroger Hospital. Her doctoral work took her to southern Mexico, where she conducted anthropological research that sought to improve access to mental health care for rural Yucatec Maya speakers. In 2022, she won an Edgar for an episode she wrote for Narcos: Mexico. Her tv writing credits include GOTHAM, THE DEUCE, and SCARPETTA.
Jim Strouse wrote and directed the feature films GRACE IS GONE, PEOPLE PLACE THINGS and THE INCREDIBLE JESSICA JAMES, all of which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
Mfoniso Udofia is a first-generation Nigerian-American storyteller and educator. Upcoming productions include Sojourners (Huntington Theatre, Round House Theatre), and The Grove (Huntington Theatre). Sojourners, Runboyrun, Her Portmanteau and In Old Age have been seen at New York Theatre Workshop, American Conservatory Theater, Playwrights Realm, Magic Theater, National Black Theatre, Strand Theater, and Boston Court. Mfoniso has written on acclaimed shows like 13 REASONS WHY on Netflix, A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN on Amazon, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN on Showtime, and PACHINKO (Peabody Award), LITTLE AMERICA and LESSON IN CHEMISTRY (WGA Nomination) on Apple TV+. She has also developed films for HBO, Legendary, and Amazon. Education: BA Wellesley College, MFA American Conservatory Theater. Recipient of the 2017 Helen Merrill Award, 2017-18 McKnight National Residency/Commission, and member of New Dramatists.
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