Writers
Welcome to ULSC’s member database! Each writer is hand-selected, vetted, and referred by our team and industry professionals. This list is alphabetized by last name with keywords to help you navigate our roster of talented writers and multi-hyphenates!
SARAH WALLER
MICHELLE ALEXANDER
Bio:
Michelle Alexander is currently screening her award-winning short film, 'Blow Out', which she wrote and stars in, at film festivals across the world (with 5 awards and 6 nominations to date) and just wrapped an MOW for Reel One.
She grew up in a Canadian seaside town with one traffic light, moved on to study at the University of Windsor’s Acting Conservatory, and later became the youngest Associate Artistic Director of Canada’s National Women’s Theatre.
As an actor, Michelle was a series regular on Vincenzo Natali’s 'Darknet' (Netflix US/UK/CAN), and recurring on both 'The Expanse' (Amazon) and 'Designated Survivor' (ABC).
Her first web series, 'Overachieving Underdogs', which she wrote and stars in, landed a development deal with Shaftesbury Entertainment and thus began her writing career.
Since then she has had projects in development on both sides of the border, was a staff writer for the second season of 'Haunted Case Files', and has won pitch competitions at the Banff World Media Festival as well as the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival.
She's the youngest in her family by 8 years and spent most of her childhood hiding in closets, and having deep conversations with her dog figurine collection.
Writes:
TV and Film
Preferred Contact:
Self
323.616.9198
Keywords:
comedy, surreal, horror, sci-fi, female-driven
SARAH WALLER
GIA EL AYNAOUI
Bio:
Gia is an award-winning screenwriter born in East New York. She spent her formative years in Brownsville Brooklyn, and can honestly say that documentaries have been made about her neighborhood.
She entered a writing contest for a scholarship at Stanford that she completely forgot about, and joined the Army. She received her acceptance letter to Stanford while she was in Basic Combat Training, and she's not bitter about that at all.
She was a Counterintelligence Agent as well as a Military Intelligence Analyst during her ten-year career in the Army. She earned her CSI certification and finished the first iteration of Intelligence Law in 2016 and took Surveillance Law and Pre Law as a distance student at Stanford.
She moved to Southern Arizona in 2004 to become a military instructor. She lived in a small, historic (haunted) house in Tombstone, Arizona, until 2017.
Her historical horror fiction podcast, Freetown, is available on Anchor and several other platforms. Gia is a 2019 Writer’s Assistant’s Network Workshop winner.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Manager
Stephan Dubreuil, Woolf + Lapin
Preferred Contact:
Manager, Self
520.678.7997
Keywords:
Female led, character driven, diverse, military, action, supernatural, horror, thriller
SARAH WALLER
LORI BALABAN
Bio:
Lori Balaban is an award-winning screenwriter Her Family Guy spec script won Scriptapoolza, and Arrested Development spec was a semifinalist in the Austin Film Festival. Balaban advanced in the Fox’s TV Writer’s Lab and WIF/Black List episodic lab. She’s a member of the WGA and PGA. Balaban has recently crafted five original television pilots—three dramas and two comedies—ready for submission. She also has two finished screenplays to shop.
Balaban has written, directed and produced tv and films including the short film Dog Stalker, which featured The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’s Ellie Kemper, and aired on the CBS Comedy Night School. Learning Curve and Nie zu Spat debuted at the AFI Ripfest Collaborative Film Project. She has written and produced series for National Geographic, TLC and directed award-winning large scale branded content for NBC, Harley Davidson, A+E and Sundance. She directed Ron Howard for AMC’s Toronto Film Festival content, and worked on projects with such Hollywood talent as Kathy Lee and Hoda Jared Leto and Jeremy Renner.
Balaban is also an accomplished novelist. She has completed two literary thrillers. Left of Bang, which won the prestigious City College of New York’s Jerome Lowell DeJur Prize, and the screenplay won the graduate award in memory of David Dortort—who produced the NBC TV show, Bonanza. Even though there’s plenty of sarcastic Jewish girls already in LA, Balaban dabbles in Improvisation and sketch writing at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade and Second City while teaching screenwriting at NYFA LA and directing at UCLA. However, she still cannot parallel park a car, even a small one.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Manager
Kim Veasey, Merak Management
Preferred Contact:
Manager
Keywords:
Dark comedy, edgy, topical
SARAH WALLER
EMILIA BARROSSE
Bio:
Hello, my name is Emilia and I like to think of myself as a human being. I've always loved story telling, whether it was at age 5 when I wanted to be an archaeologist to tell the story of dinosaurs, or or age 16 when I wanted to be a journalist to tell the story of humanity, or at age 21 (JUST after I earned my degree in journalism) when I realized what I really wanted to do was tell the stories I made up on my own :)
Writes:
TV
Representation:
Manager
Casey Neumeier & Maggie Haskins, Artists First
Preferred Contact:
Self
818.419.6330
Keywords:
FUNNY! honest, sharp, progressive, witty
SARAH WALLER
CHRISTINA BROSMAN
Bio:
Christina Brosman was recently awarded the 2019 Humanitas New Voices fellowship for her pilot, Sacrificial, which she developed with ULSC's own Morgan Pichinson during her time at Mosaic. She also won the 2016 New York Television Festival Scripts Competition with her comedy pilot, Medium Well. That script was named One to Watch on WeForShe's 2017 WriteHer List as well. She is currently the Writers Assistant on an as-yet-untitled project by Maria Semple. In 2019, she served as the Script Coordinator on Showtime’s The L Word: Generation Q and the final season of The Affair, and on Lena Dunham & Jenni Konner's HBO comedy series Camping in the year prior. She’s written for the forthcoming podcasts Wellness and Other Crimes, produced by The Paragon Collective, and Fishpriest, produced by Treefort. She'll talk to you about Star Wars and Top Chef with equal and possibly alarming passion. She has killed every succulent she's ever owned.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Agents:
Melissa Darman & Sara Nestor, Verve
Manager:
Merideth Bajaña, Grandview
Preferred Contact:
Agent, Manager, Self
480-703-1537
Keywords:
Grounded-ish genre comedy (like, people acting like actual humans would in outlandish situations, that vibe)
SARAH WALLER
RACHEL BURGER
Bio:
Hi, I’m Rachel Burger (like a hamburger). I took a very boring 5-day road trip from Chicago to LA in 2012. I’ve spent the last 7 years working Dan Fogelman’s TV production company, Rhode Island Ave. Productions. I know. It was the longest commitment I’ve ever had. But, it allowed me to really craft my writing voice, while also learning what it takes to be a successful producer and showrunner. His credits speak for themselves while mine are just getting started. I’m currently working in the writer’s room for the upcoming 20th/Hulu show, Only Murders in the Building, starring Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez. It probably will air next year. What else do you need to know? I like hockey, dogs, and have acquired zero extra skills during this quarantine.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Managers:
Tracey Murray & Josh Levy, Industry
Preferred Contact:
Manager, Self
630.303.4550
Keywords:
dark comedy, grounded, heightened reality, adventure
SARAH WALLER
RACHEL CALLMAN
Bio:
Rachel is a TV/Film writer with a focus on grounded comedy. She just wrote a biopic feature about the founder of OPI Nail Lacquer, Suzi Weiss-Fischmann and is pivoting back to half-hour comedy. Previously, she was a Contributing Writer/Digital Associate Producer on Tosh.0 for over four years. She currently serves as the Director of Operations for ULSC.
Rachel made the final round for the Creator's Program at Comedy Central, has been a finalist for the WB Writer's Workshop and in the Top Ten for Final Draft's Big Break competition. She has experience in writing films, TV, shorts, sketches, standup, and late night. Additionally, her work has been featured on McSweeney's Internet Tendency, NickMom, XOJane, and in two college textbooks on comedy that her mom keeps on her coffee table.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Agents:
Maude Reilly & Halle Mariner, APA
Preferred Contact:
Agents, Self
Keywords:
Grounded, Comedy, Jokes, Late Night, Narrative, Very Good, Hirable, Peanuts?
SARAH WALLER
LAUREN CANNON
Bio:
Lauren Cannon attended Bryn Mawr College, where she converted from literal choir girl to full-blown feminist. She completed the Screenwriting MFA program at USC and has written and produced several award-winning short films including DeComposition (Winner, LA Comedy Film Festival, Finalist Scripted “Narrated Tale” Contest, LA Comedy Shorts Fest) and I’m Dating the Antichrist, (Winner, LA Comedy Film Festival “Best of the Fest.”) Her pilot The Young Lady’s Guide to Surviving Death won the Page International Screenwriting Awards - Gold Prize. Throughout 2020, her short film Basic Witch is making the socially-distant festival rounds. She lives in Santa Monica with her husband, son and a cat named Marco. BothNoSelf
Female-forward, socially conscious, grounded comedy, satire, magical realism
Writes:
TV and Film
Preferred Contact:
Self
484-744-1051
Keywords:
Female-forward, socially conscious, grounded comedy, satire, magical realism
SARAH WALLER
LAUREN CIARAVALLI
Bio:
Lauren Ciaravalli is an LA-based writer and director with a passion for female-driven stories. She is currently developing a comedic one-hour series with Jennifer Lopez’s Nuyorican Productions. Last year, AwesomenessTV hired Lauren to write and direct an episode of the romance anthology series LOVE, DAILY (Hulu), for which she was nominated for a WGA Award. Lauren’s unique ability to connect with GenZ and Millennial audiences extends to digital, branded, and commercial spaces where Lauren has created and directed content for BratTV, SnapChat, Spotify, Barnes & Noble, Lime Crime, MGA Entertainment and more. She is a graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of Arts and the Nickelodeon Writing Program. Her work can be found at
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Manager:
Lindsay Cohen, Rise Management
Preferred Contact:
Manager, Self
908.451.1386
Keywords:
comedy, drama, romance, YA
SARAH WALLER
CHELSEA CLARK-JAMES
Bio:
After years working in non-profits dealing with homelessness, substance abuse, and mental illness, Chelsea transitioned to the much more stable industry of film and TV production.
Moving around the country, working on various productions as a grip, Chelsea continued to push forward in creating content for bands, non-profits, and her own short films.
Ending up in Los Angeles, Chelsea received guidance from screenwriting coach Lee Jessup and completed On the Page and Script Anatomy courses. She has gone on to land commissions adapting historical material for a published scientist, writing content for a horror 360 degree project, and successfully crowdfunding one of her dramatic short films.
Chelsea's writing talents include writing dramatic stories using history and fantasy elements which focus on identity, fulfillment and complex interpersonal relationships, many times featuring strong female protagonists.
Outside of writing, Chelsea is learning to sing in Spanish, learning to speak French, and loves a good walk with no particular place to go. The shows she won’t shut up about are Chernobyl, Narcos, What We Do In The Shadows and Desus & Mero on Showtime.
Writes:
TV and Film
Preferred Contact:
Self
714.768.5658
Keywords:
drama, sci-fi, fantasy, romantic, dramedy
SARAH WALLER
MELODY COOPER
Bio:
I'm a genre writer focused on social issues, BIPOC characters, and female protagonists. I was raised by parents who were activists and teachers in a Blerd (Black nerd) family that loved science and literature, and proved that Black people DO go camping. And yes, my brother is Chris Cooper, the Central Park Birder, and I'm the one who posted his video on Twitter and wrote that NY Times Op-Ed piece. After writing a Defund the Police article and doing a WGA panel on the need for more Black writers in cop show rooms, I was tapped to become story editor on the 22nd season of NBCUniversal’s Law & Order: SVU. I was selected for the 2020/21 Sundance Episodic Lab’s new Idea Lab to develop a grounded sci-fi pilot. I started out in TV in 2019 as staff writer on the second season of the CW series Two Sentence Horror Stories for which I wrote two wild episodes. In 2020 I also co-wrote a comedy sci-fi episode starring Wayne Brady for The Insiders, a new series headed by Greg Grunberg. A 2019 HBO Access Writing Fellow, I was winner of the 2018 Grand Jury Prize for Best Screenplay at the Urbanworld Film Festival with my dramatic feature script NORTHERN CROSS about a Black woman and Latine immigrant on the run. My horror TV pilot, SUNDOWN, has been a Finalist for several labs. Winner of Stowe Story Labs Tangerine Entertainment Fellowship, I was also selected for AMC Shudder Lab with a supernatural feature script THE SOUND OF DARKNESS. My activist heart beats strong and a short documentary, DETAINED, which I wrote, produced and directed, received a 2018 IndieFest Award of Recognition. Writing residencies I've done include Yaddo (2019) and La Napoule Art Foundation in France in 2018 (in a beautiful, haunted castle on the Mediterranean for a month). Also an award-winning playwright, I received a Ford Foundation grant to travel to Rwanda to develop my play SWEET MERCY, which was later developed by NY Stage and Film, starring Danai Gurira. DAY OF RECKONING about Lucy Parsons and the early Labor Movement in the U.S., was produced in NY and won the Jane Chambers Award. I currently write the comic book OMNI about a Black woman doctor with super intelligence (Issues #5 - 10) published by Mark Waid at Humanoids. I started a group of women horror writers and filmmakers called NYX Horror Collective, and I'm developing an original feature with Fear Works to direct in Canada in 2021. Website:
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Brandon Lawrence, Pete Stein, Jim Nicolay, Carlos Segarra & Anna Jinks, CAA
Manager:
Corey Trent Ackerman
Preferred Contact:
Manager
Keywords:
Dramatic thrillers, horror and grounded sci fi
SARAH WALLER
MORGAN DAMERON
Bio:
Morgan Dameron is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker who has a passion for female-empowerment stories, and an affinity for working with actors. Her feature film, Different Flowers, starring Emmy-Award-Winner Shelley Long, won Best Feature Film at KC Film Fest. After its World Premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and theatrical release in 2017, Different Flowers is now airing on Showtime. As a participant of Ryan Murphy’s HALF initiative, Dameron shadowed Gwyneth Horder-Payton on American Horror Story Season 7. She was also selected for the Paul Feig FUSE mentorship program, and a competitive Producers’ Caucus fellowship. Her digital series and branded content have garnered tens of millions of views online for brands such as MTV, Halo Top Creamery, Canadamark Diamonds, and Nickelodeon.
Dameron got her start working for J.J. Abrams at Bad Robot, on films Star Trek Into Darkness and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. Dameron was honored with Kansas City Women in Film and Television’s “Spirit of Kansas City” award, Duke’s Talent Identification Program’s “Early Achievement Award,” and USC’s “Renaissance Prize,” awarded to only ten students per graduating class. Dameron is currently in development on her second feature, produced by Paul Feig’s Powderkeg and 3BlackDot.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Manager:
Kendrick Tan, Lit Entertainment Group
Preferred Contact:
Manager
Keywords:
Comedy, sci-fi, heartwarming
SARAH WALLER
TERESA DECHER
Bio:
Teresa Decher is a writer, actor, and more recently, director and author. Whether on the page, behind the camera or in front, Teresa is dedicated to creating space for women to be their beautifully imperfect and messy selves, while often commenting, either directly or indirectly, on mental health. Her background is in comedy and her writing team Yes Please! has reached over one million views on YouTube, collaborated with Comedy Central and Funny or Die, developed a pilot with DiGA Studios (the production company behind "Scream" and "Teen Wolf"), and been featured at Los Angeles Film Festival, NYTVF, Raindance, and more. She has also expanded into sci-fi and horror with her directorial debut “Subject 3”, which premiered at FrightFest 2020, and is currently working on her debut novel in the YA space. Her writing has been featured on Thought Catalog and she was a top finalist for NaNoWriMo’s Los Angeles Anthology competition.
Writes:
TV and Film
Preferred Contact:
Self
971.235.6898
Keywords:
female-driven, mental health, messy characters, anti-heroes, misfits, comedy, sci-fi, horror, and young adult
SARAH WALLER
SIENA EAST
Bio:
Siena East is a Choctaw writer, comedian, and actress based in Los Angeles. Siena studied Film and Television Production at New York University. Her short film "Lycanphobic" (the lovely story of a girl who wants to find out if her werewolf boyfriend is also having sex with dogs) was included in both the LA Skins Film Festival, where it was nominated in the Emerging Filmmaker category, and the NYU First Run Festival, where it won an award for Best Supporting Actress. After graduating from NYU, Siena returned to Los Angeles to pursue a career in television writing. She was a part of the 3rd Annual LA Skins Television Writers’ lab. Her original pilot “Mixed Up” was selected for a live reading at the 12th Annual LA Skins Film Festival and at the February 2020 Broken Barriers The New Normal Reading Series. In 2018, she continued to pursue writing for half-hour comedy when she started working as a Writer’s Assistant for Chadd Gindin. As a Writer’s Assistant, she helped develop ideas, work on pilot pitches, break stories, and pitch jokes. In 2019, she performed in You're Welcome: A Pre-Thanksgiving All Native American Improv Show, the first all Native improv show at UCB. As a comedian, Siena was first featured in the Kibitz Room’s clean showcase, where she won the audience choice award "The Best of the Bunch". Since then she has performed at the Comedy Union, Teatro de Luna, and has regularly performed at ACME NoHo. Currently, Siena is being mentored in the LA Skins Native American Showrunner’s lab by Owen Dennis.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Manager
Thuan Dang, Gotham Group
Preferred Contact:
Manager
Keywords:
Outrageous Comedy
SARAH WALLER
REEM EDAN
Bio:
Reem Edan is an Iraqi-American comedian, writer, content creator and ex-film marketer known for her unique brand of “Muslim-ennial” humor. She’s performed at venues and colleges across the globe and opened for comics including Iliza Schlesinger and Arsenio Hall. Reem is an alumni of the MGM Writing Program, a two-time scholarship recipient at the Groundlings, one of six participants chosen for the 2020 NBC Late Night Writing Workshop, winner of the 2019 Filmmatic Comedy Screenplay Awards, and was recently named one of Bustle’s “5 Muslim Women Comedians to Get you Through Social Distancing.” She also works with brands like WhoHaha (Elizabeth Banks) and SWAAY Media to elevate female and diverse stories.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Agent:
Danny Alexander, APA
Manager:
Matt Sadeghian & Isaac Horne, Avalon
Preferred Contact:
Agent, Manager, Self
310.866.7323
Keywords:
Comedy-heavy, cultural, satirical, unique
SARAH WALLER
RACHEL FARRELL FISCHER
Bio:
Cowgirl. Soldier. Traveller. Pilot. Only sometimes procrastinator. Writer.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Val McElroy, Epigram
Preferred Contact:
Manager, Self
360.391.7084
Keywords:
Military. Grounded Sci-fi. Adventure. Mystery.
SARAH WALLER
JANEY FEINGOLD
Bio:
Janey Feingold is a writer, director and lyricist. In 2017, Janey wrote and created the viral teen musical series CHICKEN GIRLS for the Brat Youtube Network. The series received over 100 million views in the first season alone and is currently in its 7th season. CHICKEN GIRLS was nominated for 2018 and 2019 Streamy Awards. Janey has written and directed short films, music videos, branded content and musical theater work. Most recently, Janey produced and directed “Creativity Isn’t Canceled” a digital song cycle live stream event featuring original musical theater work written entirely in quarantine. Janey is a co-founder and Writer-in-Residence of CLUB BYOSS, an organization that works with writers and actors to create community through networking, advocacy, education and creative events. Janey is a graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts with a BA in Film Production, and is currently pursuing an MFA in Musical Theater Writing at the NYU Tisch School of the arts.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Manager:
Drew Shenfield, Mosiac Media Group
Preferred Contact:
Manager
Keywords:
Teen, musical, comedy, digital, film, tv, stage
SARAH WALLER
JORI LYNN FELKER
Bio:
Hailing from the harsh winds of Chicago, Jori once graduated with a Neuroscience degree just to spite an ex-boyfriend. But upon realizing Grey’s Anatomy poorly resembled her vision of working in the medical field, she pivoted into entertainment. Clawing her way across various lit desks, she debuted her cerebral yet heartfelt voice in the frozen-time coming-of-age drama BETWEEN THE RAINDROPS, which currently has Charlie Bean (LADY & THE TRAMP) attached to direct. A true nerd at heart, she produces video game-inspired content centered on tackling gaming from a female perspective. She currently supports the season 2 staff of GABBY DURAN & THE UNSITTABLES on Disney Channel and can touch her tongue to her nose.
Writes:
Film
Representation:
Agent:
David Boxerbaum, Verve
Manager:
Trip Bennewitz
Preferred Contact:
Agent, Manager, Self
847.271.2893
Keywords:
Weird, surreal, YA, coming of age, dark comedy, psychological, fantastical, witty
SARAH WALLER
KAITLIN FONTANA
Bio:
Kaitlin Fontana is an Emmy-nominated TV and film writer, director, and producer, and a National Magazine award-winning essayist. In a not-so-distant past life, she was a music journalist. She's the current host of the WGAE's craft and process podcast, OnWriting.
Kaitlin's feature film script, GIRLFRIEND ON MARS, is on the 2019 Black List. She is a 2018 NYTVF Development Deal recipient (Audible) as well as a finalist in the 2018 HBOAccess Directing Fellowship. Her directorial debut, FRANCHESCA, was an official 2018 Sundance Film Festival selection. She was a Field Producer on Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. Kaitlin was a 2018 WriteHer List Honoree, an inaugural 2017 WGA/Made in New York Writers Room Fellow, 2017 Showtime Tony Cox Award winner, 2017 Nantucket Comedy Colonist, and 2017 Bitch List Honoree.
Kaitlin sits on the Writers Guild of America, East council and believes in the power of collective action. She lives in Los Angeles, CA and was born in Fernie, British Columbia, Canada, a distinction she shares with Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Manager:
Christina Campagnola, GRLBND
Preferred Contact:
Manager, Self
646.479.4113
Keywords:
Elevated dark comedies with genre twists, weird dramas, magical realist sci-fi
SARAH WALLER
MIKA FRANK
Bio:
A native of Cleveland, Mika began her storytelling career as a songwriter. However, the struggles of being a kid parent hindered her from pursuing an unconventional career. Mika then went on to become a pharmacist. After Mika discovered the world of film and television writing, she refocused her talents and moved to Los Angeles. Mika has since placed in the 2018 AFI Directing Workshop for Women, the 2019 WeScreenplay Contest, and the 2020 WB TV Writer’s Workshop. Mika has written and directed the webseries, My Girlfriend is Black, and a number of short films. Mika is best at penning flawed female-driven stories that explore the intricacies of being a strong woman often with an evolutionary arc that leads to liberation. Mika currently works as a showrunner’s assistant on MacGyver.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Conrad Sun, Meridian Artists
Preferred Contact:
Self
216.269.4071
Keywords:
I am best at writing flawed strong female leads and not the trope-y type of strong, but authentic three-dimensional women. Often times, the character will often undergo an evolutionary arc that leads her to some liberating or freeing place in life.
SARAH WALLER
YAEL GALENA
Bio:
Raised in a macrobiotic modern-orthodox Jewish home, Yael Galena, an agnostic carnivore, is familiar with avoiding the beaten path. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from George Washington University with a degree in Electronic Media, but cites her two years of traveling the world solo as her master class in character, storytelling and the human condition. Yael spent ten years producing docu-reality television in New York City before moving to Los Angeles to follow her true passion, writing. Yael is drawn to strong female-driven dramedies gleaning from her overly-involved Jewish family, her absurdist backpacking adventures and growing up with parents who thought tropical flavored Tums were an adequate school snack.
She has two original pilots in development, one at Warner Bros. and one at Sony. Her feature script made it to the 2020 Semifinalists of the Nicholl Fellowship. She was featured on 2019’s WriteHer List, 2018’s Young & Hungry List and was one of six Hedgebrook writing fellows. She worked as a Writers’ Assistant on TNT’s hit Claws.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Agent:
Maude Reilly, APA
Manager:
Corrine Aquino, Artists First
Preferred Contact:
Self
646.784.5256
Keywords:
grounded, female driven dramedy and comedy
SARAH WALLER
KIANA GARNER
Bio:
Kiana is an Inglewood born, San Diego State educated, pop culture junkie, recovering temp, and comedy writer.
On her quest to become the black Tina Fey she attended Second City, where she honed her comedy writing skills. She then went on to write for Comedy Central's Legends of Chamberlain Heights. She is currently the head writer of For Evan's Sake, a surreal dramady about a young black male production assistant who is forced to go to therapy. The show received film festival awards and aired on Revolt TV in 2019.
Kiana’s writing is shaped by her unique experiences as a self diagnosed introvert. Her writing focuses on the stories of people of diverse backgrounds and intersectionalities as they represent her circle of friends and the world.
As she’s made her way through the industry, she has worked for marketing agencies and major studios in Business Affairs and has reviewed TV shows for a Hollywood insider site.
In her free time, she likes to catch stand up shows, hike, travel, pretend to be a food critic, and blog about random LA nonsense on her blog titled “What Was I Supposed To Be Doing Again”. Her favorite shows are Ramy, Bob's Burgers, 30 Rock, and High Maintenance.
Writes:
TV
Preferred Contact:
Self
213.503.5689
Keywords:
Comedic, topical, quick witted
SARAH WALLER
ELANA GOLDBERG
Bio:
Elana Goldberg is a New Orleans Saints fan despite growing up in Philadelphia, and has somehow ended up in Los Angeles. She is a screenwriter and fiction writer, but her sister is a doctor which people usually find more interesting. Most recently, she did script revisions on THE WEDDING YEAR, a romantic-comedy that was released in theaters in the fall of 2019, and is currently building her portfolio. She studied at Carnegie Mellon University's undergraduate creative writing program where she graduated in 2015 with multiple honors. She is currently out to publishers with her first novel.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Manager:
Anastasiya Kukhtareva, Epicenter
Preferred Contact:
Self
Keywords:
Dramedy, grounded comedy, rom-com, coming-of-age
SARAH WALLER
KARI GRANLUND
Bio:
Kari is an accomplished comedy writer who earned early acclaim when her original action comedy, THE SET UP, landed on the 2015 Black List with Red Hour attached to produce. Since then, Kari has worked on a variety of projects, including THE BABY SHOWER, MR. TOAD'S WILD RIDE, and LADY & THE TRAMP, which she received screen credit for. She also pitched and wrote an original feature for Disney, GODMOTHERED, which was released in December 2020 starring Jillian Bell and Isla Fisher. She's currently developing a television series with Annapurna based on a graphic novel by Tom Gauld, and is also writing a new ROBIN HOOD adaptation for Disney with Carlos Lopez Estrada attached to direct. She hails from Portland, Oregon and the only thing she loves more than writing is the Trail Blazers.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Agent:
Melissa Fried, Chris Noriega, & Bill Weinstein, VERVE
Manager:
Sarah Dodge, Industry Entertainment
Preferred Contact:
Agent, Manager
Keywords:
comedy, character-driven, female-driven, left of center, action, tentpole, animation
SARAH WALLER
MARY GULINO
Bio:
Mary is an LA-based writer/director from New Jersey whose work can be seen online and on TV (unless you count streaming platforms as online, in which case, it's all online). She worked in the writers’ rooms for UPLOAD (Amazon Prime), DECOYS (CBC Gem), and SMILF (Showtime), and her satirical writing has been published in Reductress, Ladyspike Media, and Points in Case. Her short films have played at festivals across the country, and one of them helped her land a spot as a Semi-Finalist for HBO’s 2018 Directing Fellowship. Mary got glasses when she was two, and would love to talk optometry sometime. Find out more at maryegulino.com or on Twitter @maryegulino. (Or don’t—you probably have a lot of things going on.)
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Agents:
Sam Sekoff and Jeff Greenberg, Gersh
Manager:
Lisa Mierke, Mosaic
Preferred Contact:
Self
862.222.6970
Keywords:
character-driven, cynical optimism, dry, blue-collar, comedy, dramedy, horror comedy, sci-fi comedy
SARAH WALLER
ALI GUSBERG
Bio:
Ali Gusberg is a comedy writer with two feature films in development with production companies, and she wrote and developed two movies for Hallmark. She wrote on the Amazon show FOREVER starring Maya Rudolph and Fred Armisen. She also wrote, directed, produced, and starred in her short comedy film COUPLE FRIENDS. Her Hollywood break came when she won a $500-screenwriting contest with her 30 ROCK spec script that shuttled her into a showrunner’s assistant job for former 30 ROCK writer Matt Hubbard under his NBCUniversal deal. Ali helped Hubbard take three pilots through production and a fourth through script, developing with Tina Fey, Robert Carlock, and Mike Schur.
Prior to screenwriting, Ali was a copywriter at Ammirati, a New York City advertising agency, where her clients included Vitaminwater, Smartwater, Pirate’s Booty, Woodchuck Cider, among others. Before that, Ali was a copywriter at Coca-Cola’s wholly-owned subsidiary Glaceau. Previous to Glaceau, Ali worked on the management team of Savored, a restaurant reservations technology start-up.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Manager:
Ken Freimann, Josh Adler, Circle of Confusion
Preferred Contact:
Manager, Self
203-675-4412
Keywords:
grounded comedy
SARAH WALLER
NIKITA T. HAMILTON
Bio:
Born and raised in Miami, Nikita is a first-generation Jamaican-American. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania and later moved to Los Angeles to attend the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, where she earned her Masters and Doctorate in Communication. Her research focused on representations of Black women in television, culture, and gender, and it was towards the end of her studies at USC that Nikita realized she wanted to write for television and not just write about it. With that decision made, Nikita landed a position as the Writers’ Assistant for the second season of FX’s acclaimed series, ATLANTA, which not only gave her a crash course in comedy writing, but also solidified that creating engaging shows was what she wanted to do with her life. Nikita has contributed a book chapter about HBO’s GIRLS, entitled, "So They Say You Have a Race Problem? You're in Your Twenties, You Have Way More Problems Than That" to the book, HBO's Girls: Questions of Gender, Politics, and Millennial Angst and wrote, co-produced, and starred in the short film CALL OUT BLACK, which received the Dolores Huerta Award at the Long Beach Indie Film Festival. This year, Nikita co-created and wrote for the comedy web series “(Best) Friends.” She is currently a Staff Writer on ABC’s A MILLION LITTLE THINGS.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Manager:
Korin Williams and Monique Nash, Kronicle Media
Preferred Contact:
Manager
Keywords:
comedy, dramedy, grounded, women-centric
SARAH WALLER
BRIANA HANSEN
Bio:
Briana Hansen is a comedic writer and actress based in LA. Her hyperactive imagination, sharp and often-wicked sense of humor, and general Midwestern do-gooder sensibilities seep their way into almost all her stories. Her writing typically features unique female protagonists who are often relatable weirdos and fish out of water searching for some sense of belonging. A big fan of shaking up traditional narratives, she recently wrote, produced, and starred in an interactive Choose-Your-Own-Adventure-style sketch comedy show for AmazeVR available on Oculus. She studied and performed writing, improvisation, and sketch comedy at The Second City Chicago, iO, The Groundlings, UCB, and a bunch of other places you've likely never heard of. She has a stand-up comedy special on Amazon called "Articulate Neanderthal" and continues to work regularly as a SAG AFTRA actress, VO artist, and freelance writer. She's obsessed with her dogs, always available to listen to a good ghost or alien abduction story, is a big fan of crystals, conspiracy theories, and pretty much all of life's mysteries. She does not, however, want to discuss vampires. She's also a new mom and generally running on fumes.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Agent:
Diane Wang, The Library Agency
Manager:
Daniel Clark, Anthem Entertainment
Preferred Contact:
Self
317.443.7394
Keywords:
comedy, dark, irreverent, goofy, absurd, playful, supernatural, philosophical, heart-felt, character-driven
SARAH WALLER
ASHLEI HARDENBURG-CARTAGENA
Bio:
Ashlei Hardenburg-Cartagena is a queer German-Puerto Rican writer originally from Jersey City, NJ. She writes gritty crime dramas peppered with casual violence and grim realism. Ashlei began her career working in production on documentaries as well as on New York based shows including ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK and JESSICA JONES. Since turning to writing, Ashlei's screenplays have been honored at various festivals and competitions including as a quarterfinalist in the Final Draft Big Break Screenwriting Contest, the Outfest Screenwriting Lab and as a selection for the RoadMap Writers Diversity Initiative. Ashlei has a B.F.A. in Film from Vassar College and finds guilty pleasure in karaoke and historical dramas.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Manager:
Jason Lubin, First Story Entertainment
Preferred Contact:
Manager, Self
551.655.1079
Keywords:
Dramatic, Violent, Authentic, Blunt
SARAH WALLER
JESSICA HAYMOND
Bio:
Jessica Haymond is a writer and actor who regularly performs at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre and has been featured on Drunk History as well as in various national commercials. Jessica created and directed the MTV series “Fast Food Heights” starring Nicole Byer. Jessica has written for Adult Swim, MTV, The New York Television Festival, and several shows at UCBLA. She studied Public Policy at USC and is a licensed attorney in California. She once wrote a joke that Beyoncé retweeted.
Writes:
TV
Representation:
Manager:
Tracy Kopulsky, MXN Entertainment
Preferred Contact:
Manager, Self
310.429.4716
Keywords:
Comedy, absurd, satire, female, fringe
SARAH WALLER
TAYLOR HOLT
Bio:
A former Division 1 athlete, Taylor Holt is a Californian who hates the beach. She specializes in writing bitchy women both for TV and film but don’t call it autobiographical; she’ll get angry. Her pilot script MEAN COACH was a finalist at multiple festivals. She currently assists TV veteran Marc Firek.
Writes:
TV and Film
Preferred Contact:
Self
Keywords:
Comedy, bitchy women
SARAH WALLER
MICHELLE HSU
Bio:
Michelle Hsu is an exciting diverse voice in the sci-fi/horror genre. Her most recent feature, THE FIGURE, topped the 2020 Bloodlist, and was reported on by Hollywood Reporter as one of the best unproduced horror scripts of the year.
Originally from a sleepy suburb in Illinois, Michelle is a second generation Asian American, and is passionate about diversity in entertainment and media. In her writing, she often spotlights women, people of color, and LGBTQ.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Agent:
Mark Ross & Olivia Faletti, Paradigm Agency
Manager:
Matt Dy, Lit Entertainment
Preferred Contact:
Agent, Manager, Self
Keywords:
sci-fi, horror, LGBTQIA+, drama, thriller, coming of age, commercial
SARAH WALLER
JOSELYN HUGHES
Bio:
Joselyn Hughes is a Los Angeles based writer and performer. She was named one of "30 Under 35: Female Comedians to Watch" by JaneDough.com, "25 Female Comedians Everyone Should Know" by Flavorwire.com, “18 Funny Women You Should Be Following on Twitter” by the Huffington Post, and “30 Under 30: Comedians You Should Watch” by Splashlife and Funny or Die.
Joselyn has appeared on Chelsea Lately, Tosh.0, The Fab Life, MTV, VH1, Spike and has written for Comedy Central, Vanity Fair, MTV, VH1, OWN, TBS and the Huffington Post.
Her web series DIY, Dammit! can be seen on her YouTube channel and her first book, "DIY, Dammit! A Practical Guide to Curse-Free Crafting" is available now everywhere books are sold.
You can catch her live in Los Angeles performing stand up. Follow and like all her things on the internet so she can feel cool!
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Agent:
Laura McDonald, Gersh
Preferred Contact:
Agent
Keywords:
comedy
SARAH WALLER
SABRINA JAGLOM
Bio:
Sabrina Jaglom is a LA-based writer & director. She studied film at RADA in London, FAMU in Prague, and graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Film & Television. At NYU, she wrote, directed, and produced several shorts, many of which screened and won awards at major film festivals. Upon graduation, she worked in production on various projects including Showtime’s The Affair and assisted Nancy Meyers on The Intern. Sabrina then had enough of winter and moved back to LA to work in Film/TV development at Whalerock Industries, which had an overhead deal with MGM. She then went on to serve as associate producer on the feature Home Again, which was released nationwide in the fall of 2017. Most recently, Sabrina directed a music video for the Nashville artist Charlie Rodgers, produced a commercial for Walmart/The Oscars, directed an AirBnB commercial, and directed the West Coast premiere of a play titled Empathitrax. Currently, she is writing a podcast for Automatik's QCode Media and is preparing to direct her first feature JANE, which she co-wrote with Rishi Rajani, and will be produced by Debbie Liebling and American High.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Agent:
Anna Flickenger & Charlie Ferraro, UTA
Manager:
Merideth Bajana & Gabrielle Lewis, Grandview
Preferred Contact:
Agent, Manager, Self
310.883.4162
Keywords:
grounded genre, thriller, drama
SARAH WALLER
HYUNJIN JO
Bio:
I was born in South Korea. By the time I was eight years old, I had lived in various places such as Hawaii and Kansas. Primarily, I grew up as a latchkey kid in the western suburbs of Philadelphia, watching a LOT of unsupervised police/detective/ sci-fi television. When I was nine, I adapted a novel into a 110-page screenplay and directed my classmates in the film. I spent many years taking fine art and documentary photographs around the world, spending some time living in Italy. With cinematographer John Alonzo’s mentorship, my film career began as an union A.C. on various productions where I was oftentimes the only female, and only ethnic minority. Several years ago, I was preparing to direct a feature when a woman in a SUV hit me while I was walking my dog. It took a year to hold a pen correctly—longer to deal with the aphasia issues. Because of the constant pain level, I no longer need anesthesia at the dentist. I have quite a bit of knowledge of issues with diseases, physical and mental health, non-combat post-traumatic stress, and the lengths one has to go to pay for health “care” in America (game show winnings has paid for medical care). Additionally, I am developing an essay collection (in the vein of David Sedaris/Sloane Crosley) on my various solo childhood adventures—ranging from being beat up on the walk to kindergarten, to being left in a country where I did not know the language in eighth grade.
Writes:
TV and Film
Preferred Contact:
Self
213.718.8222
Keywords:
Adaptations and rewrites specialist, thrillers, sci-fi, action, horror, women, strong voice POV
SARAH WALLER
ALEXANDRA JOSPIN
Bio:
Alexandra "Alex" Jospin writes dramedies with a strong female perspective. She's inspired by her disparate interests in pop culture, New Age wellness, politics, traditional rom-coms, and the local comedy scene.
Alex writes about complicated, unique women and the friendships, work, and relationships that motivate them. She also performs stand-up and is a regular contributor to the podcast NOT MY THERAPIST.
She has worked as a writers' assistant and showrunner's assistant, most recently on the Showtime series ON BECOMING A GOD IN CENTRAL FLORIDA. Before that, Alex was a Page at NBC and an assistant at UTA.
She completed a joint masters program in Global Media and Communications from the London School of Economics and USC; her dissertation focused on Kim Kardashian.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Manager:
Peter Heller, Heller Highwater
Preferred Contact:
Manager, Self
404.202.3531
Keywords:
teen, YA, comedy, dramedy, South, Ancient Egyptia, magical realism
SARAH WALLER
RACHEL KEMPF
Bio:
Rachel Kempf is a Los-Angeles based screenwriter who specializes in low-budget horror scripts with strong female leads. She also has a background in comedy and a shameful history of writing smutty romance novels (don’t judge). Rachel received an MFA in Screenwriting from the University of Texas at Austin, where she co-wrote and produced the webseries Texting with Gosling. Since then, her scripts have gained accolades from Slamdance, Cinestory, Austin Film Festival, Script Pipeline, Hollyshorts, Final Draft Big Break, and the PAGE Awards. In 2020, she was named one of the International Screenwriters’ Association’s Top 25 Screenwriters to Watch and attended Stowe Story Lab’s Sidewalk Narrative Lab with her horror feature Scary New Year.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Agent:
Melisa Baglou, Paradigm
Preferred Contact:
Agent, Self
512.789.2332
Keywords:
horror, comedy, low-budget, female-centric
SARAH WALLER
AUDREY KNOX
Bio:
Audrey Knox worked in reality TV before becoming a manager at Cartel, where she launched the careers of three different writers before ultimately pivoting to focus on her own. Her half-hour comedy pilot SHAM OF A MARRIAGE was a finalist for the 2020 Scriptapalooza Fellowship and made the Top 25 Tracking Board Launch Pad Pilots in 2019. She interned in the CSI writers’ room and for THE MILLIONAIRE MATCHMAKER. Audrey has studied under Jen Grisanti and has a BFA in Screenwriting from Chapman University. She’s a California native and activist who spends her free time organizing with mutual aid groups in South Central Los Angeles.
Writes:
TV
Representation:
Manager:
Evan Corday & Stan Spry
Cartel Entertainment
Preferred Contact:
Self
925-595-2073
Keywords:
comedy, family, edgy, character-driven, grounded, LGBTQ, socially-conscious
SARAH WALLER
CAROLYN KRAS
Bio:
Carolyn Kras is a writer named to ISA's List of "Top 25 Screenwriters to Watch in 2020." She was one of four writers (including Shia LaBeouf) chosen for Variety’s Screenwriters Lab at Sun Valley Film Festival. She is developing a medical procedural pitch for 20th TV & Escape Artists. Carolyn grew up in a Mafia-controlled neighborhood of Chicagoland, which is why she enjoys stories about crime, law, and politics. She is a former paralegal, and her legal procedural pilot script IN CHAMBERS was honored as a New York Television Festival Official Selection. As one of two Americans selected to pitch at C21’s Content London, she presented her drama THE SECOND CITY, which takes place after the Great Chicago Fire destroys the city. Carolyn also earned a Fulbright to the U.K., where she served as Playwright in Residence at Sell a Door Theatre. Her play THE SUBJECT, featuring Alfred Enoch, served as a fundraiser for United Nations Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women. Carolyn’s historical drama MAGNETIC received a First Place Alfred P. Sloan Award and was chosen for the Hamptons International Film Festival’s Screenwriters Lab, where Melissa Leo headlined its public reading. MAGNETIC was also included in Plume & Pellicule, a screenwriting workshop featuring Christopher Hampton and Stephen Frears. Carolyn is an alum of Carnegie Mellon’s M.F.A. Dramatic Writing Program, NBC Page Program, and Women in Film Mentorship Program.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Agent:
Jordan Bayer
Elevate Talent Agency
Manager:
Rick Berg
Code Entertainment
Preferred Contact:
Agent, Manager, Self
708-790-6010
Keywords:
drama, procedural, legal, medical, historical drama, horror, grounded
SARAH WALLER
NITZAN MAGER
Bio:
Nitzan is a feminist filmmaker based in Brooklyn. Although she tries to avoid that cliche, she was recently commissioned to direct a short doc on Gloria Steinem that featured an interview with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. So, not sure how well that’s going.
She’s currently at work on a new feature script, STRANGE LOVE, about a multilingual translator from New Jersey who must save the world from by taking down the earth’s power grid using her vagina. The script was a finalist for the 2020 Sundance, Middlebury, and Outfest Screenwriting Labs, and was nominated by Marta Kauffman for the 2020 Write Her List.
Past films have won awards from the National Board of Review, NY Women in Film and Television, and the Tallgrass Film festival and have screened at IFP Filmweek’s NextGenNYC program and established film festivals across the country.
Nitzan is a member of the NYC chapter of the Film Fatales and the Filmmakehers. Along with Lela Meadow-Conner (exec. director of the Film Festival Alliance) she is one of the founders of Mothership, a screenwriting lab.
Writes:
TV and Film
Preferred Contact:
Self
919.360.6003
Keywords:
socially-conscious comedy, high-concept, character and dialogue driven
SARAH WALLER
ANNA MAGUIRE
Bio:
Anna is British/Canadian writer, director and actress. Her directorial work has screened at festivals including TIFF, Palm Springs, PÖFF Black Nights and the BFI London Film Festival where she was nominated for Best Short Film with Your Mother and I in 2016. She has won awards at Rhode Island International Film Festival, The London Short Film Festival, Thessaloniki International Film Festival and Underwire Film Festival among others, was long listed for a BAFTA, and nominated for Best Short Film at the London Critics’ Circle Awards in 2018. Her penultimate short Constellations has screened internationally and It’s Nothing, her latest short film premiered at TIFF in 2019. She is currently writing her first feature An Empty Space supported by BFI NETWORK.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Agent:
Ruth Young (Acting)
United Agents
Manager:
Raj Raghavan & Christina Campagnola
Echo Lake Entertainment & GRLBND Media
Preferred Contact:
Manager, Self
+44 (0) 78121 98099 or +1 (416) 831 4760
Keywords:
internal, dark humour, meaningful
SARAH WALLER
SANDRENE MATHEWS
Bio:
A prolific character-driven dramedy and genre writer. I use humor to address social and gender issues and create emotionally nuanced characters to focus on emotionally charged themes of personal growth, being your best self, and rising to do extraordinary things.
Writes:
TV
Preferred Contact:
Self
412.401.3169
Keywords:
dramedy, dark comedy, supernatural, sci-fi, fantasy, grounded, emotional, character-driven, encouraging, psychological
SARAH WALLER
KATE MICKERE
Bio:
Kate is a playwright and screenwriter with a day job in Legal Affairs at Nickelodeon.
Her plays include NURSE CADDEN (commissioned by The Vagrancy, O’Neill Semi-finalist), A BANSHEE KILLED MY BOYFRIEND (Last Frontier Theatre Conference) and MOD PARTY (KCATCF Region II Ten Minute Play Award, World Premiere: Actor’s Theatre of Louisville).
Her screenplay, CAPTURING THE STARS, won a $20,000 grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in 2012 and received an Honorable Mention for the Sloan/Tribeca Grand Jury Prize in 2013.
As an essayist, Kate has been published by The Los Angeles Times, XO Jane and The Awl. She’s also written monologues for the collection “Teen Girl’s Comedic Monologues That Are Actually Funny,” published by Applause Books.
Kate holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from Carnegie Mellon University, where she was the recipient of the Steven Bochco Fellowship. She’s an alumna of The British American Drama Academy’s Midsummer in Oxford Program and has studied improv and sketch comedy at The Upright Citizens Brigade.
Writes:
TV and Film
Preferred Contact:
Self
570.851.9014
Keywords:
supernatural comedy, historical drama, strong female characters, playwright
SARAH WALLER
LENA MURISIER
Bio:
Lena Murisier is an award-winning screenwriter currently in pre-production with Disrupting Influence and Rough Diamond Productions for her crime show Bonnie & Bonnie -- yes, she's really proud of that title! In addition to developing Bonnie & Bonnie, she signed an option agreement for Take Us to Church, her first documentary on LGBTQ-affirming churches across the United States, with Picture Lock Entertainment.
Since January 2020, her pilot, Bonnie & Bonnie, has remained one of the best-scored pilots on the Red List. In addition to her continued success on the Red List, Lena was hired by BBC as a Story Contributor and tasked to help with new ideas and punch up jokes for the BAFTA-Winning, Emmy-Nominated series “Secret Life of Boys” season 5 -- Having experienced a writers room with mostly British Stand Up Comedians, Lena can now survive in all environments (note for later: add survival skills to Resumé).
Lena speaks and writes in English, French, and German (she would say Italian too, but then you'll start a sentence in Italian and watch her freeze and blink endlessly). She is originally from Switzerland where she's made a career in marketing and advertising. Lena moved to Los Angeles in 2018 to pursue a career in screenwriting and graduated from the New York Film Academy of Los Angeles.
Writes:
TV and FIlm
Representation:
Agent:
Michael Lewis, Michael Lewis & Associates
Manager:
Jason Newman & Alex Varon, Untitled Entertainment
Preferred Contact:
Manager, Self
Keywords:
crisp, punchy, comedic characters, relatable, grounded
SARAH WALLER
KATHERINE OOSTMAN
Bio:
Katherine Oostman was homeschooled, studied at Oxford and worked the Sochi Olympics.
Her short film, The Stranger, has screened at the TCL Chinese Theater, San Diego Comic-Con, the Atlanta Film Festival, and the Florida Film Festival. It won a bronze Telly for directing and received the Grand Jury Prize for Best College Short at Gasparilla Film Festival. Her experimental film July 6 Marquette MI was selected for the 2018 Visible Poetry Project Anthology, and The Sense of Feeling, her short doc, screened at a 2015 TEDx event. Her feature script, The Stranger, was a 2018 American Zoetrope Screenwriting Competition Quarterfinalist.
Her experience working in story development for companies like Kennedy Marshall, Protozoa, Partizan, and 1stAveMachine have only fueled her writing. She has also worked as a story consultant for PlayStation's Emerging Filmmakers program and Asbury University's feature film "Damaged Goods."
She is predominantly writes psychological thriller / horror / near future feature scripts that combine strong female characters and Twilight Zone-esq settings.
Writes:
Film
Representation:
Manager:
David Baggleaar, Good Fear
Preferred Contact:
Manager, Self
630.450.2393
Keywords:
thriller, psychological, horror, near sci-fi, grounded (usually with a supernatural, fantastical, or sci-fi element)
SARAH WALLER
ALEXI PAPPAS
Bio:
Alexi Pappas is an Olympic runner and an award-winning actor and writer. Alexi's upcoming memoir-in-essays, "Bravey," with a foreword by Maya Rudolph, will be released on January 12, 2021. Alexi co-created and starred in the feature film "Olympic Dreams" alongside Nick Kroll, premiering at SXSW 2019. In 2016 Alexi co-wrote, co-directed, and starred in the feature film TRACKTOWN with a cast including Rachel Dratch ("Saturday Night Live") and Andy Buckley ("The Office").
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Agent:
Adam Perry & Kyle Loftus, APA
Manager:
Christina Campagnola, GRLBND Media
Preferred Contact:
Self
Keywords:
drama, comedy, sports
SARAH WALLER
DOROTHY PECORARO BERTRAM
Bio:
Dorothy studied film and business at NYU and UCLA and got her degree in fashion design from IED in Milan, Italy. She is a first-generation Sicilian-American, and she started her professional career as a costume designer for Disney. Her path to her real passion for screenwriting was a circuitous one, including working for the founder of Studio 54 and a brief stint at a gentlemen's club, as well as an HR Manager at a mental health facility. Her range and the worlds she has created illustrate her unique perspective and wide-ranging ability to tap into diverse cultures.
Her pilot ALICE'S was featured by the Blacklist, her feature SABIYA, about two Yazidi sisters that escaped enslavement from ISIS, was optioned by Route One Entertainment. She placed/won various competitions, and she is currently developing her pilots THE 9TH WARD and SPECIAL TREATMENT.
She wrote, directed, and co-produced her short A DIFFERENT GUY, which was filmed in Copperhill, TN, a small town on the Georgia/Tennessee border, where she and her husband spend much of their time in a cabin on the Ocoee River.
In a world where literary specialization seems de rigueur, Dorothy is an anomaly. Her writing skills run the genre gamut, from comedy to drama, fiction, thrillers, and a touch of noir. But they all have in common is authentic style and relatable themes.
Dorothy writes about people finding their sense of self, identity, and value in the world. Her characters reconcile who they are with who they want to be—finding psychological congruence —turning their previous sense of victimization into empowerment.
Dorothy is well-traveled. On her own for business or pleasure or with her husband, an international businessman Dorothy has visited over 50 countries acquiring unique cultural experiences along the way. This exposure gifted her with a distinctive prism through which she can see the world and story.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Manager
Asha Kumar
626.536.2865
Preferred Contact:
Manager, Self
619.952.5609
Keywords:
dramedy, female-centric, grounded, self-discovery, versatile
SARAH WALLER
SARAH ELIZABETH PETERSON
Bio:
Sarah Peterson is a comedy writer and actress from Los Angeles. She has performed stand up and improv across NYC and LA at UCB, Groundlings and a million stand-up venues. Not just a performer, Sarah has worked in development on shows at HBO, FOX, and AMC. Most recently, Sarah put up her solo show, BASTARD at Lyric Hyperion to a sold out crowd.
Writes:
TV
Preferred Contact:
Self
310.968.4832
Keywords:
Comedy, grounded, Dramedy, Heartfelt, family
SARAH WALLER
NICOLA PITTAM
Bio:
Nicola Pittam is a British screenwriter, award winning author and former Fleet Street journalist.
She currently runs her own press agency and when she’s not writing grisly crime features for a variety of UK and European publishing clients, she can usually be found hidden away in her dungeon/writing bunker, hunched over a laptop agonizing over her TV and feature scripts.
Nicola lived in Los Angeles for 23 years before recently moving to South Carolina in the middle of the pandemic to be closer to her crazy family.
In 2021, she fully intends to split her time between LA and the good ‘ol South (which she is quickly discovering is a goldmine for weird and wonderful stories and characters) if not for professional reasons, more for her own sanity!
Her TV pilot, HOUSE OF THE RISING SUN, made the Bitch List 2019 and also placed in the semifinals of both the Shore Scripts TV contest and the Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards 2019.
Actress Jennifer Finnigan and her manager John Carabino are attached to HOTRS as producers and it is currently repped by ICM's TV lit department.
Her other TV pilot, THE MAID, was a finalist in the NYC International Screenplay Awards and a quarterfinalist in the Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards, Scriptapalooza, The Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Awards and Cinestory.
Her latest feature script, ODE TO JOY, was the winner of the Write Like A Girl script contest, placed in the Top Ten of Roadmap Writer's Top Tier contest, and was a semi-finalist at the Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards 2019. Nicola also won Roadmap’s Elevator Pitch Contest with her pitch for OTJ.
Nicola was also a key member of ScreenwritingU’s development team and spent two years helping create SU’s popular Bingeworthy TV masterclass.
She is also the co-author of “Christian Bale: The Inside Story of the Darkest Batman,” a biography of the Oscar winning actor which won 4 awards in 2012-2013 including Best Biography at the Indie Book Awards and the National Indie Excellence Awards.
Nicola has also won several awards for her journalism in the British publication The Sun, as well the News of the World and Daily Mirror, along with several other UK women’s magazines.
Representation:
Manager:
Alexander Robb, Insignia Entertainment
Writes:
Film and TV
Preferred Contact:
Manager, Self
310.962.4153
Keywords:
drama, female-led, real life/true story, supernatural, historical/period
SARAH WALLER
ANGIE POLKOVICH
Bio:
Angie Polkovich is an LA-based Polish writer/director. She has directed several short films both in Poland and America. She is currently developing a TV drama and is preparing to shoot her coming-of-age debut feature. She is the first writer/director of Polish nationality to be accepted into the BAFTA Los Angeles Newcomers Program. Her biggest influences are Andrea Arnold and Lars Von Trier. Polkovich has a passion to tell stories that highlight the complexity of their female characters.
Writes:
TV and Film
Preferred Contact:
Self
347.670.3120
Keywords:
coming of age, sexual, sexual awakening, drama
SARAH WALLER
LAURA POLLAK
Bio:
Laura is a comedy writer based in Los Angeles. Originally from Connecticut, she moved to Japan after college, where she started off as an English teacher and ended up with a job at an Americana-themed Japanese burger shop. In LA, she spent several years working for writer/producers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, assisting them with development and the runs of their critically acclaimed shows HELLO LADIES (HBO) and TROPHY WIFE (ABC). She is currently a Story Editor on the Amazon animated series FAIRFAX. She is still pretty fluent in Japanese, but writes in English.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Agent:
Melissa Darman, Jake Dillman & Jenna Block, Verve
Manager:
Chelsea Connors, Mosaic
Preferred Contact:
Agent, Manager
Keywords:
Character-driven, observational comedy with heart
SARAH WALLER
AARTHI RAMANATHAN
Bio:
Aarthi Ramanathan is a screenwriter and visual artist with a passion for screenplays in the animation, family and fantasy genres. Having lived in three countries on the opposite ends of the world - India where she was born, Kuwait where she grew up and also was a refugee during the Gulf War, and Canada where she lives now, she finds joy in writing stories from diverse perspectives, particularly that of the underdog and individuals with unique challenges set in soaring visual landscapes that also deeply imbibe the connection between nature and the human spirit. She has also been a finalist in various screenwriting competitions including the Tracking Board Launchpad, Final Draft Big Break, the Screencraft Fellowship and recently achieved the #1 position on the 2020 Bitch List. A huge Disney fanatic and a lover of magical fables and comic books, if she could be a superhero's sidekick, she would be Ms. Marvel's; and if she could live on any dessert forever, it would be Nutella!
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Krista Sipp and Devon Byers, First Friday Entertainment
Preferred Contact:
Manager, Self
647.740.6849
Keywords:
Epic, heartfelt, fantasy, family, adventure, comedy. Animation/live-action.
SARAH WALLER
MARISSA READ
Bio:
Selyna Warren and Marissa Read make up the multi-hyphenate team S&M. They share a love for comedy and want to create content they can act in and direct. They met at a musical theatre conservatory and have been creatively co-dependent ever since. S&M’s first sale was to AwesomenessTV in the form of a streaming teen show called Foursome. Their 4th and last season premiered on Youtube Premium in the fall of ‘18, making it the network’s longest running series. After writing all of Season I, they spent the next 3 seasons as show-runners, EP’s, and eventually added directing to the docket, directing three episodes, including the finale of this latest season. Their directing debut was for a pilot presentation they wrote called Delinquents. They starred alongside the likes of Lil Rel Howery, Jillian Bell, and Fortune Feimster. Their feature HAZED reached #1 on the Blklst website and they’ve since optioned this dark high school comedy to Jermey Garelick’s company, American High. Unbelievably, the girls won a Google grant to develop a script involving computer science. Neither have any experience in computer science. S&M are pumped to be working with Nickelodeon to reboot a favorite series from their childhood alongside Ace Entertainment. Currently S&M are working with with WindPower Entertainment for a dramedy 1/2 hour called Bad Apple (password: S&M) and have attached Todd Holland to direct the pilot. Their POC for Bad Apple just got into the Die Laughing 2020 film festival and won best horror comedy. You can find Selyna acting on the tube on Black-ish, Shameless, Teachers, and Idiot Sitter. Look for Marissa in the indie film What We Can’t Have. You can find these ladies in the heart of Burbank, wearing matching outfits, and acting like they’re dating. Both are happily married to other people.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Manager:
Dustin Doty, Velocity
Preferred Contact:
Manager, Self
360.820.5576
Keywords:
Comedy, YA, high concept, coming of age, single cam, female-driven, friendship
SARAH WALLER
ERIN RODMAN
Bio:
Erin Rodman was a development assistant at DreamWorks Studios and 20th Century Fox, before becoming a story analyst for companies such as Paramount, Netflix and Parkes MacDonald. She is currently writing feature adaptation THE BEAR for Amblin and Marc Platt Productions, and her original feature SAY SOMETHING NICE appeared on the 2019 Black List, 2019 Hit List and 2019 Young and Hungry List. Erin also has half hour TV series HELPLESS ROMANTIC in development at Stampede Ventures and comedy series CHANTAL Y2K, starring Suki Waterhouse and Teri Hatcher, in development at Quibi. Erin's feature biopic MADAME was selected for the 2019 WritersForWriters Female Screenwriting Fellowship, and was one of the six scripts selected for the The Black List & Women in Film’s annual feature lab program. Erin has an M.F.A. in Screenwriting from Loyola Marymount University and a Master’s Degree in Film and Television Theory from the University of Glasgow in Scotland.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Agent:
Pamela Goldstein, Verve
Manager:
Sydney Blanke, Fourth Wall Management
Preferred Contact:
Agent, Manager, Self
310.927.2525
Keywords:
Female focused, high concept,
SARAH WALLER
KATHERINE RUPPE
Bio:
Katherine writes film and TV dramas, specializing in kickass characters who strive to achieve the impossible -- whether it’s rocketing to space as one of America’s first female astronauts or risking their lives to catch a murderer. Originally from Michigan’s rugged Upper Peninsula, Katherine fueled her adventurous spirit by racing in rodeos and scouting for wolves. When her father won a long-shot seat to the U.S. Congress, she moved to “civilized” D.C., where she played hide-and-seek in the halls of Congress, kicked back hot-chocolate at the Veeps, and broke all the rules at her Catholic girls school. Katherine’s thriller feature, TRUE NORTH, is an Athena List winner, Austin Film Festival Finalist, and under option with Resonate Entertainment. Her crime drama pilot, SILVER STAR, was previously optioned by Warner Bros. TV. She’s an alum of the PGA Power of Diversity Producing Workshop and the Film Independent Episodic Lab, Screenwriter’s Lab, and Fast Track Program. She’s been published in The New York Times, earned her MFA in screenwriting at UCLA, and is a former member of the International Cinematographers Guild where she advanced to camera operator on movies and TV in New York.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Manager:
Jeffrey Thal, Ensemble Entertainment
Preferred Contact:
Manager, Self
310-574-1174
Keywords:
Character-driven drama, suspense thriller, mystery, crime, action, adventure, heist, psychological horror, biopic
SARAH WALLER
SHRUTI SARAN
Bio:
Shruti is a screenwriter, third-culture kid, and emerging filmmaker from Michigan. She grew up in India, England, and Missouri, collecting accents as her parents collected advanced degrees, and went to college at the University of Michigan where she studied Biology. She writes both comedy and drama, loves science-inspired premises, and her stories often feature women or immigrants struggling with ambition, identity, and expectations. Nowadays, she lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, a bitcoin entrepreneur and free in-house consultant on her one-hour drama, FINDING SATOSHI. When she's not writing, Shruti can be found script supervising on indie films, producing Worded Funny, a live literary short humor show, and hanging out with her very badly named writer's group, "The Cool Kids."
Writes:
TV
Representation:
Agent:
Allie Cohen, CAA
Manager:
Nicholas Bogner, Affirmative Entertainment
Preferred Contact:
Agent, Manager, Self
734.646.8933
Keywords:
I love both comedy and drama and gravitate towards science-inspired premises and stories about immigrants and women.
SARAH WALLER
ADRIENNE SCHAFFLER
Bio:
Adrienne is a New Yorker who has become an LA convert. It’s been all too easy to leave behind brutal winters and deadly humid summers. She started out as a playwright— studying Theater and English at Skidmore College. With THAT super practical degree under her belt she worked a slew of support jobs while putting on productions of her plays in NYC. After having an existential crisis over the fact that she would probably never be able to support herself financially as a playwright, she pivoted and started studying screenwriting. She worked as an unofficial writers assistant to Louis Venosta— who gifted her Final Draft... bless him. She moved out to LA with a few thousand dollars, no job, and with the blind naïveté only a 24 year old can have. She eventually was signed by Principato-Young when her best friend slipped her pilot into a manager’s weekend read. It’s truly one of those crazy LA stories. From there she got repped at APA and landed her first paid writing job at Brat, a digital media company making scripted content for a Gen Z audience. A former show runner at Brat, Jessie Rosen, offered her a job writing for a Christian soap opera... which was strange but so is life. As a New York Jew I had to do a lot of googling about the Bible. Adrienne was then selected to write the reboot of Disney’s As the Bell Rings, where she worked with Andrew Orenstein. She’s currently working on a scripted sci-fi podcast produced by Paragon Collective.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Agent:
Danny Alexander, APA
Manager:
Jeffrey Thal, Ensemble Entertainment
Preferred Contact:
Agent, Self
914.41.-4564
Keywords:
Dark (very dark) comedy, hyper realism, female driven
SARAH WALLER
ERICA SCHREIBER
Bio:
Erica Schreiber is from Port Angeles, WA and attended NYU Tisch's Dramatic Writing Program. Erica was featured on the 2018 Young & Hungry and Hit Lists. On the TV side, she is currently developing a sci-fi series for Freeform and has previously written on Crackle's techno thriller IN THE CLOUD and Hasbro's animated MICRONAUTS. On the feature side, her spec feature SLAY is in development at Josephson Entertainment. She’s currently writing a pair of features for Blumhouse as well as a martial arts movie for XYZ (THE RAID) and Kindred Spirit (THE FAREWELL). The thriller she wrote for director Deon Taylor (BLACK & BLUE) is scheduled to shoot in 2020, Covid-willing.Bio:
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Manager:
Jennifer Au
Preferred Contact:
Manager, Self
312.618.2826
Keywords:
Female driven, genre, action, horror, thriller, sci fi, fantasy, martial arts, adventure
SARAH WALLER
SUSIE SINGER CARTER
Bio:
If you asked five-year-old Susie what she wanted to be when she grew up, she’d have placed her hands on either side of her pink tutu and proclaimed, “Everything. Duh!” And been 100% right. Besides ballet, I spent my childhood as a gymnast, an entrepreneur (selling my toys door-to-door), debate champion, party planner, flag twirler, and cheerleader, while surviving my parents’ divorce and my father’s untimely death in a plane crash. While studying journalism at UCLA, I hosted a radio show, modeled, married, and sang in a pop-group produced by Chuck Lorre. (That Chuck Lorre.) After college, I had a baby, back surgery, opened a handmade jewelry store, acted in TV and film, performed improv, worked in development, launched my production company, divorced, remarried, had another baby, wrote and produced two CBS tween shows. Following that chapter, I became my mother’s caregiver, a spokesperson for Alzheimer’s, wrote a Bratz for Lionsgate, and co-produced a Soul Surfer for Sony. Divorced again. Took up hip-hop, signed a deal with Fox, wrote, produced and directed a pilot with Bryan Cranston, two documentaries for Women’s History Month and an award-winning, Oscar qualified short film that took me around the world, and now I am attached to direct my first feature of a screenplay adaptation that I wrote. Still, there’s so much more to do! I’m grateful for the fearless five-year-old-inside who never ceases to fuel my passion to create… well, everything.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Manager:
Cary Kozlov, CK Literary Management
Preferred Contact:
Manager, Self
310.472.8910
Keywords:
Female driven, comedy, dramadey, drama, children's, tween
SARAH WALLER
MAE SMITH
Bio:
Mae Smith is an LA-based writer who most recently worked as the Writers’ Assistant on season two of Starz’s HIGHTOWN (of which she also co-wrote Episode 208). Previously, she was the Script Coordinator on Apple’s UNTITLED SIMON KINBERG SCI-FI SERIES (aka RAY JAMES) and a Writers’ Assistant and Script Coordinator on Showtime’s BILLIONS. Mae was also a Fellow in the WGA’s inaugural Made in NY Writers Room program. She was selected as one of 11 writers from a pool of 500+ applicants for this paid fellowship to develop a pilot script under the mentorship of showrunner Norman Steinberg (Blazing Saddles, Cosby, Teech, etc.). Mae graduated from Columbia University and subsequently worked in distribution, artist representation, and had a stint as a crypto bro at a blockchain entertainment studio. She is also the producer, director, and co-writer of the comedic sex education web series, Educated Fleas. Mae’s writing focuses on the ways that traumas and the social stigmas attached to them inhibit growth at personal, societal, and systemic levels. She hopes to replace these stigmas with humor while giving voice to those on the fringes: those struggling with mental illness, poverty, and addiction, as well as women who don't look, feel, or behave in a way society deems acceptable. Ultimately, Mae endeavors to write the kind of television she desperately craved as a child growing up in a deeply volatile environment – comedic stories that offer enough perspective to laugh at the hardest moments and enough hope to imagine a better life.
Writes:
TV
Representation:
Agent:
Danny Alexander & Erin Morris, APA
Preferred Contact:
Agent, Self
732.236.0050
Keywords:
dramedy, comedy, dark comedy, absurdist, grounded, mental illness, caretaking, poverty, satire, tech, technology, female protagonist
SARAH WALLER
SHARON S. SOBOIL
Bio:
An award-winning screenwriter, her start into feature writing took her around the globe: The sex-trafficking story Catching India, for Jennifer Siebel Newsom, which won the Goa International Screenplay Award; The Wine Revolt to Bordeaux; her period rom-com Of Corset’s Mine to England, an award-winning script being produced by String and a Can, with Jason Connery directing Spring 2021. Keeping her sane during the covid lockdown, she was tapped by Voltage Pictures and Offspring to adapt the third and fourth best-selling YA novels, After We Fell and After Ever Happy. Her true story ROO!, about a girl and her dog, is being produced by Resonate and Metro Int’l. Her TV movie Love On The Air was Hallmark's submission for the Emmy's, and a Leo Award winner. Her half hour comedy series Harmful If Swallowed, about the pharma world, was bought by Participant Media. Her female-led drama series, HOT, is set up with Bronwyn Cornelius and Element 8 and she is developing the series SAVED with Kerry David, about women fighting poachers based off the doc. Sharon is an active member of the Women’s Writer’s Guild Committee, and sits on the board of the Hollywood Women’s Film Festival.
Writes:
TV and Film
Preferred Contact:
Self
818.802.0760
Keywords:
Women-led material, romance, drama, comedy, YA, adaptations, true stories
SARAH WALLER
MONIQUE SORGEN
Bio:
Raised in a hippie house in San Francisco’s Castro district, Monique Sorgen’s brutally honest and quirky comedic voice is the result of her unusual upbringing by her father, a civil rights attorney with no personal boundaries, and her mother, a French professor torn between American free-thinking and bourgeois Parisian roots. Monique’s bilingual and bicultural education have led her to be worldly, open-minded, understanding, and compassionate to varying points of view— qualities which also inform her character development process. She is an award-winning writer-director who is currently in the Sony Television Directors Program. Her dark comedy short, Sorry, Not Sorry starring Wallace Langham (CSI), Jessica Oyelowo (A United Kingdom), and M. Emmet Walsh (Blade Runner) was picked up by Omeleto.com, where it amassed more than 100,000 views and 4000 likes in its first month. Her newest short film, Rock A Bye Baby, an action-comedy, starring Mo McRae (Den of Thieves), Scott Krinsky (Chuck), and a baby, is about to start its festival tour. Before that, she directed three branded reality series in the Philippines for Fashion One TV, and made music videos that were picked up by the Disney Channel and the Jonas Brothers. As a writer, she has developed screenplays with Imagine Entertainment, DiNovi Pictures, Jay Stern (Horrible Bosses), Chris Moore (Good Will Hunting), USA/UCP, Morgan Freeman’s Revelations, David Oyelowo’s Yoruba Saxon, and scripted several independent films set in Hong Kong and Europe. In TV, she’s written for “Blind Date,” Comedy Central, VH1, and worked in a think tank for ABC. She has also written for Sony Brazil’s hit rom-com, “(Des)Encontros,” and developed a sitcom set in Mumbai. She volunteers as a political writer with “The Writer’s Brigade” and as a host for the WGAw podcast “3rd & Fairfax.”
Writes:
TV and Film
Preferred Contact:
Self
310.463.5162
Keywords:
comedy, dramedy, true story, fun, honest, commercial, female gaze
SARAH WALLER
ALICE STANLEY JR.
Bio:
Alice writes cheery bubblegum pop with dark existential undercurrents. Since moving to LA in 2018, Alice has been a staff writer for BUSY TONIGHT (executive produced by Tina Fey) and the onset writer for the upcoming Netflix feature MOXIE, directed by Amy Poehler. She is currently developing a new stage play, a sit-com, and a horror feature. She is also a dramaturg and consultant for several new works, including the upcoming musical THE MOUNTAIN DIGBY (Hudson Mainstage). She performs weekly at UCB with the improvised musical BABY WANTS CANDY and was a proud cast member of their total sell-out Edinburgh Fringe run in 2019.
Alice grew up on the South Side of Chicago. In the windy city she ran Silk Road Rising Theatre’s empathy-based playwriting program for underserved Chicago public high school students. She also taught English and Theatre at Chicago City Colleges. At night she did improv and put up plays around the storefront theatre scene (plus once at The Goodman).
Eventually Alice began working for The Second City full-time, including touring on a dang cruise ship, writing essays for their humor website, and developing their summer youth and teen revue. She performed with a bunch of shows at iO Chicago including the Harold team Hometown, the LGBTQ cast of Dreamboat, and the long-running Whirled News Tonight. Her eco-terrorist musical solo show MEAT CUTE had two successful sell-out runs at The Annoyance and The Cute Space.
She loves pastries and has seen one ghost.
Writes:
TV and Film
Preferred Contact:
Self
708.602.6057
Keywords:
comedy, dark comedy, pop, mystery, queer, horror, grounded, feminist, environmentalist
SARAH WALLER
CARLEY STEINER
Bio:
Carley Steiner hails from the murky swamps of New Orleans, LA and has been a WGA member since 2008. She has a BA in Film Studies from Columbia University, and an MFA in Screenwriting from USC. Carley has written for Lifetime NBC Universal, Oops Doughnuts, Disney Channel, Disney +, Walden Media, Nickelodeon, Original Films/Sony Pictures and Amazon. Her original film SPIN for Disney + starts shooting in Toronto in Sept. 2020. Additionally, she is a college professor, teaching graduate screenwriting and film theory at various colleges in the Los Angeles area. She's also a pastry school graduate, trapeze enthusiast and the world's biggest Dolly Parton fan. She's repped by Adam Levine and Kyle Jensen at Verve.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Agent:
Adam Levine & Kyle Jensen, Verve
Preferred Contact:
Self
323.899.9300
Keywords:
YA book adaptations, coming-of-age, romcom, family comedy
SARAH WALLER
CAMERAN SURLES
Bio:
Cameran Surles is a producer, writer, actor living in Los Angeles, CA. She got her start in Austin, TX, working on Terrence Mallick's Oscar nominated Tree of Life. Soon after, she met another director great James L. Brooks who wrote a part for her in his next film. These experiences instilled in her a deep and enduring love of flawed, complex characters and stories that find the comedy in spite of the tragedies of life.
Cameran got her start in writing at UCLA's Professional Program in screenwriting. Her writing accolades include projects advancing in Sundance, Imagine Impact, Napa Valley FF, Cinestory, NYTVF, among others. She is also a member of the Creative Network (from Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Impact).
She currently works as in-house writer/ creative producer for Adam Goodman’s digital studio Invisible Narratives. She is interested in exploring stories as part of a new trend: the 30 something heroine. Real, honest stories of womanhood, and all the ambition, mediocrity, self-awareness, identity, sex, friendship, mortality, tragicomedy that goes with it.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Manager:
Evan Anglin, Zero Gravity
Preferred Contact:
Manager, Self
281.222.6282
Keywords:
grounded, character-driven dramedies
SARAH WALLER
TARA TOMICEVIC
Bio:
Born in former Yugoslavia, Tara’s family was torn across political lines when a civil war declared her mom Croatian and her dad Bosnian. As war refugees, Tara and her parents escaped to Italy for six years and then to the U.S., where she was quickly Americanized via Disney Channel Original Movies and the Backstreet Boys. Since, she’s been the only girl on the soccer team, the only white girl on the basketball team and the only broken-ankled player on the volleyball team.
She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley on full scholarship and served as the showrunner’s assistant on ABC’s SCANDAL. She produced the multiple award-winning short MUTED, starring Chandra Wilson and Malcolm-Jamal Warner, which was acquired by HBO and selected for the Ryan Murphy Half Initiative Program. To date it has over 150k views on Issa Rae’s #ShortFilmSundays.
Her short CUDDLE PARTY, with EP Jill Soloway, starring Michaela Watkins, Rob Huebel and Yvette Nicole Brown went to Tribeca and is currently on Amazon. Her pilot BIANCA, about a couples’ therapist with mirror-touch synesthesia, won the Junior Hollywood Radio & TV Society Pilot Competition and her pilot AMERICAPHOBES, about lesbian Croatian moms who adopt an American teen, was in the final round of the Sundance Episodic Lab.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Agent:
Katie Laner & Austin Denesuk, CAA
Manager:
Kendrick Tan, Lit Entertainment
Preferred Contact:
Agent, Manager, Self
510.326.5135
Keywords:
Grounded, light drama, dramedy, heart, sports, family
SARAH WALLER
TERRI VIANI
Bio:
Terri Coduri Viani got her screenwriting start on Disney/ABC's hit show, Brand Spanking New Doug. After Disney, she freelanced in New York City before moving to New England to write for The Stonebridge Press rural newspaper group. Her scripts have been finalists in both the New England Film Fellowship and the PAGE International Screenwriting Awards, as well as placing on The Bitch List 2020, and at Stowe Story Labs and the Austin Film Festival. She is an associate member of the WGA, West, and a Script Magazine contributing writer. In her teens and twenties, she lived and traveled all over the world including Saudi Arabia, England, and the Soviet Union, and currently resides in the Connecticut countryside with one husband, three cats, fifty-thousand honeybees (give or take) and a passel of ornery hens.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Josh Zakaria, Zakaria Entertainment Group
Preferred Contact:
Manager, Self
860.942.9707
Keywords:
Dramedy, light drama, feel-good. Warm-hearted stories of good people making bad choices as they search for their missing piece of the American Dream. I live in that sweet spot where comedy and drama meet.
SARAH WALLER
SARAH VOLLMAN
Bio:
Sarah Vollman is a writer and performer hailing from Austin, TX. Currently she works as James Corden's assistant at The Late Late Show and Fulwell73. She served as writers' assistant for The 2019 Tony Awards, The World's Best, The 2018 Grammy Awards, The Late Late Show in London and The Gavin & Stacey Christmas Special. Additionally, she has trained and performed at the UCB Theatre in both improv and sketch, and some of her writing has been featured in The New Yorker Shouts and Murmurs.
Writes:
TV and Film
Preferred Contact:
Self
512.925.0633
Keywords:
offbeat comedy
SARAH WALLER
SARAH WALLER
Bio:
Sorry to disappoint you but I am not Phoebe Waller Bridge’s sister. Yes, I am also funny, kinda tall and awkward and enjoy pushing the boundaries. An actress friend recently told me that she thinks I’m the real life version of Phoebe’s Fleabag character. I got upset and couldn’t stop sneezing, so she bought me lunch to soften the blow. But then I realized I’m definitely guilty of having bad taste in men and I also might be guilty of jumping into a trash dumpster to hide from a lunatic ex, so point taken.
On the topic of being related to famous folks, the majority of my famous family members are dead. They were all badass women. I often think of how wonderful it would have been to have tea with my Grandmother Helen Hiett, who was a war correspondent for NBC and an author. My Grandma died in a mountain climbing accident in France before I was born, long before she ever had the chance to scold me for being such a late bloomer. People tell me I am the spitting image of her.
I wonder if I got my bawdy sense of humor and my singing voice from Sophie Tucker, who was on my other Grandmother’s side of the family. Sophie was a comedian, singer and an actress. Sophie probably would have told me to get my shit together as well. It’s now become apparent that I need to find a mentor who is still alive and is actually willing to have a meal with me. But I digress.
If you want to know a bit more about my background, I kicked off my career working in indie film in New York City. I learned the hard way that being an experimental filmmaker and working on documentaries wasn’t going to pay my rent. Trying to be a yoga teacher was pretty short lived as well. I fell into writing dark comedy and quickly realized how cathartic it can be to help people find the humor in the darker moments of our lives. I’m also Jewish and gallows humor is just like our thing. It ties in with all the cultural anxiety and neuroticism.
These days, I’m based in Los Angeles. I’m still trying to figure out if this city actually exists or is just a flashy mirage. If someone knows the answer to this, please let me know.
I’m currently developing and co-writing a half hour dark comedy with my writing partner, Comedian Michael Malone. I hope that one day I will make my Grandmother proud but for now, I’m still figuring it all out.
Writes:
TV
Preferred Contact:
Self
646.668.1010
Keywords:
Dramedy, Tragicomedy and Dark Comedy
SARAH WALLER
SELYNA WARREN
Bio:
Selyna Warren and Marissa Read make up the multi-hyphenate team S&M. They share a love for comedy and want to create content they can act in and direct. They met at a musical theatre conservatory and have been creatively co-dependent ever since. S&M’s first sale was to AwesomenessTV in the form of a streaming teen show called Foursome. Their 4th and last season premiered on Youtube Premium in the fall of ‘18, making it the network’s longest running series. After writing all of Season I, they spent the next 3 seasons as show-runners, EP’s, and eventually added directing to the docket, directing three episodes, including the finale of this latest season. Their directing debut was for a pilot presentation they wrote called Delinquents. They starred alongside the likes of Lil Rel Howery, Jillian Bell, and Fortune Feimster. Their feature HAZED reached #1 on the Blklst website and they’ve since optioned this dark high school comedy to Jermey Garelick’s company, American High. Unbelievably, the girls won a Google grant to develop a script involving computer science. Neither have any experience in computer science. S&M are pumped to be working with Nickelodeon to reboot a favorite series from their childhood alongside Ace Entertainment. Currently S&M are working with with WindPower Entertainment for a dramedy 1/2 hour called Bad Apple (password: S&M) and have attached Todd Holland to direct the pilot. Their POC for Bad Apple just got into the Die Laughing 2020 film festival and won best horror comedy. You can find Selyna acting on the tube on Black-ish, Shameless, Teachers, and Idiot Sitter. Look for Marissa in the indie film What We Can’t Have. You can find these ladies in the heart of Burbank, wearing matching outfits, and acting like they’re dating. Both are happily married to other people.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Manager:
Dustin Doty, Velocity Entertainment
Preferred Contact:
Manager, Self
847.236.9701
Keywords:
R rated comedy nostalgia
SARAH WALLER
ANDREA WHIPPLE
Bio:
I'm a delight, you'll love me. I'm midwestern as hell and I learned how to milk a goat at farm camp. I write with lots of heart and a lil bit of fart. My comedy pilots have wild things like lizard people, octogenarian murder mysteries, post apocalyptic robots, but also grounded characters, like a mom trying to balance career and work, and a woman with Down syndrome trying to make her mark. I chose this career because I think the things we put onscreen really can make a difference in the world and I care deeply about representation. Also I love working with people and making stupid jokes- just check my twitter @whipsical.
I perform sketch and improv at Second City. I wrote and performed in the year-long premium show LIVE RUDE GIRLS, and my latest show, Welcome to Boobtown, is about two little boys who find a magical bra who takes them on a mystical adventure through the world of women. My former boss Adam Conover says my work has “joy on every page” and that I work my ass off. He's right.
Writes:
TV
Preferred Contact:
Self
937.654.2089
Keywords:
comedy, sci-fi, mystery, disabled protagonists, animated, robots, post apocalyptic
SARAH WALLER
ELEANOR WILSON
Bio:
Eleanor Wilson is a writer/director/producer from Adelaide, Australia. Her debut feature Save Yourselves!, co-written and co-directed with Alex Huston Fischer, premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, where it was picked up by Bleecker Street. Her award winning short films have played at festivals throughout the world, with her first, Possum, winning best short film at the inaugural NITEHAWK SHORTS FEST. Everything All At Once, starring J. Smith-Cameron, premiered on SUNDANCE.TV. Her latest short film, Low Road, which premiered at MoMA, was written as part of the WRITE BY THE SEA residency and is a recipient of the FUTURE OF FILM IS FEMALE grant. She resides in Los Angeles and enjoys making ceramics for friends and collaborators.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Agent:
Ruby Kaye & Dan Rabinow, CAA
Manager:
Christina Campagnola, GRLBND Media
Preferred Contact:
Agent, Manager
Keywords:
Grounded, comedy, sci-fi, drama, character-driven
SARAH WALLER
STEFANIE WOODBURN
Bio:
Stefanie Woodburn is a Eurasian writer, actress, & filmmaker from Maryland. She is a 2018 CAPE New Writers Fellow, and a graduate of Ron Howard & Brian Grazer's inaugural IMAGINE IMPACT class. Stefanie launched into the arts through dance captaining high school show choir and musicals, and her theater background includes performing in NYC and Paris. An NYU summa cum laude graduate, she found her voice on Twitch, creating thousands of hours of content. She created the first short film funded through streaming video games, POLE, an official selection in 18 film festivals.
Recent projects include writing on an untitled Blue Sky Animated film, as well as being in the roundtable writers room for AMERICAN PIE PRESENTS: GIRLS RULE. Her feature script POLE BOSS is now in development, produced by Imagine Entertainment. As her ethnicity is half-Chinese and half-Danish/German/Irish/Scottish/English mix, she is excited to write and portray stories from the mixed perspective, featuring women leadership and multiculturalism. She is repped at Verve.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Agent:
Pamela Goldstein, Jenna Block & Gina Reyes, Verve
Preferred Contact:
Agent
Keywords:
comedy, dramedy, eSports, dance, musicals, combining two worlds / "mixed perspective"
SARAH WALLER
LILLIAN YU
Bio:
A former Harvard Lampoon-er, Googler, and development exec, Lillian Yu started her writing career as the staff writer on NBC's POWERLESS. She then worked for Warner Brothers under a blind feature deal and has developed various projects with various studios. On the TV side, she is currently working as a Producer on KUNG FU. Feature-wise, she most recently wrote SINGLES DAY for New Line Cinema. Her action spec, CICADA, ranked #4 on this year's Black List and was recently acquired by Black Bear Pictures to develop into a TV series. Lillian was also featured in the most recent Young and Hungry List.
Writes:
TV and Film
Representation:
Agent:
Marissa Devins, Milorad Dragicevic, Gregory McKnight & Max Michael, UTA
Manager:
Daniel Rappaport & Cliff Murray, Management 360
Preferred Contact:
Agent, Manager
Keywords:
Action, comedy, dramedy, rom-com
"I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life's a bitch. You've got to go out and kick ass."
― Maya Angelou