Film Courage: What are you learning inside of these [writing] programs?
Niceole R. Levy, Screenwriter/Author: They all are structured a little bit different. I would say in general the big takeaways are first of all you’re going to write a new piece of material and you’re going to do it with professional mentorship. This is going to be getting notes from people who give studio and network notes to real professional writers all the time. It’s a little bit different than your writer’s group giving you notes or your friends and it gives you a sense of what that’s like when you’re on staff, when you’re developing to get notes from those kind of professionals. Hopefully you have a great new piece of material to help you secure representation and to go out for staffing. The programs will also prepare you for staffing in terms of executives coming in and meeting with you and liking you. They’ll consider sending your name to their showrunners that they’re working with who are looking for new writers. Also, you get practice in how to handle meetings with showrunners, how to go through a general meeting because I always tell people when I got in the CBS program I would have treated a showrunner meeting like a regular job interview because I had no idea what it was. It is very much not that. It is really just go in and have a conversation with someone because the truth of a meeting, a general meeting or a showrunner meeting, is that they already like your writing. That’s how you got in the room. Now you’re there to show who you are, to be your best self, to make them laugh (if you’re doing a comedy), to tell interesting stories. If you’re doing a drama that’s tied to your experience (whatever it is) and show them that…(Watch the video interview on Youtube here).
BUY THE BOOK – THE WRITER’S ROOM SURVIVAL GUIDE: Don’t Screw up the lunch order and other keys to a happy Writers’ Room by Niceole R. Levy
BIO:
After growing up near China Lake Naval Weapons Center in the middle of the Mojave Desert, Niceole escaped to the bright lights of Los Angeles. While studying acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, she realized her true love was writing stories, not playing them out. She worked as a police dispatcher to pay her way through USC undergrad and then completed the Master of Professional Writing program, also at USC. An alum of the CBS Writers Mentoring Program, NBC’s Writers on the Verge, and the WGAW Showrunner Training Program, Niceole has written on “Ironside,” “Allegiance,” “The Mysteries of Laura,” “Shades of Blue,” “Cloak & Dagger,” “Fate: the Winx Saga,” “S.W.A.T,” and “Graymail.” She also co-wrote a feature, “The Banker,” with former “Allegiance” showrunner and director George Nolfi, available on AppleTV+, and is now writing “Spark,” a film inspired by the life of Claudette Colvin. Niceole is currently a co-executive producer on an upcoming Netflix series and has several TV and feature projects in development. Her first book, “The Writers’ Room Survival Guide,” will be released in October of this year.
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