Film Courage: What were you doing the first six months before you were accepted into the TV writing program?
Niceole R. Levy, Screenwriter/Author: I was working on my baking business. I had developed a brochure of all the different types of special things that I could do and I was going to go out to some weddings fairs and try to drum up business, doing favors for weddings. I was at the kitchen baking all day to go to a food show, came home and got the email saying Congratulations, you’re a semi-finalist for the CBS writers program. Please call and schedule your personal interview. So it was really crazy, the universe was like She’s too good at the cookie thing. We have got to pivot back and put her where she belongs.
Film Courage: You rented a kitchen?
Niceole: It was long before there was any thought of allowing people in LA County to bake from home or cook from home to sell it. Pasadena has its own licensing requirements and all that so I had to do all the research to figure all that stuff out, had to figure out how to get the right insurance, I mean it was a lot, but I toughed it out and figured it out and got my business up and running and then Hollywood was no change of plans.
Film Courage: How many TV show scripts and pilots had you written before you were hired?…(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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