Writers Class of 2012 Meet With Network Executives During Welcome Breakfast
Pasadena, CA – This week, the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) and the National Latino Media Council (NLMC) began their 10th annual Latino Television Writers Program. The Program is sponsored by Disney-ABC Television Group and NBC-Universal. The program opened with a networking breakfast that took place at the ABC Television Network in Burbank. The writers met ABC and NBC executives including Tim McNeal, VP of Talent Development & Diversity for Disney-ABC Television Group, and Karen Horne, VP of Talent Development & Diversity for NBC Entertainment & Universal Television. “This is a unique opportunity for the writers. For the first time they find themselves sitting at a television network meeting room speaking face to face with top level network executives. The program is not just about improving their writing craft but also about introducing them to relationships that will help their writing career in the future” said Nilda Muhr, Writers Program Coordinator. The event is the first of many networking opportunities for the writers accepted into this prestigious program.
The Latino Television Writers Program was first created in 2003 by NLMC and is administered by NHMC. Each year NHMC receives hundreds of applications from all over the nation to which only ten writers are accepted into the program. The program is a five-week, total immersion workshop designed to simulate a real writers table and familiarize participants with the format, characters and story-line structure of specific shows that are currently on the air. Participants are expected to complete at least one half-hour comedy or one-hour dramatic television script in English within the five-week period of time. The workshop takes place in Burbank, CA and is mentored and guided by former NBC VP of Script Development, Geoff Harris.
The goal is to provide writers with the skills necessary to obtain employment in the industry. “The program directly responds to the lack of Latino writers in primetime network TV with the idea that with qualified Latino writers present at the writer’s table richer, three-dimensional stories about Latinos will be reflected on television,” states Alex Nogales, President and CEO of the National Hispanic Media Coalition. The NLMC/NHMC Writers Program was created in accordance with NHMC’s mission to improve the image of American Latinos as portrayed by the media and increase the number of American Latinos employed in all facets of the media industry.
Participants for the 2012 Writers Program are: Ariella Blejer, Tina Thompson, Michael Perri, Michale Kogge, Jeffrey Nieves Jonathan Ceniceroz, Carlos Cisco, Amaya Cervino, Daireen Galeano, and Joey Reynoso
Many writers who attend the NHMC/NLMC Television Writers Program go on to join television shows in various capacities, some of the most recent examples are: Judalina Neira (c/o 2011)- NBC Do No Harm Spiro Skentzos (c/o 2009)- NBC Grimm Sierra Ornelas (c/o 2009)- ABC Happy Endings Marcos Luevanos (c/o 2008)- BET The Game Gina Monreal (c/o 2008)- CBS NCIS Zoila Galeano (c/o 2008)- BET Keyshia & Daniel: Family First Danny Tolli (c/o 2008)- FOX The Following Mark Valadez (c/o 2008)- TNT Perception Robert Sudduth (c/o 2008)- NBC The New Normal
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