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PRESS BACKGROUND Contact: Gregg Mitchell 323.782.4651 [email protected] March 26, 2013 2013 WGAW WRITER ACCESS PROJECT HONOREES The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) has announced its 2013 WGAW Writer Access Project Honorees, a slate of ten diverse television writers who’ve competed in Comedy and Drama script categories. Launched in 2009, the WGAW’s innovative Writer Acccess Project (WAP) is just one component in the Guild’s continued efforts to enhance employment opportunities and help open doors for diverse writers. The WGAW’s 2013 Writer Access Project Honorees are: 2013 WAP COMEDY HONOREES Michael DiGaetano In addition to co-writing the feature film comedy Houseguest, DiGaetano has written, produced, and/or co-created TV series including Ferris Bueller, Flesh ‘N Blood, and an updated take on TV’s Get Smart. His stage musical “The ‘Gay No More’ Telethon (Let’s Get One Thing Straight…You!)” was produced off-Broadway in 2010, while “Miss Humanity” begins in workshop this summer 2013. Joey Manderino Launching his career as one-half of the online comedy duo “Joey and David,” Manderino has produced viral videos and been featured at the HBO Comedy Festival and in Variety’s “Topp 10 Comics to Watch.” He has written multiple web series, including Viralcom, Community Pool, The Morning After, and Settling. He current serves as staff writer on Disney Channel’s Austin & Ally. -more- Press Background: 2013 WGAW Writer Access Project Honorees – Page 2 of 4 Joseph Neustein After launch his career writing sketches for Steve Allen, Neustein’s TV writing credits include What’s Happening and The Love Boat, as well as game shows such as Dream House, Wait Till You Have Kids, and Show me the Money. Lena Waithe Waithe’s TV writing credits include penning episodes of Nickelodeon’s How to Rock. 2013 WAP DRAMA HONOREES Sherry Carnes A former TV development executive turned writer, Carnes began her TV writing career as a staff writer on ABC’s Women’s Murder Club. Next, she sold her first feature project, Take the Money and Run, to Sony Pictures. She recently wrote a one-hour supernatural drama and is developing a feature script with Imagine Entertainment. Dawn Comer Jefferson Both a 2011 WGAW WAP honoree and a Walt Disney Writers Program Fellow, Jefferson received an Emmy nomination for the animated special, Our Friend, Martin. Her TV writing credits include Judging Amy and South of Nowhere. Selected as a CBS Daytime Diversity Fellow, she has written episodes of The Young and the Restless and The Bold & the Beautiful. Margaux Froley A participant of the Warner Bros. Writing Workshop, Froley subsequently served as a staff writer on CW’s Privileged. After a stint as a development exec at MTV, she later landed a three-book deal with Soho Teen/Random House for a YA boarding school murder mystery trilogy – the first book of which, Escape Trilogy, will be published in March 2013. Geetika Lizardi After optioning her first screenplay, a biopic on novelist Jane Austen entitled Jane, which was later adapted as a stage musical and showcased in England’s regional theater, Lizardi’s recently served as a staff writer on NBC’s Outsourced. -more- Press Background: 2013 WGAW Writer Access Project Honorees – Page 3 of 4 Leslie Valdes After serving as a staff writer on four seasons of Dora the Explorer, Valdes went on to co- develop and serve as head writer/producer for Disney Jr.’s Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. In addition to writing for many animated series, including Backyardigans and Handy Manny, Valdes has written ten children’s books, including six Dora the Explorer titles. He also recently completed the ABC/Disney Writing Fellowship and worked as a staff writer on ABC’s Castle. Thomas Wong Following stints as a lawyer and a real estate agent in New York, Wong moved to L.A. to pursue a writing career, earning a slot in ABC/Disney’s Television Writing Fellowship. In 2012, he was selected as a Fellow for Fox’s Writers Intensive Program, later writing on staff for the ABC dramedy The Deep End. His pilot, Queen, is currently in development. PROGRAM INFORMATION The Writer Access Project (WAP), conceived and coordinated by the WGAW Diversity Department, identifies writers with television staffing experience and makes samples of their outstanding work available to entertainment industry decision-makers, including showrunners, producers, network/studio executives, agents and managers, to provide increased access for talented writers who have been historically underemployed or underrepresented in the industry. For more information about the WGAW Writer Access Project’s eligibility and submission criteria, judging process, WAP honorees, photos, and access to their scripts, please visit: http://www.wga.org/wap. For WAP consideration, qualified WGAW members were invited to submit their work in one of five diversity categories: minority writers; writers with disabilities; women writers; 55-and-over writers; and gay and lesbian writers. Entries were read and scored on a blind submission basis by panels of WGAW members with extensive television writing experience, including current and former showrunners, as well as writer-producers. A total of 144 scripts (53 in Comedy / 91 in Drama) were submitted: 45 in the category of minority writers, 3 in the category of writers with disabilities, 42 in the category of women writers, 38 in the category of 55-and-older writers, and 16 in the category of gay and lesbian writers. A total of 43 semi-finalists (27 in Drama / 16 in Comedy) advanced to the second round of judging, conducted by a panel of showrunners and high-level writer-producers, to select the WGAW’s final group of ten 2013 WAP honorees. Press Background: 2013 WGAW Writer Access Project Honorees – Page 4 of 4 A total of 93 Writers Guild members served as 2013 WAP judges during the selection process: 61 first-round judges (39 Drama / 22 Comedy) and 32 second-round judges (20 Drama / 12 Comedy). This year’s panel of Drama category WAP judges included writers Glen Mazarra (The Walking Dead), Alfredo Barrios, Jr. (Burn Notice), Wendy West (Dexter), Janine Sherman Barrois (Criminal Minds), Jane Espenson (Once Upon A Time, Husbands: The Web Series), and Sarah Watson (Parenthood). This year’s panel of Comedy category WAP judges included writers Elaine Ko (Modern Family), Jenny Bicks (The Big C), Leo Chu & Eric S. Garcia (Supah Ninjas), and Kriss Turner (The First Family). For more information about the Writer Access Project and a full listing of the 2013 WAP Honorees, click here. To access press photos of the 2013 WAP Honorees, please click here. Photo credit: Michael Jones The Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) is a labor union representing writers of motion pictures, television, radio and Internet programming, including news and documentaries. Founded in 1933, the Guild negotiates and administers contracts that protect the creative and economic rights of its members. It is involved in a wide range of programs that advance the interests of writers, and is active in public policy and legislative matters on the local, national and international levels. For more information on the WGAW, please visit: www.wga.org. -30- .