THE BLACK LIST 2016 TV WRITERS STAFFING BOOK What is this book? We at the Black List have identified a group of writers who, based on the merits of their spec pilots, we believe have strong potential for staffing on television shows. What’s included? We’ve included biographical information on all the writers along with information about their pilots. Additionally, we’ve provided links to their pilots on the site so you can read them where available. You’ll need to enter your industry login credentials in order to access these. How is this organized? We’ve divided the book into drama and comedy writers. Well, technically into anything over a half hour and anything at or below a half hour. What should I do to contact the writer? The best contact information is listed in each writer’s section along with his or her representation if applicable. Can I pass this along to anyone? Absolutely, pass along the document to anyone who might find it useful. In order to access any available scripts though, you’ll need an industry account. You may request membership here if you do not already have it. EPISODIC COMEDY WRITERS listed alphabetically by last name Farhan Arshad Farhan holds an MFA in Screenwriting from Northwestern University. He is currently in the Disney Storytellers program where he’ll be writing a pilot for the Disney Channel. Farhan has also written for ABC’s Dr. Ken and Kirby Buckets on Disney XD. Agency Agent APA Kyle Loftus [email protected] Management Company Manager New Wave Entertainment Michael Pelmont CREDITS Dr. Ken The McCarthys Webshorts Kirby Buckets Brownies Webseries EDUCATIONAL & PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND Emory University Northwestern University B.A. Creative Writing M.F.A. Screenwriting Adult-ish A young Muslim-American lawyer and her slacker boyfriend must take responsibility for her adolescent cousins after their father is deported. GENRE Comedy Family Diversity WHAT IT’S LIKE Fresh off the Boat, Blackish, Grandfathered DOWNLOAD PILOT Erinne Dobson Erinne’s talent for attracting personal embarrassment began with her first job as a Viagra copywriter. When it became clear her comedic talents would not be needed, she began performing standup and writing dating stories for NYC magazines. She soon moved to L.A won the ABC/Disney Fellowship. Since then she’s been staffed on several comedies, and developed a pilot with Storyline Entertainment. Management Company Manager Metamorphic Ent. Adesuwa McCalla (310) 770-4314 CREDITS Crash & Bernstein I Didn’t Do It “Parade Crasher,” “Release & The Crashen” Lindy in the Middle EDUCATIONAL & PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND Carnegie Mellon University The New School B.F.A. M.F.A. Last Man Standing Baby Daddy Writer’s Assistant Staff Writer Crash & Bernstein Staff Writer The Wrongs Two helicopter parents and their wayward teens inadvertently experience personal growth through weekly family therapy assignments. GENRE Comedy WHAT IT’S LIKE Modern Family, Arrested Development DOWNLOAD PILOT & Monique Kim & Nate Grams Monique is a Korean-American actress, singer, writer, and mashup artist. The New Jersey native graduated from Columbia University’s Barnard College with a BA in Psychology. Nate is an actor and writer from Seattle. He received his MFA in Acting from Columbia University, and BA in Theatre from the University of Notre Dame. Monique and Nate met while adapting Annie into a burlesque musical parody for a talent show, for which they won an award for “Most Pornographic.” Email Phone [email protected] (917) 496-6442 EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND Barnard College University of Notre Dame BA in Psychology (Monique) BA Theatre (Nate) Columbia University MFA Acting (Nate) HOBOKEN INTERNATIONAL! “The Meat Cute” Odd-couple Port Authority Police Officers, quirky Kristen Krampf and by-the-book Mark Mendez, work to solve the crazy crimes at Hoboken International Airport, consistently ranked as the Tri- State’s worst. Supported by the ragtag group from the ticketing desk and Chili’s To-Go, the gang might not be perfect, but they know how to get the job done. GENRE Comedy Workplace Procedural Silly Action WHAT IT’S LIKE Brooklyn Nine-Nine, 30 Rock, New Girl DOWNLOAD PILOT Andrew Hu Andrew was born in Taiwan but raised in Louisiana, Tennessee and Washington. At 18, he was offered an associate position at a Seattle law firm but instead pursued a successful career in business sales. Now a graduate of the American Film Institute, Andrew’s television writing has been honored by The Humanitas Prize, and he recently wrote and directed the short films OK FACES (2015) and JACKPOT (2016). Management Company Manager Benderspink Daniel Vang EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND American Film Institute M.F.A. Screenwriting CREDITS Humanitas Prize - Comedy Fellowship Finalist Austin Film Festival - TV Pilot Quarterfinalist Sundance Screenwriters Lab - Semifinalist Nine to Nine “Harvard” At a mall cell phone store, a team of underachieving dreamers become best friends, family, and occasional exes while living the retail dream. GENRE Comedy Workplace Comedy Diversity Comedy WHAT IT’S LIKE Black-ish, Superstore, Arrested Development DOWNLOAD PILOT Jacob Isser Jacob has sold, optioned, and written projects on assignment, including feature comedy Danny Graves’ Man Cave, sold to Joe Roth and Sony Pictures, graphic novel The Expendable One, adapted for Intrepid Pictures, and How the French Do It, a short story for Nikki Finke’s HollywoodDementia. com. His pilot Hosers was presented as a live reading at the Skirball Center in New York, in association with Fast Company and Black List Live. Named to the 2015 Young & Hungry List. Management Manager Artillery Creative Tom Carter [email protected] (323) 400-5577 EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND Yale University B.A. Cognitive Psychology Hosers Parks & Recreation meets The Bad News Bears: a broad look at the mistakes, misfortunes, and misadventures of a thoroughly dedicated but utterly incompetent small-town volunteer fire department. GENRE Comedy WHAT IT’S LIKE Parks and Recreation, The Office, Bad News Bears DOWNLOAD PILOT Ben Kawaller Ben Kawaller has worked at United Talent Agent and CBS Television Studios. His half-hour pilot The Next Best Thing was the winner of the 2015 JHRTS Pilot Competition for best comedy, ranked among the top 2% of entries in the Tracking Board’s 2015 Launch Pad competition, and was a finalist in the Austin Film Festival’s 2015 Teleplay Competition. He was an official artist at the 2015 NY TV Festival. He has a degree in sociology from Harvard University. Management Manager Bellevue Productions Jeff Portnoy Email Phone [email protected] (917) 697-4945 EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND Harvard University B.A. Sociology The Next Best Thing A middle-aged gay man faces the upheaval of his closest relationships when he decides to start dating women. GENRE Comedy Dramedy LGBT WHAT IT’S LIKE Transparent, Togetherness, Catastrophe DOWNLOAD PILOT & Nick Lopez & Russ Nickel Nick and Russ became friends at Chapman University. Nick currently works as the Writers’ Assistant/Script coordinator on IFC’s Maron, and before that, competed nationally on the tennis circuit. Russ co-wrote and co-produced Bear with Us, an independent feature starring Christy Carlson Romano and Cheyenne Jackson, and teaches screenwriting at Stanford University’s summer program. Email Phone [email protected] (925) 451-5979 [email protected] (619) 818-2295 EDUCATIONAL & PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND Chapman University MFA, Screenwriting (Nick & Russ) Maron Bear with Us, Feature Film Writers’ Assistant/Script Coordinator (Nick) Co-writer & co-producer (Russ) Graceland Geomon, Video game acquired by Yahoo! Showrunner’s Assistant (Nick) Staff Writer (Russ) The First Family Viral Video 2, Trisha Paytas’ Youtube Channel Writers’ Assistant/Script Coordinator (Nick) Writer (Russ) Graceland Online Interactive Game Writer (Nick) Otter Space The bullheaded Captain Maximus Otter (an actual otter...who is not literally bull-headed), commands the starship Sclerpo III and its crew of talking animals who’ve been relegated to tasks deemed too menial for the rest of the galactic federation. GENRE Comedy Sci-Fi Animation WHAT IT’S LIKE Teen Titans, Futurama, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness DOWNLOAD PILOT Dylan Visvikis Like many people, Dylan was born. Some time later, he graduated from USC with a Screenwriting B.F.A. In between, he played on a Grammy-nominated album as a musician and wrote several scripts awarded by the Austin and Slamdance Film Festivals. Since, he’s written and directed a feature and short, respectively, for producer Stephen Brown (Se7en) and produced an ad for Chevrolet. Now 22, Dylan would like to apologize on behalf of all Millennials. For... everything. Agency Agents Brady, Brannon & Rich Brandon Lucas & Mark Masten [email protected] EDUCATIONAL & PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND USC School of Cinematic Arts B.F.A.Writing for Screen and Television Sketch “How Can You Not Get Romantic About Sketch Comedy” A group of romantically challenged college kids endeavor to put on a live sketch comedy show every week. They’re often unsuccessful. GENRE Romantic Comedy Workplace Sitcom Dramedy WHAT IT’S LIKE Sports Night, Love, You’re The Worst DOWNLOAD PILOT EPISODIC DRAMA WRITERS listed alphabetically by last name Ashley Barrett Before turning his focus to writing, Ashley worked as an actor in film/TV for nearly a decade. He is also an established commercial photographer in the LA/NY markets. Management Manager Atlas Artists Nick Todisco Email Phone [email protected] 310-953-1449 Death Of A Parent “Homecoming” After accidentally killing his boss’s brother, hitman Sam Foster flees Los Angeles for Florida, where he reunites with his sister Becca to mourn the death of their mother -- and figure out what to do with their cantankerous father Frank. GENRE Family Drama Crime Dramedy WHAT IT’S LIKE Bloodline, Transparent, Sopranos DOWNLOAD PILOT Danielle Barros Danielle joined the workforce full-time at an early age, thus limiting her formal education, but found the life-experiences gained invaluable to her as a writer.