It smears together here. Juilliard accelerated everything by a million. It's hard to explain to someone how eery it feels to go from a plodding pace to a Ferrari roadster...and to have classmates and colleagues who are all in their own lane, speeding down a racetrack. At this point, it's foolish to go by the years, because it felt like things went into warp speed. OBAMA-OLOGY -the first play I brought into class- went from lab, to the summer workshop production, to a world premiere at Finborough Theatre in London, publishing, and was being performed by RADA students...in about 18 months, It was then performed at Skylight Theatre in LA and has been produced in Dallas, and in classes around the country.
For money, I continued to write/produce web videos for different sites all throughout these years. The Ferguson protests, BlackLives Matter, and the sudden white woke consciousness meant that I was back in demand as an independent journalist. I wrote political articles, social media essays, and commentary for The New Republic, Talking Points Memo, Take Part. I was on podcasts about police brutality, white supremacy, and black respectability politics. I interviewed Professor Robin DiAngelo over the phone when she dropped the phrase 'white fragility.' I asked her to run that back for me again as I sat in the student lounge. She explained 'white fragility' as a new term she coined. I ran with it to my editors, and our story was ahead of the curve and the new zeitgeist phrase that she created causing a lot of #whitetears. My article about the NYPD went viral and I was asked if I wanted to be a guest on HuffPo Live (I declined). In one incident, I was literally listening to FBI director James Comey's speech on race in the Juilliard computer lab while on the phone with an editor, and jotting down notes in a google doc. I went to a poetry class and continued editing the google notes on my phone that is hiding under my desk, and then went back to the lab after class to correct some things, add an arc that made the notes into a story, and saw the article released within the hour. It's amazing when white people decide to become #woke, and very lucrative for a writer like myself. But white awareness is fickle and I knew that their interests weren't going to last forever.
I used the journalism money to fly out to LA for TV general meetings. I LOVED TV meetings. There were no expectations and nothing at stake for me. I was very happy writing my weird plays and my angry black protest articles. TV was cake...cake icing...sprinkles on top of the cake icing. If anything happened, then GREAT. If not, I knew I would be fine. I felt free and loose. I actually liked most of the people I met and found myself joking and schmoozing because I was actually interested in people. It wasn't an act...it's so much easy when I actually give a fuck about someone and I'm not desperate.
After 'graduation' I went to London for a Royal Court Fellowship of American writers, the Kennedy Center workshop for one of my plays, got the I AM SOUL fellowship at National Black Theatre, won the Helen Merrill Prize for Emerging writers, completed the Dramatists Guild fellowship, and started on the Brooklyn Arts Exchange's artist in residency for 2 years.
I got into New Dramatists, a lifelong dream. And my satire RUNNING ON FIRE was at the O'Neill! I was also hired as a staff writer on the CBS show BRAINDEAD. That job led to me reading Dan Fogelman's pilot 36...which became THIS IS US. I moved out to LA for THIS IS US...which was a no-name show without Marvel comic capes, CGI, and any expectations. When another TV writer heard about my cross country move for this sure-loser, they said to me 'you moved out here...FOR THAT?!?' Before TIU, I was actually offered a job on the first season of THE GOOD FIGHT. I tentatively accepted and began voraciously watching THE GOOD WIFE...all 7 seasons and 22 episodes per season. But TGF scheduling delays, led me to TIU. At the end of the first season of TIU, I heard TGF was moving back to NYC. Bye LA! It was fun.
Back in NYC, I started on TGF season 2 and one of the most exhilarating seasons in the history of tv. our stories were bombastic, funny, acidic. I would watch some of the episodes on the editing system 2 or 3 times because I couldn't believe the acting, editing, design...how everything was clicking at such a high-quality level. To go from TIU to TGF felt like going from one treasure to another. These three electric years, changed me forever. I got to see master craftsmen operating at optimal levels in 3 different tv shows, live in 2 great cities, and meet tons of funny/interesting TV and film execs...yeah, I can't believe I just said that...execs?!?
For money, I continued to write/produce web videos for different sites all throughout these years. The Ferguson protests, BlackLives Matter, and the sudden white woke consciousness meant that I was back in demand as an independent journalist. I wrote political articles, social media essays, and commentary for The New Republic, Talking Points Memo, Take Part. I was on podcasts about police brutality, white supremacy, and black respectability politics. I interviewed Professor Robin DiAngelo over the phone when she dropped the phrase 'white fragility.' I asked her to run that back for me again as I sat in the student lounge. She explained 'white fragility' as a new term she coined. I ran with it to my editors, and our story was ahead of the curve and the new zeitgeist phrase that she created causing a lot of #whitetears. My article about the NYPD went viral and I was asked if I wanted to be a guest on HuffPo Live (I declined). In one incident, I was literally listening to FBI director James Comey's speech on race in the Juilliard computer lab while on the phone with an editor, and jotting down notes in a google doc. I went to a poetry class and continued editing the google notes on my phone that is hiding under my desk, and then went back to the lab after class to correct some things, add an arc that made the notes into a story, and saw the article released within the hour. It's amazing when white people decide to become #woke, and very lucrative for a writer like myself. But white awareness is fickle and I knew that their interests weren't going to last forever.
I used the journalism money to fly out to LA for TV general meetings. I LOVED TV meetings. There were no expectations and nothing at stake for me. I was very happy writing my weird plays and my angry black protest articles. TV was cake...cake icing...sprinkles on top of the cake icing. If anything happened, then GREAT. If not, I knew I would be fine. I felt free and loose. I actually liked most of the people I met and found myself joking and schmoozing because I was actually interested in people. It wasn't an act...it's so much easy when I actually give a fuck about someone and I'm not desperate.
After 'graduation' I went to London for a Royal Court Fellowship of American writers, the Kennedy Center workshop for one of my plays, got the I AM SOUL fellowship at National Black Theatre, won the Helen Merrill Prize for Emerging writers, completed the Dramatists Guild fellowship, and started on the Brooklyn Arts Exchange's artist in residency for 2 years.
I got into New Dramatists, a lifelong dream. And my satire RUNNING ON FIRE was at the O'Neill! I was also hired as a staff writer on the CBS show BRAINDEAD. That job led to me reading Dan Fogelman's pilot 36...which became THIS IS US. I moved out to LA for THIS IS US...which was a no-name show without Marvel comic capes, CGI, and any expectations. When another TV writer heard about my cross country move for this sure-loser, they said to me 'you moved out here...FOR THAT?!?' Before TIU, I was actually offered a job on the first season of THE GOOD FIGHT. I tentatively accepted and began voraciously watching THE GOOD WIFE...all 7 seasons and 22 episodes per season. But TGF scheduling delays, led me to TIU. At the end of the first season of TIU, I heard TGF was moving back to NYC. Bye LA! It was fun.
Back in NYC, I started on TGF season 2 and one of the most exhilarating seasons in the history of tv. our stories were bombastic, funny, acidic. I would watch some of the episodes on the editing system 2 or 3 times because I couldn't believe the acting, editing, design...how everything was clicking at such a high-quality level. To go from TIU to TGF felt like going from one treasure to another. These three electric years, changed me forever. I got to see master craftsmen operating at optimal levels in 3 different tv shows, live in 2 great cities, and meet tons of funny/interesting TV and film execs...yeah, I can't believe I just said that...execs?!?
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