We proudly offer the bios of our accomplished teachers.
Laura Cahill wrote the play Hysterical Blindness and adapted it into the film of the same name (HBO), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and for which she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay, a Writers Guild Award, and a Primetime Emmy in Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries/Movie/Dramatic Special. She wrote the pilot and six episodes of the TV series Pornopolis for IFC, and has written pilots for HBO, Touchstone, Paramount, and WB. She adapted the screenplays for What Matters Most, The Down Low, and B Mother (all for Lifetime), and wrote the original screenplays Witness Protection (CBS) and Boston Strangler (USA). Her plays include Sondra (Apothecary Theater Company), Mercy (Vineyard Theatre), Jersey Girls Go to the Park (Urban Empire), and The Way and Stalker (both Naked Angels).
Miriam Datskovsky was a writer for the series Speechless (ABC Television) and a writers' assistant for The Carrie Diaries (The CW). She developed the original pilot Hacked for Bluegrass FanFare at ABC Studios, and worked as a development associate for Silver and Gold Productions. Her pilot Missed Connections made Amazon's Consider List, and other original pilots have been finalists for the Creative World Awards and the Screencraft Pilot Launch awards. Her journalism and essays have appeared in Los Angeles magazine, New York magazine, Condé Nast Portfolio, Brides, and Ravishly. She has taught at the Posse Foundation and volunteered with WriteGirl. She holds a BA from Columbia University.
Pamela Harris has had TV pilots packaged with 20th Century Fox and others, and served as a staff writer for Life on the Line, a one-hour drama (Oxygen Network). She wrote the feature screenplay Joyville, which was selected for the Writers Lab, a program sponsored by Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and Oprah Winfrey, and was a finalist for the WGA/FilmNation Fellowship. She directed and co-wrote a short film, En Route, that screened at many festivals including Soho International, Vermont Music and Film, and Adirondack. Pamela is also an award-winning visual artist and has exhibited extensively. She holds a BFA from the Hartford Art School.
Vanessa King wrote the TV pilot Two Roads, produced by Sony Playstation Entertainment and a selection of the Sony Worldwide Entertainment’s Emerging Filmmakers Program. She is also the writer and producer of the web series The EXpert (Cart Before Horse Productions) and the short films Picture Perfect, and Only In New York. Her screenplay Once More Eden was a semi-finalist in the AMPAS/Oscar®’s Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship. Her screenplays have been finalists in the Final Draft Big Break Contest, the Great American Screenplay Competition, and the BlueCat Screenplay Competition, among many others. She has also won the Young Playwright’s Distinction Award and the Off-Off Broadway Audience Favorite Award. She she is a four-time appointee to the "Diversity List” and a four-time appointee to Vanity Fair's “Downtown 100” list recognizing top networkers in the entertainment industry. She has taught at Staffordshire University and the New York City Screenwriters’ Co-op. She holds a B.A. from Wilfrid Laurier University.
Jim Mendrinos wrote, directed, and starred in the web series Living in Exile (New Media Comedy), which airs on Amazon Video on Demand. He is the chief creative director for New Media Comedy Worldwide, a full-service television/film production company and studio. His network writing credits include Amazon, NBC, USA, FOX, HBO, and the WB. He wrote and directed the short film "Gail's New Boyfriend," which debuted at the Hoboken Film Festival, and his comedy special Not Dead Yet premiered on Amazon Prime. He is also the author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Comedy Writing (Alpha). He holds a BA from Baruch College.
C.C. Webster wrote the feature films Blue Ball, PA; Show & Tell; Little Buffalo, selected for the Writers Lab, a program sponsored by Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman; and her feature script Missing won the American Scandinavian Society’s Cultural Grant. She wrote and directed the short films “Tracks,” “Easter,” and “Civil War,” which played at more than fifty film festivals worldwide. She directed the short film “Babies” and produced the short film “Junebug and Hurricane.” She is the founder and artistic director of the Drive-In Film Festival. She has taught at Westchester Community College, Brandeis University, Columbia University, and Sarah Lawrence College. She holds a BA from Brandeis University, an MA from University College London, and an MFA in Directing and Screenwriting from Columbia University.
