The Beat Sheet

The Beat Sheet is a weekly podcast that exclusively interviews Black women screenwriters about the journeys in Hollywood, lessons they've learned throughout their careers, and tips to make your scripts stand out from the crowd. Listen in with tv + film fanatic Aquillia Mikel as she takes notes and improves her craft with some of the best in the industry. If you share your notes with her, then you can call her Q. Seriously. She's currently working hard in film school and getting her MFA in Writing + Producing for TV. Every season, emerging and established Black women screenwriters have shared their unique career stories including Amy Aniobi (Insecure, 2 Dope Queens), Felicia Pride (Queen Sugar, Tender), Racquel Baker (Boomerang, Good Trouble), Tash Gray (P-Valley, Snowfall), and more. If you have questions or would like to discuss podcast sponsorship, email [email protected]. The official hashtag for this podcast is #beatsheetpod. Find us on social media! Facebook: The Beat Sheet Twitter: @beatsheetpod Instagram: @beatsheetpod

[69] Aisha Ford! (Royal, BAFTA HBO Scholarship) 07/05/2021

[73] Jahmela Yarbrough! (First, Yarbrough Studio) 07/05/2021

[72] B. Monet! (Q.U.E.E.N, Ballet After Dark) 07/05/2021

[72] B. Monet! (Q.U.E.E.N, Ballet After Dark) B. Monét is a writer/director who graduated from Spelman College with a B.A. in English. She hails from Silver Spring, Maryland and holds an MFA from New York University in Film and Television with a concentration in writing and directing. In her films, she poses questions about identity, society, race, and culture. It is vital to her that under-represented people are shown in film, media, and television. Her award-winning short film Q.U.E.E.N. has screened at over a dozen festivals including Cannes Short Film Corner and premiered on Magic Johnson's channel ASPiRE. Additionally, B. Monét was a runner-up in the First Time Female Filmmakers Contest with Women and Hollywood. She was also named the 2017 Horizon Award Winner through Cassian Elwes, Christine Vachon and Lynette Howell - Taylor at the Sundance Film Festival. As well as a recipient of the Adrienne Shelly Foundation grant and a directing fellow for Film Independent's residency program Project Involve. Additionally, she is one of the winners for the #NewView Film Competition with Glamour and Girlgaze which champions the voices of female filmmakers. She is also one of the filmmakers in the Tisch Other Showcase that focuses on diverse artists whose voices are underrepresented in the television industry. Last year, she directed a branded short film entitled She’s Revolutionary on the #MeToo founder Tarana Burke for Levi’s and Girlgaze. She’s been fortunate to work with Reese Witherspoon, Janet Jackson, Rosario Dawson, Chika, Rapsody and Shangela for brands like Crate and Barrel, Estee Lauder, Uber, OkayAfrica, OkayPlayer, and Hyundai. B. Monét won the 2018 Best Graduate Feature Screenplay for her feature film Q.U.E.E.N. She is a recipient of the Will & Jada Smith Family Foundation grant at Fusion Film Festival, a finalist in the Women in Film Mini Upfronts Program and a Sundance Women’s Financing Intensive Project Fellow for her first feature film Q.U.E.E.N. She was selected as one of the filmmakers in the New York Stage and Film Filmmakers' Workshop at Vassar College for her Q.U.E.E.N in July 2019. Additionally, B. Monét was selected as one of the participants in the Artist Academy with the New York Film Festival and Lincoln Center. Most recently, she was selected as one of the winners for the Queen Collective in partnership with Queen Latifah, Tribeca and P&G. Her short film Ballet After Dark is exclusively streaming on BET. - Thank you so much for listening to the show! Please remember to SUBSCRIBE, RATE, + REVIEW the show- I would really appreciate it. It helps other screenwriters who are interested in this story to find the show a little easier. If you are interested in becoming a guest, sponsoring the show, or have any other inquiries, please send an email to ! Need to read more scripts? we read scripts together every week! My profile name is @aquilliam and the club is called Beat Sheet Pod. You can listen to every episode of The Beat Sheet on , , , and ! ! The official hashtag for the podcast is /episode/index/show/thebeatsheet/id/19461755

[71] Sade Oyinade + Deshawn Plair! (American Gangster: Trap Queens, Unsung, For The Love Of Jason) 07/05/2021

[71] Sade Oyinade + Deshawn Plair! (American Gangster: Trap Queens, Unsung, For The Love Of Jason) Sade Oyinade and Deshawn Plair are a dynamic African-American female writing/producing team based in Los Angeles. Sade most recently was a Showrunner on the BET+ crime docu-series American Gangster: Trap Queens where Deshawn served as producer of one of the most popular episodes profiling Delrhonda “Big Fifty” Hood. Prior to that, both Sade and Deshawn worked on the award-winning TV One series Unsung and Unsung Hollywood which is where their partnership began. On Unsung, Sade was Co-Executive Producer and Deshawn was a Producer and Production Supervisor. They received multiple NAACP Image Awards under the series. Both women are also directors. Sade directed the 2017 short film Yemi's Dilemma and the AIDS short Who Do You Know? which aired on ASPIRE TV. After serving as an apprentice to award-winning director Qasim Basir on his Sundance selected film, A Boy, A Girl, A Dream, Deshawn made her directorial debut with the 2019 provocative short film on gun violence, First Day Back, starring Loretta Devine and Aisha Hinds. The pair wrote and produced the short that was a featured selection in multiple film festivals and won Best Narrative Short at the International Black Film Festival. The film received distribution after premiering at the Bronze Lens Film Festival and is now streaming on UMC.TV and Amazon Prime. Deshawn and Sade were selected as participants in the 2019 PGA Fellowship: Producers Guild Power of Diversity Master Workshop with their feature script Better Than I Know Myself. The film is an adaptation of an Essence Magazine best-selling novel by Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant. Most recently, the duo served as Co-Executive Producers of the UMC.TV comedy series For the Love of Jason and were half of the writing team for the series. Also, the pair wrote a project for BETHer titled A Long Look in the Mirror that aired on Oct 17, 2020 for Breast Cancer Awareness Month as a part of the Waiting Room series. As a duo, they aim to tell positive stories that have meaning and impact within their community using their diverse backgrounds as inspiration. Deshawn grew up in the foster care system and was directly affected by the mass incarceration issue in this country through the imprisonment of her mother. Sade is a First-generation American with Nigerian parents who tightly held onto their culture leading her to navigate finding a place in two different worlds. Together they embrace tackling hard issues while highlighting the good in it all. Sade is from Silver Spring, Maryland. Deshawn hails from Kalamazoo, MI. /episode/index/show/thebeatsheet/id/19461722

[70] Kara Lee Corthron! (Kings, YOU, Servant, The Flight Attendant) 07/05/2021

[68] Shantira Jackson! (Big Mouth, The Amber Ruffin Show, Saved By The Bell (Reboot) ) 07/05/2021

[67] Tanya Barfield! (Mrs. America, Raising Dion, The Americans, Ray Donovan, Here and Now) 07/05/2021

[66] Natalie Jasmine Harris! (TIME Magazine, Biden-Harris Campaign, Toronto LGBT Film Festival) 07/05/2021

[66] Natalie Jasmine Harris! (TIME Magazine, Biden-Harris Campaign, Toronto LGBT Film Festival) Natalie Jasmine Harris is a queer-identified, Black writer/director and producer from Maryland. Her creative work often exists within the coming-of-age genre, which she views as an essential tool to re-imagine liberation for young girls, the Black community, and LGBTQ+ individuals. Natalie received her BFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in May 2020, where she graduated with Honors and received her department's award for Excellence in Community Service. Natalie is a 2020 recipient of the Directors Guild of America’s Student Film Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement and The Black Film Space 2020 Black Filmmaker Fund. Passionate about the intersections between filmmaking and social justice, Natalie worked for Elizabeth Warren's Presidential Campaign in 2019 as a Video Intern and recently created a short documentary in collaboration with TIME Magazine and the Biden/Harris campaign. Natalie is currently entering the festival circuit with her NYU thesis short film, "Pure," which received two student film grants from NYU as well as The Toronto LGBT Film Festival’s RE:Focus Film Fund. She is simultaneously developing Pure into a feature-length script of the same name that she hopes to become her feature directorial debut one day. The New Orleans Film Festival recently invited Natalie to pitch the film at their annual 2020 South Pitch Competition, where she was a finalist. As a producer, Natalie is currently producing a short animated film directed by Terrance Daye and a feature film directed by Kerry LeVielle. When she's not making films, Natalie loves to dabble in astrology, poetry, and baking - scones are her specialty :) __ Thank you so much for listening to the show! Please remember to FOLLOW, RATE, + REVIEW the show- I would really appreciate it. It helps other screenwriters who are interested in this story to find the show a little easier. If you are interested in becoming a guest, sponsoring the show, or have any other inquiries, please send an email to ! You can listen to every episode of The Beat Sheet on , , , and ! ! The official hashtag for the podcast is Please be sure to follow us on social media as well! You can find the show everywhere: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | /episode/index/show/thebeatsheet/id/19708610

[65] Nia Malika Dixon! (Black Muslim Girl Fly Fest/Audaz Entertainment) 07/05/2021

[65] Nia Malika Dixon! (Black Muslim Girl Fly Fest/Audaz Entertainment) Born and raised in Baltimore, MD, Nia has been a writer since the day her mother first put a pencil in her hand. Although writing has always been Nia’s passion, her mother’s emphasis on education led Nia to become an elementary school teacher. She has taught children for more than twenty years and raised her own two children along the way. However, Nia’s passion for storytelling cannot be quenched. After years of writing for national magazines, completing two anthologies of poetry, writing children’s stories, drafting a novel, writing short stories, short films, and completing two feature film scripts, Nia made the bold move to Los Angeles in 2005, to pursue the dream of reaching global audiences with her writing. reated in 2006, the short film Temporary Loss of Power, which explores the human dynamic of gender, race, and power, was her first foray into filmmaking. Then, in 2007 Nia worked on a short sci-fi film, called F*ck you, Pay Me, with indie writer-director Chris Derrick. Since then, Nia has been writing, and planning projects for her own independent production company, Audaz Entertainment. In 2008, Nia received a surprise birthday present in the announcement of her being matched with her requested mentor, Catherine Hardwicke through the Women In Film Mentor Program. Since Ms. Hardwicke’s film Thirteen, Nia has been following Catherine as a source of inspiration for her own filmmaking career. Under the banner of Audaz Entertainment, in April 2009, Nia hosted the 1st Annual Muslim Artists Expo in Baltimore, MD to feature the work of graphic artists, photographers, spoken word artists, and musicians. In the same month, Nia’s script, Chrysalis, a feature-length, crime drama, was selected as a Quarter-Finalist in the 13th Annual Fade In Awards. It received high marks for the premise, structure, characterization, dialogue, and overall storytelling. That same year, Nia also worked as Associate Producer on the indie documentary, Deen Tight, a film that explores the world of Hip-Hop and Islam. Nia is currently shooting a documentary in both L.A. and her hometown, Baltimore, Maryland. Not Your Average tells the story of her venture into filmmaking as an African-American, Muslim Woman. Nia is currently in post-production of her original series, Vengeful, the first police detective series led by a Black woman, since 1974’s Get Christie Love. Nia is also the mother of two college students with special needs, including her son with Autism. Embracing the storytelling passion and filmmaking vision of Nia Malika Dixon, the partners and executive staff of Audaz Entertainment have come together for the distinct purpose of creating quality, compelling, diverse & inclusive, motion pictures for worldwide exhibition. ––– Thank you so much for listening to the show! Please remember to SUBSCRIBE, RATE, + REVIEW the show- I would really appreciate it. It helps other screenwriters who are interested in this story to find the show a little easier. If you are interested in becoming a guest, sponsoring the show, or have any other inquiries, please send an email to ! Need to read more scripts? we read scripts together every week! My profile name is @aquilliam and the club is called Beat Sheet Pod. You can listen to every episode of The Beat Sheet on , , , and ! ! The official hashtag for the podcast is /episode/index/show/thebeatsheet/id/19461194

[64] Dreux Dougall! (Lovecraft Country, The Upshaws) 07/05/2021

[63] The 2021 Summer Capsule Is HERE. 07/05/2021

[62] UNTITLED. 06/28/2021

Here Are The Stories and Characters That Dance In Kelsea Mayfield's Head At Night 03/15/2021

How Sylvia L. Jones' Powerful Values Helps Her Create Beautiful Characters 03/08/2021

How Sylvia L. Jones' Powerful Values Helps Her Create Beautiful Characters This week on #beatsheetpod, we have Sylvia L. Jones on the beat! Sylvia L. Jones has been an eyewitness to history again and again. The former journalist spent more than 20 years chasing the news -- reporting on monumental events including Nelson Mandela's first visit to Chicago following his release from prison, the 9/11 terror attacks from ground zero and President Barack Obama's historic elections. Now, she has moved on to her next chapter. In the midst of traveling the nation to cover the 2016 presidential primary elections, Sylvia decided to turn in her press credentials and try her hand in Hollywood. Never one to waste words or time, Sylvia hit the ground running. The Chicago native leveraged her comprehensive knowledge of the city's politics and neighborhoods to help launch Showtime's "THE CHI" and USA's Suits spinoff, "PEARSON." She also developed and wrote the biopic, "THE CLARK SISTERS: FIRST LADIES OF GOSPEL," executive produced by Queen Latifah, Missy Elliott and Mary J. Blige, which aired on Lifetime. Additionally, Sylvia has earned writing and producing credits on the CBS All Access thriller, "TELL ME A STORY" Ava DuVernay’s romance anthology series, "CHERISH THE DAY" on OWN and Starz's "POWER BOOK IV: FORCE," the spinoff that features "Tommy." Sylvia's vast experience covering local and national news has set her in close proximity with a wide array of people and has offered her a deep well of prototypes from which to draw traits. As a result, she gives voice to characters who feel real and down-to-earth -- even when their storylines are out of this world. Sylvia earned her Bachelor of Arts degrees in Psychology and Communications at Stanford University and her Master of Science in Journalism at Northwestern University. She completed the Professional Program in Writing for Television at UCLA as well as the Producers Guild of America’s Power of Diversity Master Workshop. Sylvia splits her time between Los Angeles and Chicago. She most enjoys sleeping, aisle seats and sweet potato pie. Thank you so much for listening to the show! Please remember to SUBSCRIBE, RATE, + REVIEW the show- I would really appreciate it. It helps other screenwriters who are interested in this story to find the show a little easier. If you are interested in becoming a guest, sponsoring the show, or have any other inquiries, please send an email to ! Need to read more scripts? we read scripts together every week! My profile name is @aquilliam and the club is called Beat Sheet Pod. You can listen to every episode of The Beat Sheet on , , , and ! ! The official hashtag for the podcast is Please be sure to follow us on social media as well! You can find the show everywhere: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | /episode/index/show/thebeatsheet/id/18233096

How Keisha Zollar Prioritizes Kindness + Joy While Carving Out A Space For Herself As A Writer 03/01/2021

How Keisha Zollar Prioritizes Kindness + Joy While Carving Out A Space For Herself As A Writer Welcome to Season 4, friends! Thank you for coming back. Please make sure you SUBSCRIBE + RATE the show- it will help more burgeoning screenwriters to find out conversations. Thank you in advance! This week on the beat, we have Keisha Zollar! And you may hear her cute little dogs during parts of our conversation. We're a dog friendly show over here- especially in the middle of a pantomime. Keisha Zollar is a writer-actress-comedienne who most recently worked as the showrunner on Fuse’s The Read with Kid Fury and Crissle as well as the Co-EP and star of Netflix’s sketch show Astronomy Club. Sher recently finished writing on the Apple Team Downey & Adam Perlman drama series based on Michael Lista’s Toronto Life article “The Sting” and is currently writing on the HBO Max animated series One Love. Before that, Keisha was the Writing Supervisor at Busy Tonight. As an actor Keisha has been seen on Netflix’s Orange is the New Black, Comedy Central, Nightcap, Middle of the Night, The Today Show, College Humor, TV Land, Funny or Die, IAF.tv, Above Average, MSNBC, MTV, and UCB Comedy. Keisha played the role of Sarah in Believe Her, a short about the moments after sexual assault. She has been featured by Glamour magazine, Fast Company, Paste magazine, etc, and has written for Bitch Flicks, FemSplain, and more. We talk about: how her mother's incredible sense of humor influences her writing voice how the Astronomy Club got started how she got an awesome writing job while coming back from a near-death experience (so glad you're ok!) what to do when you have a bad joke the shows that are bringing us joy during the pandemic how she got involved with the TV adaptation of my favorite podcast (after this one!), The Read and more! Thank you so much for listening to the show! Please remember to SUBSCRIBE, RATE, + REVIEW the show- I would really appreciate it. It helps other screenwriters who are interested in this story to find the show a little easier. If you are interested in becoming a guest, sponsoring the show, or have any other inquiries, please send an email to ! Need to read more scripts? we read scripts together every week! My profile name is @aquilliam and the club is called Beat Sheet Pod. You can listen to every episode of The Beat Sheet on , , , and ! ! The official hashtag for the podcast is Please be sure to follow us on social media as well! You can find the show everywhere: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | /episode/index/show/thebeatsheet/id/18109541

Why You Should Make Script Reading A Life Practice 02/22/2021

How I Stay Sane While Going To Virtual Film School 02/16/2021

How I Come Up With New Writing Ideas- Even On My Worst Days 02/08/2021

3 Ways To Keep People Awake During Your Pitch 02/01/2021

My Favorite Films Of All Time 01/25/2021

How To Be A Writer That Other Writers Want To Work With 01/18/2021

My Favorite TV Shows Of All Time 01/11/2021

How To Get Rid Of Writer’s Block Forever (Probably) 01/04/2021

My 2021 Screenwriting Audio Vision Board: My Big Scary Screenwriting Goals 12/28/2020

Best of #BeatSheetPod: Be Immortal: How Amy Aniobi Writes When The World Is Falling Apart 12/21/2020

Best of #BeatSheetPod: Be Immortal: How Amy Aniobi Writes When The World Is Falling Apart Earlier this year, I had Amy Aniobi on the beat! And the insight she shared, her episode is NUMBER ONE most listened to episode of The Beat Sheet. When I talked to Amy earlier this year, this was her most updated bio at the time: Amy Aniobi is an writer/director best known for serving as Executive Producer on HBO’s groundbreaking comedy series, “Insecure,” starring Issa Rae. She has multiple projects in development, including two studio features, a limited series at HBO starring Laura Dern and Issa Rae and another TV project developed with Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine. Amy recently directed the short film, "Honeymoon." She also co-created, co-directed and starred in web series “Lisa and Amy Are Black” and “The Slutty Years,” and she wrote for both seasons of the hit YouTube series, “The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.” Amy is Nigerian, hails from North Texas, graduated from Stanford University and UCLA, and has lived both in the US (New York, the Bay Area) and abroad (France). She has mentored for several Sundance programs, including the Sundance New Voices Lab (2017, 2018) and Sundance Episodic Lab (2017), and has taught TV writing in the prestigious UCLA MFA Screenwriting Program. She enjoys travel, baking cookies and drinking whiskey. Amy ALWAYS has projects in the queue- so we will have to wait and see what she's been creating and producing recently. In this episode, we talk about: creating fearlessly how she made her hobby her day job the journey that WOC writers go on to "move up" in the room how she's grown as a producer and more! Thank you so much for listening to the show! Please remember to SUBSCRIBE, RATE, + REVIEW the show- I would really appreciate it. It helps other screenwriters who are interested in this story to find the show a little easier. If you are interested in becoming a guest, sponsoring the show, or have any other inquiries, please send an email to ! You can listen to every episode of The Beat Sheet on , , , and ! ! The official hashtag for the podcast is Please be sure to follow us on social media as well! You can find the show everywhere: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | /episode/index/show/thebeatsheet/id/17067680

Best of #BeatSheetPod: Take The Unconventional Route: How Sending A Dm To Lena Waithe Helped Racquel Baker Jumpstart Her Writing Career 12/14/2020

Best of #BeatSheetPod: Take The Unconventional Route: How Sending A Dm To Lena Waithe Helped Racquel Baker Jumpstart Her Writing Career Last year, I had Racquel Baker on the beat! And the insight she shared made her episode the second most listened to episode of The Beat Sheet. When I talked to Racquel last year, this was her most updated bio at the time: Born and raised in LA, Racquel Baker began creative writing at six years old as a way to bring all of her imaginary friends to life. When she wasn't writing as a way to escape, she was watching way too much adult TV, unsupervised. The combination of these two led her to major in Media Studies at UC Berkeley for her Bachelor's degree, and Communication at the University of Illinois at Chicago for her Master's degree. After grad school, Racquel worked in advertising as a strategic planner where she constantly read scripts for one of her clients, NBCUniversal. She became captivated by this form of storytelling and began to obsessively download TV scripts from the WGA site. She even wrote an original hour long pilot for a fellowship contest in a week. Though technical difficulties prevented her from applying, she experienced an unprecedented feeling of purpose while writing and knew it was her calling. Before quitting her job, she reached out to various writers on social media for advice on breaking into the industry. The only writer who responded was Lena Waithe. From 2015 to 2016, Racquel formed a relationship with Lena as her intern. She initially impressed Lena with her strong script coverage skills and quick turn around in completing tasks. Racquel's tenacity for learning from Lena while supporting her was unmatched, and in 2017 Racquel became Lena's full time assistant. She was primarily responsible for managing her schedule and providing creative feedback on projects in development. While employed as her assistant, Lena gave Racquel the opportunity to co-write an episode of the TV series Boomerang. Her episode, "Back in The Day", premiered on March 12th, 2019 to stellar reviews on Twitter. In April 2019, Racquel ended her time as Lena's assistant and became the Writers Assistant on the upcoming series Twenties. Once Twenties wrapped, she served as Writers Assistants on Season 2 of Boomerang, where she was granted the opportunity to freelance write the season premiere. Since wrapping on Boomerang, she’s continued to developed a number of her own projects. Since then, Racquel has become a staff writer on GOOD TROUBLE. We talk about: what it takes to be a phenomenal writer's assistant how a serendipitous DM to Lena Waithe helped jumpstart her career the beginning and the purpose of Hillman Grad Mentorship and more! Thank you so much for listening to the show! Please remember to SUBSCRIBE, RATE, + REVIEW the show- I would really appreciate it. It helps other screenwriters who are interested in this story to find the show a little easier. If you are interested in becoming a guest, sponsoring the show, or have any other inquiries, please send an email to ! You can listen to every episode of The Beat Sheet on , , , and ! ! The official hashtag for the podcast is Please be sure to follow us on social media as well! You can find the show everywhere: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | /episode/index/show/thebeatsheet/id/17067650

Best of #BeatSheetpod: Genius Adjacent: How Erica Michelle Butler's Year of Yes Opened Doors Of Opportunity In Her Screenwriting Career 12/07/2020

Episode 45 | Disrupt The Industry: Dayna Lynne North On How To Hone Your Writer's Voice 11/30/2020

Episode 45 | Disrupt The Industry: Dayna Lynne North On How To Hone Your Writer's Voice This week on #beatsheetpod, I talk with Dayna Lynne North! Dayna Lynne North is a film and television writer, producer, cultural curator, and self-described ‘Delightful Disruptor’ of the status quo. Currently, she is co-writing and executive producing YOUNG LOVE, the much-anticipated series adaptation of the Academy Award-winning short HAIR LOVE for HBO Max. Dayna is also in development with writer/director Morgan Cooper and Gabrielle Union’s I’ll Have Another Productions on the Quibi comedy BLACK COFFEE. Most recently, Dayna was a writer/Executive Producer and showrunner on HBO’s Emmy-nominated, zeitgeist-shifting INSECURE, co-created by and starring Issa Rae. She was a Consulting Producer on the Television Critics Association and Peabody Award-winning SWITCHED AT BIRTH. Prior to that, she was co-showrunner and Co-Executive Producer on VH1’s SINGLE LADIES. Dayna was also a Co-Executive Producer on the ABC Family drama, LINCOLN HEIGHTS, which garnered the NAACP Image award for Best Drama, as well as the Gabriel Award for Best Entertainment. She was on the writing staff for the first two seasons of the CW’s pop culture phenom, VERONICA MARS, starring Kristen Bell. She also wrote the holiday-themed Lifetime biopic, AN EN-VOGUE CHRISTMAS. In 2019, Dayna teamed up with founder/CEO Bridgid Coulter on the founding advisory board of Blackbird, House of Coworking – the first-ever private global coworking space designed by and for women of color. She is also on the Entertainment Committee for Time’s Up and a member of Time’s Up Women of Color, which aims to create a society free of gender-based discrimination in the workplace and beyond. Dayna is a native of Kansas City, Missouri, and a graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts. We talk about: Why becoming a writer’s assistant may help you up the Hollywood ladder What it’s like to write on the final season of a show What it’s like to create in the “era of the multihyphenate” Her process of adapting books for the screen And more! Thank you so much for listening to the show! Please remember to SUBSCRIBE, RATE, + REVIEW the show- I would really appreciate it. It helps other screenwriters who are interested in this story to find the show a little easier. If you are interested in becoming a guest, sponsoring the show, or have any other inquiries, please send an email to ! You can listen to every episode of The Beat Sheet on , , , and ! ! The official hashtag for the podcast is Please be sure to follow us on social media as well! You can find the show everywhere: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | /episode/index/show/thebeatsheet/id/16949429

Episode 44: Worry Less, Pitch Better: Wendy Calhoun On What To Do When You Hear "No" Repeatedly 11/23/2020

Episode 44: Worry Less, Pitch Better: Wendy Calhoun On What To Do When You Hear "No" Repeatedly Peabody-award winning writer/producer Wendy Calhoun’s unique career spans one-hour dramas, unscripted series, VR, and gaming. Currently, she serves as Consulting Producer on FBC’s . Her scripted drama credits include Co-Executive Producing and writing the historic first season of Fox’s EMPIRE, as well as debut seasons of ABC’s STATION 19, NASHVILLE, REVENGE, and FX’s JUSTIFIED. Calhoun’s developed and sold seven drama series pitches since 2015 with buyers including Touchstone TV, WBTV, NBC, The CW, Netflix, FX, Twentieth, and ABC Signature Studios. She’s produced and directed over forty hours of unscripted prime-time content. Calhoun wrote and directed the virtual reality short, Left Behind, which screened at the 2016 Austin Film Festival and won “Best in VR” at Digital Hollywood. She was also the Narrative Consultant for Electronic Arts’ Battlefield Hardline video game. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, Calhoun is an honored film and television alumni of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She enjoys gardening, relaxing her family, and writing with her sweet dog, Olaf, by her side. We talk about: Her love of pitching- and what to do if your pitch is How to effectively use your film school network (if that’s the path you’ve chosen) What you can do when you’re “dying of encouragement”-but not getting hired What world building looks like in unscripted television And more! Thank you so much for listening to the show! Please remember to SUBSCRIBE, RATE, + REVIEW the show- I would really appreciate it. It helps other screenwriters who are interested in this story to find the show a little easier. If you are interested in becoming a guest, sponsoring the show, or have any other inquiries, please send an email to ! You can listen to every episode of The Beat Sheet on , , , and ! ! The official hashtag for the podcast is Please be sure to follow us on social media as well! You can find the show everywhere: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | /episode/index/show/thebeatsheet/id/16880294

Episode 43: Unpack Yourself: Ihuoma Ofordire Loves Creating Big Worlds And Space To Trust Herself As A Writer 11/16/2020

The Beat Sheet

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