Photo courtesy of the Savannah Film Festival
Written by Emilie Kefalas
The Savannah Film Festival continued into the school week Monday morning with Nickelodeon’s panel presentation, “The Story Starts Here: Nickelodeon’s Writing Program” at the Gutstein Gallery. Karen Kirkland, vice president of talent development and outreach at Nickelodeon, warmly welcomed the mostly writer-based audience. She explained the panel was an example of the outreach she does for Nickelodeon.
Nickelodeon has committed itself to finding creative and diverse talent, Kirkland said. The company offers multiple opportunities to gain experience in the creative industry, such as the writing program, the animation program and the global animated shorts program.
“The idea is that you think of Nickelodeon as a first place to work,” Kirkland explained.
The majority of the panel was dedicated to discussing writing for television and breaking into the business as a writer. With Kirkland were two alumni of the Nickelodeon Writing Program, Sameer Asad Gardezi and Ron Holsey, both of whom are now established writers in the show writing industry. Gardezi, a Writer’s Guild of America award-winner, has written for various live-action television series including “Modern Family” and “Outsourced.” Holsey’s credits include “Odd Squad,” “Big Time Rush” and “Martha Speaks” as well as two Daytime Emmy nominations for “Odd Squad” and “Martha Speaks.”
In terms of working as a writer in Hollywood, Kirkland said it is not hard to break into the business if one is committed to his or her work and networks properly.
“Networking plays a huge part of this,” Kirkland said.
Kirkland explained how students are prepped for meeting with and selling pitches to television executives during their time in the Nickelodeon writing program. According to Kirkland, students research the executives they will meet and formulate a list of questions around the biographies of those executives. In the end, the person with whom the writer meets appreciates the time and research put into the meeting.
Holsey emphasized the significance of maintaining positive work relationships within Hollywood.
“[It’s] all about keeping that network and keeping those friendships,” Holsey said. “People like to know that you know what they’re doing, so that’s something that’s really important.”
Gardezi gave an example of how his boss from his first job in Los Angeles ended up representing him as his agent later in his career.
“All of these relationships are so important,” Gardezi said. He then advised the students in the audience to start building relationships with one another so that those positive relationships are already established when it comes time to reach out for resources in the real world. “[SCAD] is going to be your base camp.”
Kirkland went on to explain how to keep business relationships organic, emphasizing how important it is to be kind and courteous with others. Gardezi provided some insight as to how writers should go about selling themselves when pitching to producers and executives in the industry.
“Each of you has a neat story, and your goal in the industry is going to be selling yourself,” Gardezi said. “The connections are all there, and the world is so small.” He also explained writers must also hone the ability to communicate and articulate when selling themselves.
“I am a writer’s writer…so because of that, I never knew I actually had to talk to people as a writer,” Gardezi said. “No one ever taught me, ‘Hey you need to be able to talk shop.’ You have to be on. These executives are listening to these things over and over. You just don’t want to be someone who is easily forgotten.”
When taking questions from the audience, Gardezi reassured potential writers that turning down a job in the industry can at times be the equivalent to getting a job. Asked what advice he could give to aspiring writers on how to stand out, Holsey emphasized the importance of working hard.
“Keep in mind it’s your job to make your boss’s job easier,” Holsey said. “I think that if you work really hard, and you’re writing for a show, and you’re doing stuff that makes your head writer’s job easier, I think that’s the best piece of advice I could give.”
