by David Robb
NBC’s Writers on the Verge, the network’s program to develop aspiring television writers from diverse backgrounds, has named eight writers to its class of 2017-18. This year’s crop includes comedy writers Nick Bouier, Octavia Bray, Eugene Garcia-Cross and Felicia Pride, and drama writers Celena Cipriaso, William Garroutte, Amy Lambert and Eileen Shim. They were selected from a pool of more than 2,600 applicants.
Founded in 2005, Writers on the Verge is an annual program for talented, aspiring writers of diverse backgrounds who are “on the verge” of breaking out, but need a final polish of their writing and pitch presentation skills to equip them for staff writer positions on television series
Over the course of 12 weeks, they’ll learn how to develop spec and pilot scripts and how to pitch their ideas in front of television executives, and receive feedback on their scripts and pitch styles from industry professionals, including network executives, showrunners and agents. The class will also receive individual mentoring from NBCUniversal programming executives. At the end of the program, which is now in its twelfth year, the writers will be considered for available writing assignments on NBC series.