Event Details
Monday
October 26, 2020 8:00 pm
(5:00pm Pacific Time)
via Zoom
RSVP
Moderated by Gabriel Urbina
As production of scripted podcasts reaches new heights, organizing the sector has become a high priority for the Guild. Guild members and other scripted podcast writers have formed the WGA Audio Alliance, a group of writers organizing to get Guild coverage on scripted podcasts; to share information and resources; and to build community in the rapidly growing audio fiction space.
Gabriel Urbina will lead Dania Ramos, Meghan Fitzmartin, and Lauren Shippen in a discussion of the creative joys and challenges of writing for audio. Panelists will share the lessons they have learned and the mistakes they have made, and discuss how their experiences in other mediums – playwrighting, screenwriting, and producing — have impacted their writing for audio. WGAE Executive Director Lowell Peterson and WGA Audio Alliance members will discuss organizing efforts in the scripted podcast industry, as well.
Following the panel, attendees can engage with the panelists in breakout rooms.
This event is open to WGA Members and nonmembers alike.
About the Participants
Dania Ramos is the creator and head writer of Timestorm, a time-travel audio drama series for middle grades. Dania’s stage plays have been produced or developed by Luna Stage, Speranza Theatre Company, Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre, Writers Theatre of New Jersey, Repertorio Español, and Teatro Vivo. Dania is also a drama and creative writing teaching artist and a Dramatist Guild regional ambassador for New Jersey. DaniaRamos.com
Meghan Fitzmartin grew up in Celebration, Florida and learned to love the power of story, specifically superhero stories, since those were the only PG-13 movies into which her dad could sneak her. Most recently she was a Staff Writer on SUPERNATURAL (CW / WBTV), where she wrote and produced multiple episodes. She has also written multiple episodes of the DC Comics animated show DC SUPER HERO GIRLS for WB Animation. She has worked on THE COLLEGE TAPES, PASSENGER LIST, and is the Creator and Executive Producer of the popular fiction podcast RED RHINO (bit.ly/RedRhino), as well as the Host / Creator of the non-fiction podcast WINE AND COMICS.
Lauren Shippen is a writer best known for her work in fiction podcasts. She was the creator and sole writer of the popular audio drama The Bright Sessions, which ran from 2015 to 2018. She went on to executive produce The AM Archives and co-produce the #1 podcast Passenger List, for which she received a BBC Audio Drama Award, Webby, and British Podcast Award. Most recently, she wrote MARVELS, an audio adaptation of the popular comic. Her first novel, The Infinite Noise, was released through Tor Teen in September 2019. Lauren was named one of Forbes 2018 30 Under 30 in Media and one of MovieMaker Magazine and Austin Film Festival’s 25 Screenwriters to Watch.
Gabriel Urbina is a Costa Rican-American writer and director who has been writing professionally since 2013. He is best known as the creative director and showrunner for Wolf 359, for which he served as the series’ executive producer, wrote over half the episodes, and directed most installments of the show. He is also the co-creator of the anthology series Zero Hours, the suspense-comedy hybrid Time:Bombs, and the upcoming modern fantasy series Unseen. He has contributed to various other fiction series – such as The Bright Sessions, Wooden Overcoats, Our Fair City, and Arden – and co-hosts the writing gameshow/talk show No Bad Ideas.
