Launching Your Career Panel (Screenwriters & Agents) - Sept 13, 2021

Launching Your Career Panel (Screenwriters & Agents)

When: Monday, September 13, 2021 - 5:00-6:15 pm CT

Please join us for a Q&A session where Davia Carter (executive story editor, Debris), Jim Ehrich (literary agent, Rothman Brecher Ehrich Livingston), Kim Tran (staff writer, Space Force), and Cindy McCreery (RTF faculty member, Honey Girls) discuss their career trajectories, the scope of their work, and their views on the current state of the media industries.

To RSVP, please fill out this form & we will send out the Zoom link day-of. 


Speaker Biographies 

Davia Carter (MFA Screenwriting '18, executive story editor, Debris)

Molded by her small, Missouri hometown and all the excitement that it offered — none — Davia’s passion for writing spawned from a desire to entertain — herself, first and foremost. This led her to the entertainment capital of the central southwest: Austin, Texas, where she studied at The University of Texas. Since then, Davia’s credits have included USA’s Queen of the South, CW’s Katy Keene, and NBC’s Debris


Jim Ehrich (literary agent, Rothman Brecher Ehrich Livingston)

Jim Ehrich started his career at boutique management company Hofflund/Polone, where he rose from receptionist to manager. While at Hofflund/Polone, he worked with both feature and television writers and directors. After Hofflund/Polone, he joined Writers & Artists Agency as a literary agent, where he specialized in crossing over playwrights into the feature business. Jim joined The Rothman Agency in 2003 as a literary agent and later became a partner in the agency. He works in film, television and IP representing both writers and directors.


 Kim Tran (BS '16, MFA '17 from Michener Center-Screenwriting, staff writer, Space Force)

Kim Tran is a first-gen Vietnamese American writer, director and comedian. She most recently was a staff writer for season two of Space Force and is in the 2020 - 2021 NBC Writers on the Verge class. She received the Michener Fellowship to pursue her MFA in Screenwriting and Playwriting at UT Austin. As an improv and sketch comedian, she has performed at various festivals including SF Sketchfest and Del Close Marathon. Her films have been official selections of SXSW, Palm Springs ShortFest and Short of the Week. 

Her dramedy short film Zoe and Hanh, about an immigrant mother-daughter sex clash, recently earned a Vimeo Staff Pick and is being developed into a feature with a grant from the Austin Film Society. Her short film Pussy Talk, about a rambunctious talking vagina, was selected to be pitched at SXSW’s Episodic Pitch-a-Thon. Her work explores messy, yet spirited Asian American women fumbling to make their place in the world.


Cindy McCreery (RTF associate professor & screenwriting area head, Honey Girls)

Cindy McCreery was a Walt Disney/ABC Feature Writing Fellow and has since sold feature and television projects to New Line Cinema, Walt Disney Studios, Paramount Pictures, Nickelodeon, National Geographic Films, Warner Brothers, MGM, Branded Entertainment, Lionsgate, SyFy Channel, Disney Channel, NBC, TNT, Televisa USA, Universal Television and AMC’s Shudder. Most recently she has produced the fictional podcast, Quaranteen’d, and just finished writing a feature film for Sony Pictures called The Honey Girls. Cindy lives in Austin, Texas with her husband Paul McCreery and their two children Charlie and Finn. She's a member of The Writer's Guild of America and is an Associate Professor and the Screenwriting Area Head at The University of Texas at Austin in The Department of Radio-TV-Film.

Spring 2022 MIC Speakers

March 25 - Hall Hood

Senior Writer, Aspyr Media
2:00-3:00pm CT via Zoom

April 1 - Gracie Arenas Strittmatter

Technical Art Director, Electronic Arts (EA Sports)
2:00-3:00pm CT via Zoom

April 8 - Morgan O'Brien, PhD

Quality Assurance Tester, Aspyr Media
2:00-3:00pm CT via Zoom

April 15 - Jesse Anderson

Brand Manager for BioWare, EA
2:00-3:00pm CT in DMC 1.202 & via Zoom

Fall 2021 MIC Speakers

Aug. 30 - Launching Your Career, Corporate Side (Panel)

Guests include Caterina Nasr (Senior Manager, A&R, Elektra Music), Vance Nguyen (Assistant to VP & Executive Director of Development, 20th Century Animation), Lauren Zimmer (Television Scripted Assistant at Creative Artists Agency), and Hemrani Vyas (Assistant Manager of Programming, TCM).
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Sept. 13 - Launching Your Career, Screenwriters & Agents (Panel)

Guests include Davia Carter (executive story editor, Debris), Jim Ehrich (literary agent, Rothman Brecher Ehrich Livingston), Kim Tran (staff writer, Space Force), Cindy McCreery (RTF faculty member, Honey Girls)
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Sept. 20 - Mark Hoffman

Chairman, CNBC
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Sept. 27 - Ginny Morris

Chair/CEO, Hubbard Radio, LLC
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Oct. 4 - Mindy Kaling

Actress, writer, producer
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Oct. 11 - Tahirah Gooden

Manager of Original Studio Films, Netflix
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Oct. 18 - Kevin Jarzynski

Senior Development Executive, Amazon Studios
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Oct. 20 - Keli Lee

Founder & President, Infinite Possibilities Enterprises
3:00–4:15 pm CT

Oct. 25 - Colby Gaines

Executive Producer and Founder, Back Roads Entertainment
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Nov. 1 - Brandt Joel

Agent & Partner, WME/Endeavor
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Nov. 3 - Brian Edwards

President of Television Operations, MGM
3:00-4:15pm CT

Nov. 8 - Lucy Huang

Senior Production Executive, Amazon Studios
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Nov. 12 - A Studio Manager's Intro to Post Production for Scripted TV

Michelle Trujillo McKibben (Manager, Original Series Post Production, Netflix)
12:00–1:30 pm CT

Nov. 15 - Maru Buendia-Senties

Senior Post Production Executive, Amazon Studios
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Nov. 22 - PJ Shapiro

Entertainment Attorney & Managing Partner, Ziffren Brittenham LLP
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Nov. 29 - Kyle Davies

Entertainment Distribution and Exhibition Consultant
5:00–6:15 pm CT

Dec. 6 - Jordan Levin

General Manager, Rooster Teeth
5:00–6:15 pm CT