Success Stories
The Barbara Abercrombie Scholarship in Creative Writing
Barbara Abercrombie taught with the Writers’ Program for over thirty years. She was a dedicated instructor who devoted her energy, time, and wisdom to students – being awarded both the UCLA Extension Distinguished Instructor Award and the UCLA Extension Outstanding...
Success: Joseph Dabby’s Debut Memoir
Former student Joseph Dabby recently published his memoir. He says of the experience, “My book No Looking Back was published recently. It's a memoir about my growing up as a Jew in Iraq, my childhood, adolescence, imprisonment, marriage to my sweetheart, and our...
Success: Stephanie Bast’s Multiple Placements
Current screenwriting student Stephanie Bast has had success with two of her scripts in competitions recently. Stephanie continues to have success with her script, FrankenFamily, while her new script Wash Your Birdie: 101 Things That Can Crawl up Your Vagina and Kill...
Success: Denise Cruz-Castino’s Film Projects
Former student Denise Cruz-Castino has had multiple successes since taking classes with the Writers’ Program. Her first produced movie, 5 Weddings premiered at Cannes in 2018, starred Rajkummar Rao who starred in the Oscar nominated film The White Tiger, with co-stars...
Announcing the 2022-2023 Phyllis Gebauer Scholarship Recipients
Announcing the 2022-2023 Phyllis Gebauer Scholarship Recipients The Writers’ Program joyfully announces the latest recipients of the Phyllis Gebauer Scholarship in Writing. We had many qualified applicants this year, resulting in more grantees than traditionally...
Success: Annie O’Neill Stein’s Debut Novel
Former student Annie O’Neill Stein recently had her debut novel, started in our courses, published. Regrettably, Annie passed away a few months ago. However, her former classmate was kind enough to reach out and offer this success story and tribute to Annie’s work....
Success: John Darbonne’s Reader Gigs
John Darbonne went from student to professional script reader after just one class! John says, “After taking Barney Lichtenstein's script reader course at UCLA Extension, I was able to become a volunteer reader at the Austin Film Festival. From there, the Los Angeles...
Success: Tamika Thompson’s Publications
Fiction Writing Certificate alum Tamika Thompson has had a string of successes since graduating. Of her achievements Tamika says, “Since completing the program, I have had several stories published, some of which I workshopped in class with Stephen Cooper and Reyna...
Feature Articles
Instructor Interview: Lin Oliver
Welcome new Writers’ Program instructor Lin Oliver! Lin is teaching a new course, Writing Humor for Young Readers (Reg# 389704) this Winter. Lin is teaching in person near UCLA on Tuesdays, 7-10pm PT starting January 17. She sat down with us to offer some insight into...
Holiday Gifts for Writers
Most folks know that writers are suckers for books, pens, and notebooks (oh, the notebooks). And gift cards to local bookstores or coffee shops to fuel those writing sprees are also nice. But what else can you get a writer during the holidays (or anytime)? We asked...
Instructor Interviews: Tomás Romero and Yared Zeleke
Welcome new Writers’ Program instructors Tomás Romero and Yared Zeleke! Tomás and Yared are both teaching sections of Feature Film I this Winter. Tomás is teaching in our Remote Instruction format, with live Zoom class meetings, Tuesdays from 5pm-8pm PT (Reg# 389258)...
The Barbara Abercrombie Scholarship in Creative Writing
Barbara Abercrombie taught with the Writers’ Program for over thirty years. She was a dedicated instructor who devoted her energy, time, and wisdom to students – being awarded both the UCLA Extension Distinguished Instructor Award and the UCLA Extension Outstanding...
Instructor Interviews: Alexandra Alessandri and Dianne White
Welcome new Writers’ Program instructors Alexandra Alessandri and Dianne White! Alexandra and Dianne are both teaching sections of Picture Book I. Dianne is teaching in our asynchronous, deadline-driven online format starting January 18, and Alexandra is teaching in...
Instructor Interview: Tim Cummings
Welcome new Writers’ Program instructor Tim Cummings! Tim is teaching Middle Grade Novel I (Reg# 389703) this Winter. Tim is teaching in our Remote online format on Thursdays, 6-9pm PT starting January 19. He sat down with us to offer some insight into creative life...
Welcome New WP Work Study Lupita
Work studies are an integral part of the Writers’ Program team. They provide a lot of program support by assisting staff with various administrative, event, and social media tasks. We’re excited to introduce our newest work study Lupita! Writers’ Program: Lupita, tell...
We’re Dreaming of a Spooky Season
Though the Writers’ Program is based in Los Angeles where seasonal changes are basically from hot and dry to fire to less hot and maybe a little wet, we do love the idea of seasonal shifts. In the past, for the period of fall dubbed Spooky Season, our staff has made...