WP NOW

Become a Member of the Writers’ Program Network of Writers.

Join a Welcoming Community

A membership program that offers exclusive access to an exceptional roster of discounts and benefits, including members-only networking and professional development opportunities, for one low annual fee.

  • 10% off Writers’ Program Courses
  • 10% off Writers’ Program Manuscript Consultations
  • Free Writers’ Program Workshop
  • Software Discounts
  • Exclusive Writers’ Program Events
  • Writers Guild Foundation Events
  • Members-Only Online Community
  • Join Professional Associations

WP NOW Student Advisory Board

Roshni “Rush” Bhatia is a writer-director. Grown up in Mumbai, Rush has been inspired by filmmakers like James Cameron and Ridley Scott and writers like Richard Matheson and Rod Serling. As of 2021, Rush has five shorts in festivals with selections at Leeds International Film Festival, Morbido Film Festival, etc. Her one minute short film, shot on an iPhone, was singled out by Hollywood Heavyweights like Die Hard screenwriter Steven E. De Souza and won the #SixtyScarySeconds competition at Raindance Film Festival. Recently, after producing scripts and shorts non-stop, Rush got her first movie deal of an action thriller feature with a renowned production company in LA. She also had one of her stories featured in an anthology called Surviving Tomorrow among authors including Neil Gaiman and Andrew Mayne.

Marsha Brown’s pursuit of multi-culturalism in making our community a better place to live has been her lifelong passion. When she was eight years old, she began writing creatively focusing on short stories and poetry. A fourth-grade writing project on West Africa ignited a life-long interest in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and its aftermath. She earned a Master of Arts degree in Family Therapy, specializing in racial diversity. She served on the Loyola Marymount University Board of Regents for ten years, and received their Distinguished Alumni Award. Currently, she is writing a novel.

Seema Seraphina Devashri is doing a research Master’s in screenwriting and teaches writing at the University of Newcastle, where she is a part of writing groups. She has studied screenwriting through Gotham, AFW, Stanford, and UCLA. She has previously been a journalist and editor.

Charles Hailey is interested in writing and creating content for TV and film. He writes for sketch comedy and have written sketch shows at Second City Hollywood and the Upright Citizens Brigade. He is part of writing and performing communities at both Second City and UCB, and the UCB Diversity program.

After assisting creatives with their works for years as a copyright attorney, Emily Lanza recently found the pen in her own hand as an invaluable tool of creative expression. Viewing writing as both a craft and an art, her writing practice explores historical and ekphrastic fiction. She currently lives in Washington, D.C.’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, with her rescue beagle-mix, Dorrie.

Kait Leonard is a staff writer for The Canyon Chronicle, a community newspaper in Los Angeles. She also writes short fiction and nonfiction. To keep herself on track to reach her creative goals, she’s a member of The Process, an online community for creatives, and of WP Now. Kait believes that belonging to vibrant writing communities is the key to moving forward as an artist and as a professional. She holds degrees in creative writing, literature, and psychology, and has completed the journalism certificate through UCLA Extension. She will have the creative writing certificate after completion of the Creative Capstone project.

Yiyi Liu is a student in screenwriting and had a previous career in advertising and marketing. She lives in Los Angeles, and is a proud alumna of both UVA and USC. She enjoys and appreciates the mix of American and Asian cultures that makes up who she is. Her career ambition is to create original TV and film entertainment of the many fascinating aspects of Asian culture that America is just beginning to notice.

Ty McLeod is a current creative nonfiction certificate student and a fiction alumna of the Writer’s Program. Nominated for the Kirkwood Literary Prize and the Allegra Johnson Award, she is a former reporter and marketing strategist and is working on her first mystery novel. Ty also serves as an assistant editor in fiction for UCLA’s literary magazine Southland Alibi. She is a native New Yorker who currently resides in the DC suburbs with her husband and daughter.

Alexandra Otto writes stories and short screenplays. She just completed her first novel. When Alex isn’t writing or teaching, she is outsmarting the largest bears in the world in Southcentral Alaska.

Kathy Pinyerd’s interests in writing include Native American, African American, women’s, and other cross-cultural underrepresented voices. Her passion started in second grade, as a dark skinned girl living in New Orleans in the 60’s, experiencing bullying. She learned to express herself not through actual fighting but through the written word. She has fought discrimination, supported the under-dog, and motivated many others to write. She sustains her passion by connecting with communities through the fabulous UCLA Extension Writer’s Program, UCLA’s AISA Indian Association, National Organization for Women, AAUW, NAFE, AWP, IWSC, CA Writer’s Club, OC and others. She is also a Professional Psychic Advisor.

Paulina Raguimov is a screenwriter, video game developer, and comic book lover, born and raised in Southern California. Having been thrust into the video game industry at a young age, Paulina is excited to switch careers and follow what has always been her dream: writing for television. Her week consists of regular work, writing classes, attending panels through various organizations, meeting with her writers’ group, and participating in the online writing communities she is part of.

Kevin Yoder, a SoCal native and queer writer, was raised by an Italian immigrant mother and a Mennonite father. His work focuses on how relationships can overcome prejudice and thwart establishment efforts to marginalize outsiders. He believes fiction conveys truth, and is passionate about the power of story to change culture. He began work on his debut novel in Novel I, completing it in the Master Class years later. The experience taught him that persistence pays, and ignited a passion for craft. He lives with his husband, teenage kids, and a golden retriever who thinks she’s a lap dog.

Pin It on Pinterest