David A. Goodman

Born and raised in New Rochelle, N.Y., David A. Goodman has been writing professionally since 1988, when he was hired on THE GOLDEN GIRLS. Since then he has written for over twenty television series, including FAMILY GUY, where he was head writer and executive producer for over a hundred episodes. Currently he writes and executive produces the Fox series THE ORVILLE. 

He is also the author of three books, and in 2017 was elected President of the Writers Guild of America West.  A graduate of the University of Chicago, he lives in Pacific Palisades with his wife and two children.

Chinaka Hodge 

Chinaka Hodge s a poet, educator, playwright, and screenwriter from Oakland. She received her BA from NYU’s Gallatin School, and studied Writing for Film and Television at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts MFA program. Chinaka has served as Educator, Program Director and Associate Artistic Director at Youth Speaks/The Living Word Project, she is a Senior Fellow at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and serves on the Advisory Board at Marin Headlands Center for the Arts. Chinaka has published three books, including her recent book of poetry titled Dated Emcees. She is currently working as a writer for NBC Universal on an upcoming series.

In 2017 Chinaka was recognized with an Oakland Indie Award in the category of Oakland Soul, was one of Diablo Magazine’s 40 under 40 and KQED’s women to watch. Her 2016 book of poems, Dated Emcees, won Northern California Independent Booksellers Association’s Book of the Year, was nominated for the Northern California Book Award, and praised by Jeff Chang, Dave Eggers, and Daveed Diggs. Chinaka’s poems, editorials, interviews and prose have been featured in Newsweek, San Francisco Magazine, SF Chronicle, Believer Magazine, LA Review, S, R, Teen People, CNN, C­Span, TED, d in two seasons of O’s Def Poetry.

John O’Connor

John O’Connor was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Following high school he relocated to Boston, where he worked as a video game designer for real-time strategy games. After completing two game titles, he moved back to California to pursue a college degree. John graduated from UC Berkeley with a bachelor’s in Political Science, and then served as a United States Army officer from 2007 to 2012, including 12 months in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

He is a husband and father, currently working as a writer on Hulu’s The Path.

ADAM CONOVER

Adam Conover is the creator and host of Adam Ruins Everything on TruTV. As a stand-up comic, he performs at colleges, club, and festivals across the country.

David Israel

David M. Israel is an Emmy and Golden Globe award winning writer/producer who was worked with aliens (3rd Rock From the Sun), world champions (the 1986 NY Mets), relationship-challenged people (NBC's About A Boy) and morally challenged-people (Lifetime's UnReal).

Jeanine Daniels

Jeanine Daniels is an acclaimed writer, producer, director, and actor who honed her skills at KCET, ABC, Warner bros. And Disney Animation after college. In 2008, Jeanine co-founded Black & Sexy TV, a digital content studio and distribution network focusing on content starring people of color. While there she spearheaded the network’s most successful shows, and optioned the first series she created, The Couple to HBO. Various other shows she produced were license to BET and Centric, including her first feature film, That Guy (The Movie). A spinoff of her That Guy series, Becoming NIa, is currently being studied at Spelman College.

In 2015, Jeanine launched nine27Entertainment, her own full service production company. Under her nine27banner, Jeanine wrote, directed and produced  a series of 5 Black History Month vignettes for TV One. “The Soul-cial Movement,” was a series featuring African-American agents of change who use social media as their primary tool for imparting positive change within social movements. Also in late 2015, Jeanine received an Honorable Mention Award from the African American Women in Cinema at the Women of Excellence Awards.

Jeanine is currently creating original content and developing a digital platform that will highlight the voices and everyday stories of people of color. She thrives when she’s telling authentic stories about environments and people that aren’t typically highlighted. Her old fans have followed her across platforms from YouTube to VHX to Periscope and Snapchat, while new ones are jiongin from the Netherlands, China and Brazil. Her latest Snap thread #midnightmission, is just one of a handful that has caught the attention of publications like Essence magazine.

Will Engebretson

Will is a young, aspiring television writer currently in the depths of what you might call, “paying his dues”. 

Originally from the suburbs of Washington, D.C., Will packed up his tiny old car three years ago and set off for Los Angeles like so many before him. It was the best decision he’s ever made. Now, between memorizing the writers’ room coffee orders and bradding scripts ‘til his fingers fall off, Will writes his own original scripts for TV and film. He also enjoys making short documentaries and calling his mother.

Winnie Holzman AND Paul Dooley

Winnie Holzman:
Winnie Holzman is the co-writer (with acclaimed songwriter Stephen Schwartz) of the hit musical Wicked. She got her start writing for the TV drama thirtysomething, and went on to create the series My So-Called Life, which starred Claire Danes. She also executive produced (again with Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick) the series Once and Again and (with her daughter, Savannah Dooley) the ABC Family Series Huge. Most recently she collaborated with Cameron Crowe on the showtime series Roadies. Her latest play, Choice, recently had its world premiere at the Huntington Theatre in Boston.

Paul Dooley:
Recently seen at the Odyssey Theatre in “Assisted Living” with Winnie Holzman, a play also written by the couple. At the Ahmanson Theatre he appeared in Mornings at Seven, and at The Pasadena Playhouse in Lend Me a Tenor and Afterplay.

Best remembered as the hilarious father in the film Breaking Away, Dooley also appeared as the father in Sixteen Candles. Since then, he has played the father to Julia Roberts, Toni Collette, Helen Hunt, Mia Farrow and many others. Film: Runaway Bride, Hairspray, Insomnia, Waiting for Guffman and Strange Brew. TV: Curb Your Enthusiasm, Grey’s Anatomy, My So-Called Life, Law & Order and Star Trek. He was seen most recently on the new hit TV show The Good Doctor. 

Paul created the beloved PBS show The Electric Company. He is married to Winnie Holzman, who, with composer Stephen Schwartz, created the hit Broadway Musical Wicked.