Walt Disney Television Reveals 13 Writers For 2020 Writing Program

Dino-Ray Ramos
·3 min read

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Walt Disney Television has named its 13 writers for its 2020 Writing Program. The initiative offers advanced professional development before participants are hired as staff writers on Walt Disney Televsision shows during the program year.

Of the 13 is news marketing associate and former writers’ assistant Darnell Jones (Lansing, Michigan) who has been named the Disney Channel Eunetta T. Boone Comedy Writer Scholar, established by the network in honor of the late writer/producer for diverse and aspiring comedy writers. Boone was best known as an executive producer and showrunner of the third season of Disney Channel’s comedy series Raven’s Home.

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On the comedy side, participants include Family Guy writers’ assistant Allyson Philobos (Corona, California), stand-up comedian Feraz Ozel (Los Gatos, California), feature film line producer Gabriela Lugo (Managua, Nicaragua), reality television producer Tasha Henderson (Dallas, Texas) and advertising exec-turned-development-assistant Vicky Castro (Miami, Florida). Drama writers include television feature writer Adrian Vina (Edinburg, Texas), Evil writers’ production assistant David Ramirez (Bogota, Colombia), black-ish production assistant Keisha Ansley (Tallahassee, Florida), Narcos writers’ assistant Paola Villegas (La Paz, Bolivia), writer/producer T Zhang (Hunan, China), Grey’s Anatomy producers’ assistant Zaiver Sinnett (Cairo, West Virginia) and “Dynasty” writers’ production assistant Zoe Cheng (Cincinnati, Ohio). News marketing associate and former writers’ assistant Darnell Jones (Lansing, Michigan) has been named the Disney Channel Eunetta T. Boone Comedy Writer Scholar.

“The Creative Talent Development & Inclusion team is proud to launch this extremely talented group of writers into the next phase of their career,” said Tim McNeal, vice president, Creative Talent Development & Inclusion. “Their drive and diverse backgrounds represent today’s storytelling, and we look forward to seeing them shape the next generation of producers and showrunners.”

This past season, the 2019 writers from the program secured staffing assignments on ABC shows including The Good Doctor, The Rookie, mixed-ish, United We Fall, The Baker and the Beauty, The Goldbergs as well as Disney Channel’s Just Roll With It.

Formerly known as the Disney|ABC Writing Program, the program was a starting point for notable show creators such as Veena Sud (The Killing, Seven Seconds), Jane Espenson (Warehouse 13) and Erica Montolfo-Bura (Zoe Ever After). The program was also an entry point for showrunners Dailyn Rodriguez (Queen of the South), Saladin Patterson (The Last O.G.), Ayanna Floyd Davis (The Chi) and Aseem Batra (I Feel Bad); and alumni with production overall deals at WDT including Peter Saji (mixed-ish) and Tim Doyle (The Kids Are Alright).

 

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