November 5, 2025

What did you study at Bennington?

Dance, theater, and psychology. I had ambitions to become a choreographer, actually, which is interesting. Dance translates quite well into screenwriting because you're telling stories in space. You're translating a story into movement and action. My study of theater was valuable, too, because it taught me I am not an actor. Acting is really hard, and I have a deep appreciation for those who do it well. 

Tell me about what it’s like to be a screenwriter.

I created Jessica Jones for Netflix, and I also ran the show. Screenwriters are often showrunners, which means you're writing or overseeing every script that comes in. You're dealing with every aspect of production, from casting to costume to set design. It’s your vision and your voice that that entire team is trying to realize. You write a script, and you write it again in production, and you write it again in post, during editing. You're looking at all the footage the director and editor put together, and you're changing things. That's one of my favorite parts. With feature writing or movie writing, it’s like writing a book. You're just in your own little room writing stuff, but it becomes something greater with the addition of other creative voices.

What’s your favorite thing about screenwriting? 

It's fun translating your passion onto the page and then into the world. I love to tell stories, and I love working with creative people, collaborating to bring something to life. I'm able to put my story, my point of view, out into the world. And it's incredibly gratifying to watch that land, to have that be in the world, and to influence people in whatever ways it does. 

What are you working on now?

I just finished a feature script for a movie. It’s an adaptation of State of Terror, a novel by Hillary Clinton and Louise Penny. It’s a thriller about a Secretary of State saving the world. Working with the Secretary was amazing. One thing I love about what I do is the people I get to collaborate with: actors and directors. I do a lot of adaptations, so I've had the honor of working with John Irving. I worked with David E. Kelley briefly. So you get to interact with other artists. That's an amazing thing.

And, because we can’t not, what are you watching right now?

Severance. Fargo. Slow Horses. The Pitt. That one is from the writers and producers of ER. It shows that you can work in the same genre, even the same setting, and do something completely different and really compelling. And Andor, which is in the Star Wars franchise. They took one of the characters and branched out and created two seasons of the show that you don't have to have watched Star Wars before to appreciate. It's a unique take. Here's someone who steps into the middle of a half-century-old franchise and creates something entirely fresh. I am so excited to watch the shows and films that the inaugural class of the MFA in Screenwriting at Bennington write. 

What was your first thought when you heard someone say, “Bennington should have an MFA in Screenwriting”? 

I don't remember whose idea it was, but it was an obvious thing for me to champion, so I jumped on board. There is so much amazing writing going on right now in film and on television. In the last couple decades, with cable and streaming, there's been this incredible expansion of thought and product and an expansion of voices in film and television and a hunger for something original, something compelling and different. So now you're able to tell stories that can reach their specific audience. It's an opportunity for aspiring screenwriters and for writers in general to tell their stories in another format. That's exciting to me.

What special qualifications do you think Bennington has to offer an MFA in Screenwriting? 

Bennington has a unique approach to its education, and that translates beautifully into teaching screenwriting. It's all about learning by doing, finding your original voice, and collaborating. Being oneself in the world, expressing one's own point of view and learning how to self realize, how to take an idea, any idea, and make it happen are things Bennington teaches well. I think that's why Bennington graduates often have very unusual jobs. They create a place for themselves in the world that is utterly unique because they themselves are unique, and they've been trained how to use that and bring it to the world.

Bennington also excels at teaching collaboration, which is absolutely essential in screenwriting. You have a team of writers, you sit in a room, and you're bouncing ideas around and trying to come up with what your season is. It’s a room with the smartest and most talented people you'll ever meet, just throwing around ideas. I mean, what's better than that? But also how do you maintain your own voice and your own point of view yet let in other artists so that they inform your project and improve it? These things—nurturing original voices and collaboration—have been a part of Bennington’s culture since the beginning. 

And finally, there’s Ted. We are very, very fortunate to have Ted Braun leading this. He is an extraordinarily knowledgeable educator and screenwriter with extraordinary relationships in the business. I know he intends to run the program in ways that are interactive and collaborative. It is going to be unique and creative.

What advice do you have for folks who are interested in screenwriting?

Learn the craft, for sure, but also learn who you are as a writer, who you are a storyteller. It's your voice going out there, and there's no more attractive project to buyers and audiences than an original voice. Bennington is the place to cultivate that and learn to bring it to the world. 

Image: Melissa Rosenberg (L) and Krysten Ritter (R) on set for Netflix's Jessica Jones.