EXCLUSIVE: The Writers Guild of America East has revealed the latest round of graduates from its 2026 Support Staff Basic Training program.
The virtual bootcamp, which aims to help underrepresented emerging writers break into support-staff roles in television, has both a writers’ assistant track and a script coordinator track.
The 2026 graduates of the writers’ assistant track are Adriana Kyncl, Alia Carita Tompkins, Andrea Fernandez Henao, Caroline Fanelli, Charu Sinha, Connor Smith, JoAnna “J.” Izon, Krysana Maragh, Marisa Arohi, Sam Shane, Shadé Quintanilla and V Marks.
The 2026 graduates of the script coordinator track are Alexandra Bianco, Becca Carter Freeman, Cynthia He, Emma Fiske-Dobell, Kenny Beckford, Olivia Olsher, Ridley Randolph, Roxanne Lim, Savannah Summerlin, Suzanne Griffin and Sydney Giacomazzi.
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This year’s program was produced by P-Valley co-executive producer Ian Olympio and instructed by staff writer Sheli Paige Frank (P-Valley) and staff writer Matthew K Begbie (Elsbeth) — all of whom had a similar trajectory working their way up through the ranks of television writing.
Through each track, the participants were guided through a mix of roundtables, lectures, independent work, and interactive workshops. The tracks differ in ways meaningful to the distinctions in responsibilities.
For example, the writers’ assistant track also involves preparing participants for tasks such as taking notes during writers room meetings, editing scripts and performing research as needed. The script coordinator track includes how to format and proof scripts and other documents, and vet story documents for continuity.
The Support Staff Basic Training program is intended for emerging, diverse writers — BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, disabled, over 40 years old — who are based in the eastern half of the United States. That includes Chicago, Atlanta, Miami and New York. Participants must not have previously worked as writers assistants or script coordinators on a scripted television series.