Nickelodeon Selects 10 Participants for Annual Writing and Artist Programs
2022 Program Expands to Include an Additional Artist; Introduces Peer Mentoring Facet of Curriculum
Last Year’s Program Garnered 100% Staffing Success Rate Across Nickelodeon and ViacomCBS Productions
BURBANK, Calif.--Feb. 11, 2022--Nickelodeon has identified 10 participants for its annual Writing and Artist Programs, designed to develop the next generation of creative voices from underrepresented communities. Helmed by the ViacomCBS Office of Global Inclusion and aligned with the company’s Content for Change initiative, for its 22nd annual Writing Program, four aspiring television writers will have the opportunity to hone their skills while working at the Nickelodeon studio and six emerging artists will develop their craft during the 10th annual Artist Program.
The news comes on the heels of the second year of remote programming, which marked the most successful year ever for Nickelodeon’s Creative Talent Development & Outreach team. All five artists from the 2021 Artist Program were staffed on Nickelodeon productions and all four writers were staffed on projects across ViacomCBS.
“Nickelodeon’s long-running Writing and Artist Programs continue to provide aspiring creative minds with the tools to help launch their careers and deliver inclusive stories that reflect the voices of our diverse audiences,” said Marva Smalls, Executive Vice President, Global Head of Inclusion, ViacomCBS and Executive Vice President, Public Affairs, Kids & Family Entertainment Brands, ViacomCBS Media Networks. “Aligned with ViacomCBS’ Content for Change initiative, these programs also affirm our commitment to ensuring an equitable and inclusive pipeline that removes barriers to entry for underrepresented storytellers and continues our work to change the face of content creation.”
This year’s addition of Peer Mentoring strengthens the program’s overall impact, providing participants with invaluable one-on-one mentorship, as well as a deeper introduction to Nickelodeon’s culture and inclusive work environment.
Within the Writing Program, all participants have the opportunity to network with executives and show creators, gain firsthand experience writing scripts, pitch story ideas, and attend workshops, seminars, classes and experience working writers’ rooms. These writers will develop their skills with hands-on work during the yearlong program.
The writers will be individually paired with Nickelodeon’s Linda Halder (Senior Manager, Live Action Development), Mary Harrington (Executive Producer, Preschool Development), and Conrad Montgomery (VP, Animation Development), who will work with them on professional development, writing and network building at the studio.
The Writing Program participants are:
- Kobie Scott: Born and raised in the Big Peach State of Georgia, Kobie Scott was always connected to animation. He was accepted into Georgia Southern University, planning to be a staff writer in the video game industry, but quickly realized TV writing was more his speed. He bought books about scriptwriting and story structure, and took animation classes that gave him a greater understanding of the art form and possibly carpal tunnel.
- Lauren Monroe: Lauren Monroe (she/her) is a fat, queer, neurodiverse writer who grew up in Atlanta with a nerdy mom who cosplayed at conventions, taught high school English, and instilled a love of fantasy storytelling. Now Monroe happily writes colorful fantasy worlds for kids with queerness and nuanced perspectives of diverse bodies and brains.
- Hannah Suria: Hannah Suria is a writer and performer from Orange County, Calif. and the proud daughter of immigrants (a mixed mom from Singapore and a Tamil-Sri Lankan father from Malaysia). Writing stopped being a hobby and became an integral part of her life when, as an aspiring actor, Suria quickly discovered roles for women who look like her were few and far between.
- Frank Paiva: Frank Paiva (he/they) is a gay and queer person of size from Seattle. Growing up in the early 2000s, they struggled to find a blueprint for the rest of their life in popular media. Newly based in Los Angeles, Paiva writes comedies with heart, with a particular interest in LGBTQ history and expanding the range of body types audiences see onscreen.
During the six-month Artist Program, aspiring artists will learn from lead artists and practice their craft as they work on an animated series in various stages of production. The Artist Program tracks include storyboard, general design or CG generalist. The CG track was first offered last year to service many of the Nickelodeon Animation Studio’s current and upcoming CG productions.
The artists are paired with artistic mentors at Nickelodeon to guide their production experience, including: Ashley Kliment (Art Director, The Loud House); Jeff Chozon (Art Director, Transformers) and Jermaine Jose (Art Director, Transformers); Kimberly Mills (Storyboard Director, Big Nate) and Vypac Voeur (Lead CG Generalist, Big Nate); Chris Graham (Supervising Director, Santiago of the Seas); and Sica Von Medicus (CG Supervisor, Max & The Midknights).
The Artist Program participants are:
- Cherrie Wang (Storyboard Track): Cherrie Wang has spent her entire life doodling on anything she could get her hands on. Her family didn’t understand the world of art and animation, so Wang attended the University of Southern California where she earned her degree in Computer Science and Engineering. She taught herself how to storyboard via the internet and recently moved back to Los Angeles to pursue her calling full-time.
- Katarina Perez (CG Track): Katarina Perez is a Mexican-American artist born and raised in Houston, Texas. When introduced to a 3D animation course in high school, she was enamored by all that you could do in a 3-dimensional space. This propelled her to pack up and move to Dallas to pursue a Bachelor of Animation at the University of Texas at Dallas.
- Roger Hernandez (CG Generalist Track): Born in the Greater Los Angeles area to immigrant parents from El Salvador, Roger Hernandez’s parents were always a pillar of support and despite limited resources, they got him through college where he pursued his dream in CG animation at Cal State Northridge. Though truly a CG generalist, his primary focus is CG modeling. Sculpting 3D models is his passion and it is his goal to share his vision and talent through his art.
- Emily Monjaraz (General Design Track): Emily Monjaraz started her career illustrating kids’ books and doing graphic design for toy companies that encourage girls to pursue careers in STEM. Her mission is to create content for children learning how to harness their differences into super-powers as well as create stories and characters that represent the world in which she grew up.
- Booker Jackson (Storyboard Track): Booker Jackson is from Sacramento, Calif. and was captivated by animation from a young age after seeing a fun Nickelodeon behind the scenes segment about a day in the life of a story artist. Jackson is passionate about diversifying the world of animation and mentoring those who will come after him.
- David Lu (General Design Track): David Lu hails from Vancouver, Canada, where he spent his formative years watching a variety of cartoons that influenced him into becoming an artist. Convinced by his family that art was not a feasible career, Lu went to the Bay Area to write code in exchange for cold hard cash. However, Lu's artistic desires were not satisfied, so for the past couple of years he has been focused on building his portfolio to break into the animation industry and live his childhood dream of creating cartoons.
Alumni of the programs who have gone on to hold positions on Nickelodeon shows include May Chan (co-executive producer, The Astronauts), Sarah Jacques (Art Director, Santiago of the Seas), Anna Hill (storyboard artist, The Loud House), Ahn Bui (BG Painter, Middlemost Post), Samuel Pagán (CG Generalist, Rugrats), Carl Edward Mongan (Storyboard Revisionist, Kamp Koral), Angel Hobbs (Staff Writer, That Girl Lay Lay) Marisa Torres (Background Painter, Santiago of the Seas), Jonathan Butler and Gabriel Garza (co-creators, Bella and the Bulldogs) and more. Outside of Nickelodeon, many program alumni have gone on to freelance and staff positions at various networks, including Showtime, HBO, DreamWorks, Netflix, Comedy Central, Disney Channel, Disney+, Kids’ WB!, ABC, FOX, PBS, Cartoon Network, and the CW.
For more information on the Nickelodeon Writing Program, visit @NickWriting on Twitter and @NickWritingProgram on Instagram and www.nickwriting.com, or @nick_artists on Instagram and www.nickartist.com for the Artist Program. The next submission period opens July 1st and runs through August 1st.
Additional details regarding ViacomCBS’ diversity and inclusion commitments can be found at https://www.viacomcbs.com/inclusion. For more information on Content for Change, please visit: https://www.viacomcbs.com/news/company-news/how-viacomcbs-will-lead-the-way-toward-more-inclusive-storytelling.
Nickelodeon Writing Program
Established in 2000, the Writing Program offers aspiring television writers with unique voices from underrepresented communities the opportunity to hone their skills and launch their careers as writers on Nickelodeon’s scripted live-action and animated television productions. As an incubator program, the Writing Programs identifies, inspires, and mentors new creators to invigorate the Nickelodeon talent pipeline.
Nickelodeon Artist Program
Nickelodeon’s Artist Program launched in 2011 to open the door for talented artists with unique voices from underrepresented communities. The program mentors, develops and staffs emerging artists with diverse backgrounds and experiences on the studio’s animated productions in design and storyboard roles.
About Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon, now in its 42nd year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The brand includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, digital, location based experiences, publishing and feature films. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of ViacomCBS Inc. (Nasdaq: VIACA, VIAC).
Bios:
2022 Artists-in-Residence
Katarina Perez (CG Generalist Track): Katarina Perez is a Mexican-American artist born and raised in Houston, Texas. As a kid, she dreamed of one day being a 2D animator, and during her time in high school, she filled her time with painting, sketchbooks, and playing music. When introduced to a 3D animation course in high school, she was enamored by all that you could do in a 3-dimensional space. This propelled her to pack up and move to Dallas to pursue a Bachelor of Animation at the University of Texas at Dallas. Even when working full-time to support her avid camping habit, Perez always finds time to give back to the community. She is excited to join the Nick Artist Program to push herself and her skills further, make meaningful connections and, of course, spend some time to explore the hiking trails of Los Angeles.
Roger Hernandez (CG Generalist Track): Roger Hernandez discovered that his passion for animation would be his calling the moment he watched Jurassic Park at a very young age. While he had always enjoyed special effects movies, the leap from Ray Harryhausen clay creatures to CGI breathing dinosaurs was a sight to behold for him. Born in the Greater Los Angeles area to immigrant parents from El Salvador, his parents were always a pillar of support and despite limited resources, they got him through college where he pursued his dream in CG animation at Cal State Northridge. Though truly a CG generalist, his primary focus is CG modeling. Sculpting 3D models is his passion and it is his goal to share his vision and talent through his art.
Booker Jackson (Storyboard Track): Booker Jackson is from Sacramento, Calif. and was captivated by animation from a young age. He found joy in drawing his favorite characters he’d seen on screen or creating original characters in his own stories hoping to inspire and delight his family and friends. Jackson’s drive to work in animation started early on after seeing a fun Nickelodeon behind the scenes segment about a day in the life of a story artist. Day after day, he began to study diligently while watching his favorite cartoons, dreaming of one day telling his own stories to the world. Jackson is passionate about diversifying the world of animation and mentoring those who will come after him.
Cherrie Wang (Storyboard Track): Cherrie Wang has spent her entire life doodling on anything she could get her hands on, as well as gobbling up shows, cartoons and movies. Her family valued scientific sensibilities over silly drawings and didn’t understand the world of art and animation, so she struggled her way through more supplemental math and physics classes than you can imagine. Wang graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in Computer Science and Engineering and launched a career in the tech industry. She developed data visualizations for NASA, led projects on Google Maps and YouTube VR, all the while dreaming of drawing. For the last two years, she lived and worked in Tokyo, Japan, where she taught herself how to storyboard via the internet and recently moved back to Los Angeles to pursue her calling full-time.
Emily Monjaraz (General Design Track): Emily Monjaraz started her career illustrating kids’ books and doing graphic design for toy companies that encourage girls to pursue careers in STEM. In 2017, she started designing for political orgs that help recruit, train, and elect women to office. All the while nurturing her passion for character design, she worked diligently on her character design portfolio with a focus on stories and characters that represent the world in which she grew up. Her mission is to create content for children learning how to harness their differences into super-powers. She’s super grateful for the opportunity to learn from the team at Nick.
David Lu (General Design Track): David Lu hails from Vancouver, Canada, where he spent his formative years watching a variety of cartoons that influenced him into becoming an artist. Convinced by his family that art was not a feasible career, Lu went to the Bay Area to write code in exchange for cold hard cash. David was lucky enough to be placed onto the Google Doodles team, and he has been programming the Doodles on the frontpage ever since. However, Lu's artistic desires were not satisfied, so for the past couple of years he has been focused on building his portfolio to break into the animation industry and live his childhood dream of creating cartoons.
2022 Writers in Residence
HANNAH SURIA: Hannah Suria is a writer and performer from Orange County, California but don’t hold that against her. She is the proud daughter of immigrants (a mixed mom from Singapore and a Tamil-Sri Lankan father from Malaysia) and the oldest of three siblings. While she begged for sisters, growing up with two younger brothers was like having a built-in audience and she credits them with teaching her how to be funny and make people laugh. Previously an aspiring actor, she was quick to discover roles for women who looked like her were few and far between, so she began to write. From entering writing competitions, film festivals, play festivals, ghost-writing for others, and tackling sketch comedy, writing stopped being a hobby and became an integral part of her life.
KOBIE SCOTT: Born and raised in the Big Peach State of Georgia, Kobie Scott was always connected to animation. At an early age, he was cleverly bribed by his parents: The better he did in school, the more cartoons he could watch. This love for cartoons and entertainment continued into college where he decided his career would be what most teenage boys were good at…video games! He was accepted into GA Southern University, planning to be a staff writer in the Video Game industry, but quickly realized TV writing was more his speed. He bought books about scriptwriting and story structure, and took animation classes that gave him a greater understanding of the artform and possibly carpal tunnel. Kobie graduated with a major in Writing & Linguistics, and an Animation minor.
LAUREN MONROE: Lauren Monroe (she/her) is a fat, queer, neurodiverse writer who grew up in Atlanta with a nerdy mom who cosplayed at conventions, taught high school English, and instilled a love of fantasy storytelling. She originally got a degree in English because she loved stories and reading books, but when the literary canon bored her so badly that she started writing academic essays about Avatar: The Last Airbender, she realized she wanted to write cartoons instead of papers. Now Lauren happily writes colorful fantasy worlds for kids with queerness and nuanced perspectives of diverse bodies and brains. Lauren has always loved animation for its unique ability to make her laugh and feel less alone at the same time.
FRANK PAIVA: Frank Paiva (he/they) is a gay and queer person of size from Seattle. Growing up in the early 2000s, they struggled to find a blueprint for the rest of their life in popular media. When Frank’s essay about these struggles was published as a Modern Love column in The New York Times at age 18, they realized the power and the joy of telling their own story. Frank has written and performed at some of New York City’s most beautiful theaters and grungiest dives. Along the way, they spent nine years as an entertainment journalist and five years as a tour guide. They have been to the Statue of Liberty 200 times. Newly based in Los Angeles, Frank writes comedies with heart, with a particular interest in LGBTQ history and expanding the range of body types audiences see onscreen.
Originally published: February 11, 2022 at 19:xx GMT.
H/T: TheStreet.
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