Jami Brandli
Professional Title: M.F.A. Creative Writing Faculty
Areas of Academic Focus and Expertise:
Writing for Stage and Screen
Representative List of Recent Courses Taught:
Distance-Learning Courses:
· Creative Writing I-IV
· Craft and Reflection I-III
· Graduating Seminar Preparation
· Creative Thesis
Residency Seminars:
· Black List Scripts
· Reading and Writing for Stage and Screen
Education: B.F.A. Writing, Literature and Publishing, Emerson College; M.F.A. Creative Writing, graduate assistantship Emerson College
Representative List of Recent Publications / Exhibitions:
Plays:
Technicolor Life
The Sinker
BLISS (or Emily Post is Dead!)
Contributing writer: PS: Page Me Later
Teaching Philosophy: To be an effective dramatist, I believe you must do three things:
· Know what your characters want
· Never make it too easy on your characters
· You, the dramatist, must love your characters, even the most despicable ones.
Writing a script, play or screenplay, is a journey, and as your teacher/mentor, I'll do my best to guide you in writing the script you want to write. At the same time, I'll be asking all the hard questions of the script. No doubt, my main focus will be on character, for the core of all drama is "character in action." "Character in action" applies to every script, from a high-concept action-adventure screenplay to an intimate two-person play.
Awards: John Gassner Memorial Playwriting Award, Great Plains Theatre Conference MainStage Playwright, WordBRIDGE Fellow, Ashland New Plays Festival, Elliot Norton Award, Jury-Prize Winner of HotCity Theatre’s GreenHouse Reading Series, Visiting Artist at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, SAC/Massachusetts Cultural Council fellowship, ATHE Visiting Playwright, Nomination for Kevin Kline Award for “Outstanding New Play.”
Prior Affiliations: WordBRIDGE, Great Plains Theatre Conference, Ashland New Plays Festival, Emerson College, UCLA Extension, Loyola Marymount University, Grub Street, The Dramatists Guild, The Playwrights’ Center, Moving Arts Theatre Company, Smith & Kraus Publishers, AWP, The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, ATHE, Circle Readings.