For this special two-panel live event, we take a closer look inside the TV scripts that are nominated for the 2021 Writers Guild Awards for Episodic Drama and Episodic Comedy. Writers will walk us through their process for crafting memorable scenes from their nominated episodes and how their words were given life on screen.

You can purchase individual tickets to each panel or the Combo ticket which gives access to both panels. All proceeds benefit the Writers Guild Foundation Library and community outreach programs.

If you’re a member of the WGA West or WGA East, click the WGA Member button for your complimentary ticket.

Wednesday, February 24

Episodic Drama panel - 4pm to 5pm PST

Panelists:

• Peter Gould & Ariel Levine - “Something Unforgiveable” (Better Call Saul)

• Aaron Guzikowski - “Raised by Wolves” (Raised by Wolves)

• Miki Johnson - “Fire Pink” (Ozark)

• Sam Levinson - “Trouble Don’t Last Always” (Euphoria)

• Thomas Schnauz - “Bad Choice Road” (Better Call Saul)

• Alison Tatlock - “JMM” (Better Call Saul)

Moderated by Phil Galasso, Director of Marketing, Final Draft

Thursday, February 25

Episodic Comedy panel - 4pm to 5pm PST

Panelists:

• Liz Feldman & Kelly Hutchinson - “It’s Not You, It’s Me” (Dead to Me)

• Alex Kavallierou - “The Tank” (Grace & Frankie)

• Kyle Lau - “Grandma & Chill” (Awkwafina Is Nora From Queens)

• Bill Lawrence - “Pilot” (Ted Lasso)

• Tony McNamara - “The Great” (The Great)

• Isaac Oliver - “Trick” (High Maintenance)

Moderated by Michael Schneider, Senior Editor, Variety

After purchasing a ticket, you’ll receive information on how to access the Zoom panels.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us at events@wgfoundation.org.

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Presenting Media Partner

In partnership with

Liz Feldman

Over the course of her career, award-winning writer Liz Feldman has carved a space for diverse voices within the entertainment industry.    

Feldman is the creator and executive producer of the acclaimed Netflix series, DEAD TO ME, which was fourth on Netflix’s “Top 10 Most Popular Series of 2019.”  Season two premiered on May 8, 2020, and instantly became the most watched show on Netflix in several global territories that same weekend.  The dark comedy, starring Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini, is produced by Gloria Sanchez Productions, the female-focused counterpart to Gary Sanchez Productions.  NPR TV critic David Bianculli noted, “It's [Liz Feldman’s] career-best work, and it's the career-best work for Applegate and Cardellini, too.” Feldman won the 2020 Writers Guild Award for Episodic Comedy, and was nominated for a Writers Guild Award for New Series, on behalf of the show.  She was also included on THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER’S 2020 list of the “50 Most Powerful LGBTQ Players in Hollywood.” 

Feldman began her career as a stand-up comic at the age of sixteen. She is an alumnus of The Second City and The Groundlings. Past television credits include: BLUE COLLAR TV, HOT IN CLEVELAND, The 79th, 86th and 87th ACADEMY AWARDS, 2 BROKE GIRLS and THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW, for which she won four Emmy® awards. She also created the NBC sitcom ONE BIG HAPPY starring Elisha Cuthbert, executive produced by Ellen DeGeneres.   

Since 2008, Feldman has been the host of THIS JUST OUT, a YouTube talk show that celebrates lesbian culture. The “gay positive” show is filmed at her kitchen table and features LGBTQ and LGBTQ-friendly actors, comedians, writers and musicians. Feldman has been an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ rights.   

She currently resides in Los Angeles with her wife, musician Rachael Cantu. 

Peter Gould

For all five seasons of the show's run, Peter Gould was a writer for the Emmy® Award–winning series Breaking Bad, serving as executive story editor, producer, supervising producer, and co- executive producer. Peter made his television directorial debut in season four, and wrote and directed the penultimate episode of the series.  

In season two of Breaking Bad, Peter wrote the episode that introduced criminal lawyer, Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk). When Breaking Bad concluded its series run, Peter and Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan decided they weren’t finished with the shady attorney; together they created the spin-off prequel — Better Call Saul. 

NPR critic David Bianculli calls Better Call Saul “the best drama series on TV," and both Rolling Stone and TV Guide named it the best TV show of 2020. Season five has been heralded by New York Times critic David Segal as "easily the most compelling season yet."   

The first five seasons of Better Call Saul have been honored with a coveted Peabody Award, 39 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, two WGA Awards, three Critics’ Choice Television Awards, four Golden Globe nominations, six SAG nominations, three Producers Guild nominations, three AFI Awards for “TV Program of the Year,” and both “Outstanding New Program” and "Achievement in Drama" from the Television Critics Association. 

Aaron Guzikowski

Aaron Guzikowski is the Creator and Executive Producer of the original scifi television series RAISED BY WOLVES on HBO Max.  

AARON wrote the critically acclaimed film “PRISONERS” for Warner Bros.  The film had an award winning cast that included; Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Melissa Leo, Viola Davis, Terrence Howard, Paul Dano and Maria Bello.  The film was directed by Denis Villeneuve (“Blade Runner 2049”/”Arrival”/”Sicario”).  It was nominated for an Academy Award for Roger Deakins’ work and was the National Board of Review’s winner for Best Ensemble Cast. 

Aaron also wrote the remake of PAPILLON.  The 1971 film starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman and the remake starred Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek. In addition, Aaron wrote THE WOLFMAN reboot for Universal Pictures as a part of the studio's efforts to re-launch their classic monster movies. He also wrote FRIDAY THE 13TH for Paramount.  He penned the screenplay for CONTRABAND for Universal Pictures, starring Mark Wahlberg, Ben Foster, & Kate Beckinsale, and directed by Baltasar Kormakur. 

Previously in television, Aaron was the Creator and Executive Producer of the Sundance Channel thriller series “THE RED ROAD” that starred Jason Momoa. 

Guzikowski is represented by Verve, Adam Kolbrenner’s Lit Entertainment Group, and attorney Jeff Frankel. 

Kelly Hutchinson

Kelly Hutchinson is an actor/writer who has appeared on Broadway, off-Broadway, TV and film. Kelly attended the prestigious graduate dramatic writing program at NYU’s Tisch School of the arts and has developed projects for Kevin Misher, Tribeca Films, and Sonar Entertainment. Kelly wrote on (and produced) the first two seasons of Dead to Me for CBS Studios/Netflix (WGA Award nomination) and is currently writing on its third and final season. She was featured in the 2019 “Young and Hungry List” which represents the most talked-about, most in-demand, and most impactful writers of 2019.

Miki Johnson

Miki Johnson is a TV writer. She’s written for Hell on Wheels, Ray Donovan and Ozark. In 2020, Johnson received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for her work on Ozark. Originally from Akron, Ohio, Miki now lives in Los Angeles.

Alex Kavallierou

Alex Kavallierou hails from a small town outside London, England. After cutting his teeth working on BBC comedy shows he is currently an Executive Story Editor for Netflix’s Grace and Frankie. He lives with his wife and two sons in Pasadena, California.

Kyle Lau

Kyle Lau is a director, writer and producer in Los Angeles, CA.

Originally from the Bay Area, Kyle has directed projects featured in the indie film festival circuit, as well as content for RedBull, Jack Daniel's, 20th Century Fox, UCLA and more.

He currently writes on Comedy Central’s AWKWAFINA IS NORA FROM QUEENS.

Bill Lawrence

Bill Lawrence is an award-winning television writer, producer and director. His latest project through his Doozer Productions is WBTV’s Ted Lasso for Apple TV+, starring Jason Sudeikis. Sudeikis and Lawrence serve as co-creators and executive producers on the series which launched in August. Other projects in development for Doozer include re-boots of Head of the Class and Clone High. 

Ariel Levine

Ariel Levine was born and raised in Dallas, TX. She wasn’t allowed to watch TV growing up, which really backfired on her parents when she went to Boston University, started writing for the school’s student-run soap opera, and decided to pursue a career in television. After graduating and moving to Los Angeles, Ariel got a job working on Better Call Saul as a production assistant. Six seasons later, she's now writing for the show as well as writing/producing additional content, winning two Emmys and a Webby Award for her work on the web series, Better Call Saul Employee Training.

Sam Levinson

Sam Levinson is a writer, producer and director known for his work on The Wizard of Lies, Assassination Nation and Another Happy Day. In 2011, he won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award for his debut directorial work on Another Happy Day.

Levinson is the creator and executive producer of the HBO drama series Euphoria starring Zendaya, for which she won an Emmy for Best Actress. The series follows a group of high school students as they endure issues related to drug addiction, sex, trauma and violence in the age of social media. Levinson has struggled with some of these issues himself and therefore brings his past experiences to light through the storylines and characters portrayed in the series. Euphoria has been confirmed by HBO for Season 2.

Most recently, Levinson wrote, produced, and directed the film Malcolm & Marie which stars John David Washington and Zendaya, which premiered on Netflix in 2021. The picture was shot safely during the COVID-19 pandemic and made history by being the first to do so on the feature film side.

Tony McNamara

Tony McNamara is the creator, showrunner, and executive producer of the Emmy and Golden Globe nominated series “The Great” on Hulu, starring Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult, which is based on his stage play, and is currently in production on season two. 

McNamara wrote the critically acclaimed film “The Favourite,” for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.  He also won Best Screenplay at the British Independent Film Awards, a BAFTA Film Award for Best Original Screenplay, and Screenwriter of the Year at London Film Critics’ Awards.  The film starred Rachel Weisz, Emma Stone, Nicolas Hoult and Olivia Colman, and was directed by Yorgos Lanthimos.

In addition, McNamara wrote the most recent version of the upcoming film “Cruella” starring Emma Stone for Disney.

Isaac Oliver

saac Oliver is an award-winning playwright, author, and performer. His debut collection of essays, Intimacy Idiot, was named one of NPR's Best Books of 2015, and has been released in hardcover, paperback, e-book, and audiobook. He is an artist in residence at Joe's Pub at the Public Theater, where he performs evenings of sit-down comedy. Additionally, he's a MacDowell Colony Fellow and has written for The New York Times, HBO's "High Maintenance," and Netflix's "GLOW." He lives in New York City.

Thomas Schnauz

Thomas Schnauz is a New Jersey–born writer and producer, and a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. After optioning his first screenplay, Spirits in Passing, with Paramount Pictures and Mark Johnson, he made his way west to work with Vince Gilligan as a writer on the Ten Thirteen programs The Lone Gunmen and The X-Files. 

After working on Frank Spotnitz’s remake of Night Stalker and the CW Fazekas/Butters comedy Reaper, Thomas was very happy to rejoin X-Files alums Gilligan and Michelle MacLaren during Season Three of Breaking Bad. He made his network directing debut with Season Five’s “Say My Name,” which was nominated for both a WGA Award for Best Episodic Drama and a Primetime Emmy® Award for Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series. 

Thomas joined Gilligan and Peter Gould for the Breaking Bad spinoff, Better Call Saul, and won a PEN Literary Award for Season Three's "Expenses" and was nominated for a Best Drama Emmy with Gould for Season Four's finale, "Winner." 

Alison Tatlock

ALISON TATLOCK is a tv writer and playwright currently working on the final season of BETTER CALL SAUL. Previous credits include HALT AND CATCH FIRE, STRANGER THINGS and the HBO drama IN TREATMENT (starring Gabriel Byrne and Debra Winger). Alison’s play THE SHORE received workshops at the Pasadena Playhouse and the Vineyard Playhouse (featuring Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen and Hamish Linklater) and was produced by Ensemble Studio Theatre - The LA Project. Other plays include THE CATCH, developed at New York Stage and Film (directed by Pam MacKinnon, featuring Merritt Wever) and UNTITLED IV BY RUTH MARKOFSKY, developed at the UCSB Launch Pad program. Alison worked for many years with the Los Angeles non-profit Street Poets, Inc. and serves on the Board of Directors.