Dramatic Lab Advisors
ALANA SANKO - episodic tv, film, animation, children's tv
BLAKE SHNIRRING - TREASURER
Alana Sanko is an award-winning creator, writer and producer. For over two decades she has written and developed for comedy, drama and animated series, as well as TV movie and network and cable pilots across multiple platforms. Her Nickelodeon series, Just for Kicks, which she created and developed with Executive Producer Whoopi Goldberg, won her a WGA Award, and the animated MTV series Spy Groove, that she was Head Writer on, received an Annie Nomination. In addition to working on a number of writing staffs over the years, Alana has written and produced a number of original pilots, including the ABC comedy, See Jayne Run with Brillstein Entertainment, the Disney Channel Original Movie Get a Clue and the acclaimed CBS television series Murphy Brown, starring Candace Bergen, which was named on the WGA’s list of 101 Best TV Series.
Alana has also written for numerous children’s series and was a Consulting Producer for Half Life, the limited series winner of the NYC women’s initiative screenwriting competition #GreenlightHer. Alana is an Adjunct Faculty member at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in the Goldberg Department of Dramatic Writing, a lead instructor for the Sundance Institute’s online platform, Sundance Co//ab and a mentor/facilitator for the Athena Film Festival Writers Lab. She is a proud member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, BMI, SACD, New York Women in Film & Television and the Writers Guild of America.
DOUG MOSER - playwriting
BLAKE SHNIRRING - TREASURER
Douglas Moser is a Connecticut-based author and director. Memoir pieces published in Echo, Peculiar, and the Good Men Project. The winner of the Connecticut Critics' Circle award for "A Christmas Carol,” for its premiere at the Westport Country Playhouse. He made his opera debut directing the groundbreaking opera, Patience & Sarah at Lincoln Center. Before Covid hit he directed Spinning at Long Wharf Theatre. Other projects throughout New York, and regionally, Fairfield, and Stamford. Moser's novel, James & Jim, a comic thriller, was workshopped at the Writers Hotel. He is also developing a YA novel, Pussy Boy, developed at Westport Writers’ Workshop and Yale Summer Writers’ Program. His short film Glacier Bay, received numerous awards on the festival circuit.
MATT EMBER - episodic tv, film, animation
BLAKE SHNIRRING - TREASURER
MATT EMBER graduated from Wesleyan University with a degree in Economics. He wished he was a Film major. After bartending and then living in Paris for a while, he moved to Los Angeles where he worked in sit-coms for fifteen years, rising from staff writer to co-executive producer on way too many shows, including The Hughleys, Grace Under Fire, The Drew Carey Show, The Norm (MacDonald) Show, Titus and Becker.
In 2004, he began writing features with Tom J. Astle. Together they had a string of five number one movies: their spec sale Failure to Launch (starring Matthew McConoughey and Sarah Jessica Parker), the feature adaption of the beloved series Get Smart (starring Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and Alan Arkin). They also wrote Get Smart 2, which was never made for various show-biz reasons, even though their script was green-lit.
They followed those with two animation hits: Epic for Blue Sky/Fox Studios (starring Colin Farrel, Amanda Seyfried, Beyonce, Jason Sudeikis, and Christolph Waltz.) and Home for Dreamworks Animation (starring Rihanna, Jim Parsons, and Steve Martin). Their most recent number one movie was 2020’s The War with Grandpa (starring Robert DeNiro, Uma Thurman, Rob Riggle, Christopher Walken, Cheech Marin, and Jane Seymour).
Matt recently consulted for three seasons on ABC’s The Conners. He has has taught screenwriting at Wesleyan University, Stage 32, and the AFI. He has also practiced and taught kung fu for over 35 years.
He and his wife have two daughters. One is a politics and economics reporter for The New York Times (Sydney Ember), and the other is a casting associate (Jamie Ember). And they usually have at least one Golden Retriever.
REBECCA STAY - tv & film script consulting
BLAKE SHNIRRING - TREASURER
Rebecca Stay is a seasoned television executive, who has supervised numerous hit shows from concept to broadcast, including “Nip/Tuck” for FX and “Veronica Mars” for UPN. With more than twenty years of extensive development experience under her belt, Rebecca has had the privilege of working with some of the most exciting and inspiring creative teams in the industry. She’s head up several TV Production companies, including: FourBoys Ent. (Patricia Heaton and David Hunt), Ventanarosa (Salma Hayek & Jose Tamez), Is or Isn’t. Ent. (Lisa Kudrow & Dan Bucatinsky) and Shephard/Robin (Greer Shephard & Mike Robin).
Over the years, she’s helped award-winning writers and producers navigate from pitch to pilot to series working with various cable and network outlets. Rebecca’s true passion is discovering fresh, emerging voices who are finding their way, as well as nurturing established writers. In 2013-2015 she helped select writers into the ABC Disney Creative Talent Program and spearheaded a workshop to mentor and assist those in the program.
Most recently, she was one of the Executive Producers on the CBS half-hour show, Carol’s Second Act, starring Patricia Heaton as well as a Sundance/Collab Advisor for a course in TV writing. Rebecca’s screenplay, Becoming Norma-l, made it to the quarter finals in the Academy Nicholl Fellowship. In 2018, her Web Sizzle for RIDESHARE WITH REBECCA was a finalist for the Women In Film Mini Upfronts for best sizzle.
A Southern California native, Rebecca grew up in the idyllic ocean side community of Hermosa Beach, CA. Aside from her obsession with pickle ball, her love of hiking and spending time with her family, she’s loved TV from a very early age. You can read more about Rebecca at https://rebecca-stay.com
DAPHNE POLLON - comedy writer
BLAKE SHNIRRING - TREASURER
Daphne Pollon has spent 25 years as a Writer-Producer in television comedy. She’s written for shows that include Its Garry Shandling’s Show, Murphy Brown, Style and Substance, The Job, Love and Money, My Adventures in Television, and Sullivan and Son. She’s also created several original pilots. She was recruited by USC to teach Graduate Television Comedy Writing, Graduate Thesis, and Multi-Cam Workshops. She’s lectured at Cornell and has been an invited guest speaker in Ireland at both the Galway Film Festival and the Dingle Film Festival. Last winter she was a resident Guest Lecturer at Napier University, in Edinburgh, and continued to mentor her students through the summer. Through the WGA, she taught Military Veterans in their comprehensive, year-long writing program. Currently, she is writing the 8th draft of her first novel and consulting on various projects. Raised in San Francisco, she graduated (eventually) from USCB. She recently moved to Fairfield, CT, because it's ridiculously gorgeous.
MICHAEL CHARLES ROMAN - actor, director, writer
BLAKE SHNIRRING - TREASURER
After filming the series finale for “Grace and Frankie”, actor/writer Michael Charles Roman never would have guessed his next project would be his own. In May, Michael made his directorial debut on a semi-autobiographical short he also wrote, produced and starred in alongside comic great Garrett Morris and the incomparable Martin Sheen.
Michael is a 30 year veteran of the industry, having appeared in over 75 national ad campaigns, starred in 6 network pilots, sold two comedy specs to 20th Century Fox and Skydance Television and recently wrapped 7 seasons on Netflix’s comedy “Grace and Frankie”. As a lifelong character actor and improviser, Michael brings a unique approach to material be it mining moments in dialogue, adding action to a character to enhance the moment or losing a beat to amplify the button.
AADIP DESAI - comedy writer, fellowship/contests guru
BLAKE SHNIRRING - TREASURER
Aadip Desai is an Indian American TV writer and Air Force Brat. He was named a BAFTA Breakthrough for his work as a Staff Writer on The Goldbergs, a show mostly about yelling. Aadip also wrote for Mira Royal Detective, Sharkdog, and Dew Drop Diaries. He dropped out of AFI’s MFA Screenwriting program to join the ABC/Disney TV Writing Program or whatever it’s called now due to corporate restructuring. Bobby Flay called Aadip the most memorable castmate to appear on Worst Cooks in America.
Aadip is the Director of Brand Management/Marketing at Roadmap Writers, an Advisor at Sundance, the boss at LA TV Writers, and a speaker at top film schools. He did everything at Reading Rainbow, was a co-host/producer at the On the Page podcast, and was President of the Northwest Screenwriters Guild.
As a comedian, Aadip completed the Improv and Sketch programs at UCBTLA. Drunks have heckled him at The Improv, The Comedy Store, and a vegan restaurant with one bathroom. Before writing, Aadip vaguely remembers a lengthy career in the music biz. He has a BA in Econ/Music Minor from the University of Puget Sound. Aadip is married (shocker) with two kids (gross), and a chug (underbite).
Would you like to book a session with one of our advisors?
BLAKE SHNIRRING - TREASURER
BLAKE SHNIRRING - TREASURER