screenwriting

Her name is Marisol. She is 29, on the cusp of turning 30. She has a  picture-perfect life with an annoyingly hot fiancé—à la Fleabag’s “Arsehole Guy”—and a fabulous New York City apartment straight out of a HBO series. Yes, she graduated from Harvard Law, is a regular at Equinox, and radiates “it-girl” energy. She is so perfect that it is slightly irritating—almost too good to be true.

Computers buzz, Wi-Fi networks struggle to connect, and microphones jump between muted and live. With scripts in blue light, the members of the Columbia Screenwriters Guild, known more colloquially as CU OnScreen, strive to find a virtual writing community in uncertain times.

A new program at the global center in Rio de Janeiro will allow students to learn TV writing this spring.

For two Columbia alumni, a film class assignment has paid off in a big way.