Booking the Role and Bringing Words to Life: Acting and Writing in Hollywood

As the entertainment industry rapidly evolves and becomes more accessible, creators have found themselves taking on multiple roles- from writing to to acting to directing and everything in between- to get the job done.

Please join CORNELL IN HOLLYWOOD as a panel of five actor and/or writer Cornellians will give their insight on how writing and acting intersect, how to honor a writer’s intention and still make a role entirely your own, and what it is like to take on both the jobs of writer and actor at once.  

Meet our panelists:

Jake Allyn currently stars as BoJohn Folsom in BET’s hit 1-hour drama, The Quad, which was recently on The New York Times and The Hollywood Reporter lists for top new 2017 shows.  It will return with a second season in the Fall.  Jake’s first leading role in film is in the upcoming socially topical thriller, Overexposed, opposite Marguerite Moreau (Wet Hot American Summer).  Jake’s TV credits also include roles on ABC, Lifetime and The SyFy Channel. As a screenwriter, Jake most recently co-wrote the CIA thriller, Ex-Patriot, starring Valene Kane (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) and Charlie Weber (How to Get Away with Murder). Shot in Colombia, the film follows an Edward Snowden-style whistle blower as she attempts to navigate the spy world of Colombia in hopes of earning her way home.  Jake’s first screenplay, Forsaken, was a modern adaptation ofMacbeth told from Lady Macbeth’s point of view. He sold the script to Marvista Entertainment, and the film was shot in Oklahoma in 2016.

Catherine Hicks received her MFA in Acting at Cornell. She starred shortly after in Ryan’s Hope and then on Broadway in Tribute with Jack Lemmon. She then portrayed Marilyn Monroe in an Emmy-nominated performance. Her feature films include The Razors Edge with Bill Murray/Garbo Talks for Sidney Lumet/ Francis Coppola’s Peggy Sue Got Married/ Fever Pitch/ Star Trek IV / Childsplay and others. TV credits include 3 series… the last of which ran 11 years, 7th Heaven. Many small films followed. She recently wanted to ” follow the women’s march with meaningful activity… so is proudly working for Congressman Adam Schiff doing grunt work in his campaign office and The League of Women Voters…. on committee .. recently addressing homelessness in downtown LA.”

Amanda Idoko is a writer-actor originally from the Bronx, NY. She got her break in the TV industry through the 2016 Disney-ABC Writing Program and was a writer on Imaginary Mary (ABC) and The Goldbergs (ABC).

Katelyn Pippy has been acting in film, television and theatre productions since the age of 9.  She is perhaps best known as a regular on the Lifetime drama Army Wives, for which she filmed a total of 61 episodes alongside Sterling K. Brown, Kim Delaney and Catherine Bell.  At Cornell, Katelyn majored in Performing and Media Arts in addition to playing on the Championship Varsity Women’s Ice Hockey team and staying active in the theatre and Greek life communities.  Katelyn lives full time in Los Angeles now and is represented by Framework Entertainment, whose client list also includes Lucy Liu, Gina Torres and Marcia Gay Harden.

Moderator David Greenman is a native of Syracuse.  He moved on from pre-med at Cornell to acting in Los Angeles before realizing his true love is writing.  ​As an actor, David appeared alongside Kevin Hart in the film About Last Night and appeared for three seasons as FBI forensic tech Marcus Geier on Bones.  Other TV appearances include recurring as Fred the sous chef on Gilmore Girls and Danny McCall on General Hospital, and taking guest spots onWeeds, NCIS: LA,The Mentalist, According to Jim, Close to Home, The New Adventures of Old Christineand Monk.  David’s feature Romantaphobia was a top ten finalist in the Final Draft Big Break Screenwriting Competition and his hit web series Checked Out was one of The Guardian’s 25 web shows to watch.  It was also featured in TVLine, The Insider and Clicker, among others. He is currently developing multiple TV and film projects.

Date: Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Time: 7:30 pm – wine/cheese reception; 8 pm – program

Location: Writers Guild of America, 7000 W. 3rd Street, Los Angeles 90048

Parking: Free underground – garage entrance on Blackburn (1 block south of 3rd Street)

Cost: $20 per CCLA member ($40 for a CCLA member + 1 guest); $30 per non-members and each additional person.  Classes of 2013-2017 may attend for FREE!  

More info: Nancy Mills at NLM5@cornell.edu

Buy tickets at http://www.cornellclubla.com/store.html?event_id=1724.