Sesame Street Awards a Development Deal to Me!

Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational arm of Sesame Street, has awarded creative development deals to Nayna Agrawal and Roxy Simons, two emerging television writers at the culmination of the second annual “Sesame Street Writers’ Room“ fellowship program.

The Program is an intensive eight-week program to highlight and grow underrepresented talent in children’s media. After an open call for script submissions in January, seven fellows were selected from a pool of over 450 applicants through a series of blind readings. Coming from a range of professional and artistic backgrounds, the fellows met in New York for eight sessions led by Emmy-nominated television writer Susan Kim, participating in hands-on workshopping and meeting with agents, executive producers, and other industry professionals. Guest speakers included The Backyardigans creator Janice Burgess, Doc McStuffins creator Chris Nee, Wallykazam! creator Adam Peltzman, and Gullah Gullah Island creator Maria Perez-Brown, plus Ken Scarborough, Sesame Street’s head writer. At the recent closing reception, the formal announcement of the winning fellows was followed by staged readings of their scripts and a networking mixer with award-winning industry professionals.

News and announcements on next year’s program – as well as more information on this year’s guest speakers and fellows – will be posted on www.sesamewritersroom.org.