who we are

PILAR ALESSANDRA is the author of The Coffee Break Screenwriter, host of the On the Page Podcast (now in its 17th-year), and one of the entertainment industry’s leading story instructors. Pilar’s greatest accomplishment is the achievement of her students, many of whom gained success on series such as House of the Dragon, The Morning Show, The Chi and Silicon Valley and have sold feature films to A24, Netflix and Warner Bros. In addition to the classes she teaches through her writing program On the Page®, she's trained writers at Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad Program, Kevin Hart's Hartbeat Productions, Disney, DreamWorks, the NBC TV Writers Program and the CBS-Paramount Writing Program. For more information on Pilar’s classes, book and podcast go to www.onthepage.tv

 BILLY MERNIT was a Distinguished Instructor at the UCLA Extension Writers' Program, where he taught writing and screenwriting for 25 years, is a guest speaker at writing conferences around the country, and occasionally teaches screenwriting at The School in Gotland, Sweden. 

Known as "the guru of rom-com" for his best-selling screenwriting textbook, Writing the Romantic Comedy (Harper/Collins, recently re-released in an updated 20th Anniversary edition), he has written for television (NBC's Santa Barbara) and is also a novelist (Imagine Me and You, Random House),  

While working as a story analyst at Universal Pictures, he serves as a private consultant to the industry at large, and has served as “script doctor” on a multitude of theatrical and streaming features. In his late teens Billy began his writing career as a composer-lyricist; his songs have been recorded by Carly Simon, Judy Collins, and Morrissey, among others. 

BARBARA STEPANSKY is a WGA Award winner, a Nicholl Fellow and an award-winning independent film director. 

Born in Poland, her father's involvement in the Solidarity movement led to the family relocating to Germany. She received an MFA from USC School of Cinematic Arts and AFI. Her work was short listed for the Academy Awards, garnered the DGA Diversity Award, the Student Emmy and was featured on the Black List. She is the recipient of the Mary Pickford Foundation Scholarship and the Franklin J. Schaffner AFI Fellow Award. 

She has directed three feature films, several web series and various short films. FLINT, a film she wrote about the Flint Water Crisis for Sony/Lifetime with Queen Latifah, was nominated for a Critics Choice and won a WGA Award. She is a co-creater and head writer on WOMAN OF THE DEAD, a Netflix/ORF series, and a writer/producer on the Sony/Starz TV Show OUTLANDER.

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