India Gurley:

Originally from Detroit, Gurley is a classically trained actress turned TV writer, dedicated to highlighting the magic, humor and nuance of Black women from all walks of life. As a performer, Gurley has worked at theaters around the world, such as Shakespeare’s Globe, and has appeared on “The Chi” and “Chicago Fire.” She graduated with an MFA from UC San Diego before moving to L.A., where she worked as a showrunner’s assistant for Sony Pictures Television before landing in the comedy development department at ABC Signature. Her scripts have placed in Final Draft Big Break, WB Writer’s Workshop and The Black List. In 2021, she was in the inaugural class of the Independent Film Trust’s Creative Corridor Fellowship. Gurley is a proud #StartWith8Hollywood Mentee and a recipient of the California Arts Council Individual Artists grant.

Daniela Labi

Daniela Labi (she/her) is a Libyan-Italian-American screenwriter born and raised in California. With a knack for punchy dialogue and strong character development, Labi writes female-driven, socially inquisitive, dark comedy dramas. She studied Arabic and hydropolitics in the Middle East, publishing research on the Yarkon-Tananinim aquifer underneath the West Bank. She started her career in Silicon Valley and later shifted her sights toward Hollywood, moving to Los Angeles in 2020. Since then, her writing has placed in the Warner Bros. Writers’ Workshop and earned her a spot in The Writers Guild Foundation’s Writers’ Access Support Staff Training Program. In her spare-ish time, she enjoys learning new languages, hiking in the mountains and singing jazz.

Kahlil Maskati

Kahlil “K-Swish” Maskati is a half-Indian, half-Puerto Rican writer/rapper who hails from Edison, N.J., with a BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Most recently, he was script coordinator on The CW series TOM SWIFT and an upcoming Bounce series, where he earned co-writing credits. Previously, he wrote a pilot called “Revenge Tour,” which was optioned by AMC Studios and went on to earn Special Jury Recognition at SXSW and an invitation to the Sundance Episodic Makers Lab. Kahlil specializes in diverse dramedies that deal with character, relationships, dating, music and young artists. In his spare time, he enjoys playing fantasy basketball and petting his friends’ dogs. He is repped by Stellar Entertainment.

Lizzie Perrin

Lizzie Perrin was born in Nagoya, Japan, with an identity crisis, literally. No one knew what to call her because her parents in America had not picked a name yet. In the meantime, the Japanese caretakers called her Elizabeth, the only English name they could pronounce. She now goes by Lizzie. Growing up in a rural town in Georgia, she was the only person of color in her class until high school. Around this time, she realized that the combination of her Southern accent and Asian features confused people. Because of this, Lizzie enjoys telling stories about outsiders struggling with identity and attempting to navigate a dysfunctional world. She has her MFA in screenwriting from Florida State University and has most recently worked as the showrunners’ assistant on “The Cleaning Lady.” Her screenplays have placed in several competitions, and her pilot, “Bako,” won the Screencraft Virtual Pitch Competition. She is repped by World Builder Entertainment. 

Edith Rodriguez

Edith Rodriguez grew up between the sunny beaches of Puerto Rico and cold winters of Wisconsin. She learned early on that if you’re going to speak up in a big Caribbean family, you better be able to tell a good story. She writes multi-generational stories anchored in the drama of complex relationships, often with a twist of irreverent, dark humor. After years of leading corporate strategy, she left the business world and made the move to Los Angeles to pursue her passion of writing for television. As a writer-director, her work has screened at AFF, PHLAFF and HollyShorts. Rodriguez is a 2022 The Gotham TV Lab Fellow, Mentorship Matters Mentee and Academy Nicholl Semifinalist. She is represented by The Mission Entertainment.

Teresa Tuan

The only child of Taiwanese immigrants, Teresa Tuan was born in San Francisco and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. She discovered writing by improvising songs in the backseat of her parents’ car and kept writing even as she became the youngest female board-certified pediatrician in U.S. history at 23. Teresa started college at 12, medical school at the University of Utah at 16, and residency at UC San Francisco at 20. Sharing the stories of her patients and her own experience as a doctor is what gives her the fuel to keep practicing medicine. Currently a medical consultant on “Doogie Kameāloha, M.D.” (Disney+), Teresa continues to write songs with artists across genres spanning country to electronic pop/R&B.

Christine Park

Christine.park@viacomcbs.com