KYRA SEDGWICK, Actor/Director/Producer

“[I like] fresh writing, something that surprises me, because so often I know where things are going, and when they go in a different direction, I lean in.”

JENNY SLATE, Actor/Comedian/Producer

“I actually think people, in the best way, are hoping for refreshment. And in a more cynical way, they’re hoping for ‘new content’ that they can eat. But either way, it’s you.”

EDWARD BERGER, Oscar-winning International Director

“The field we’re working in has to do with soul. Something you can’t define. Magic. And beauty.”

DAN ERICKSON, Creator of SEVERANCE

"You have to look where your feelings are, look where your emotions are, and try to craft something out of that, because that's all you have."

TALHA ASAD, Vice President of Drama at HBO

"What is the big question you’re trying to ask that, in the world today, maybe no one else is asking, or asking in this way?”

DAVEED DIGGS, Writer/Musician/ Actor/Producer/Director

“Just make things. Artists make art.”

CHARLES ‘CHIC’ EGLEE, Executive Producer of DEXTER, THE WALKING DEAD

“Having schedules, having to make decisions, having to work within guidelines and make hard choices – it's like the pressure that bears down on carbon to make a diamond. What's pure is the spark of the creative vision; but you need a certain amount of outside pressure to wrestle it into a form that people can watch and appreciate.”

LAUREN SZURGOT, Agent at William Morris Endeavor, Los Angeles

"We sign clients from all over the world, truly. It's all about authentic points of view and [putting] different stories on the page, and there's been no time that that's been more important.”

DAVE GOETSCH, Executive Producer of THE BIG BANG THEORY and Creator of THE UNITED STATES OF AL

“Character comes first. It's more important than the jokes, and it's more important than the story. You fall in love with the characters. You don’t fall in love with the premise."

MAX ARONSON, Creative Executive at Apple

"Quiet all the noise. Write the thing you want to write. Shoot the thing you want to shoot. And then if that doesn’t sell, move on to the next story and just keep on doing it.”

ERIC AMADIO, Creator of SNOWFALL

"If you just keep writing and keep getting better and keep telling stories, at some point you're gonna be too good for people to ignore."

QUINCIE LI, Talent Manager at Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment

“The diversity of storytelling, which is something all of you can bring to the table, whatever is personal to you and whatever it is you're excited to be writing about: that is what’s going to make the future of this industry amazing.”