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John Marsh

Dramatic writing professor

Education

  • M.F.A., dramatic writing, New York University
  • B.A., mass media arts, Clark Atlanta University

Credentials

  • Professor of dramatic writing, Fall 2022—present, Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA
  • Lecturer in film, TV, and media production, 2020–22, Shelton College International, Singapore
    Duties included teaching the core principles of dramatic writing such as character, story, plot, theme, structure plus film and television series pitching. Led professional training courses in scriptwriting for film and TV while covering theoretical and analytical courses in text analysis. Led weekly workshopping classes of students 1-minute, 3-minute and 10-minute narrative short film screenplays. Mentored film college students from China while participating in school-wide committees and services.
  • Commissioning editor, 2017–20, English series (kids and adult), MediaCorp, Singapore
    Oversaw the development and production of original English kids series and adult scripted series for meWATCH (Mediacorp's streaming platform). Genres commissioned and oversaw as network development executive: original animated scripted pre-school and school-aged series, live-action scripted kids series (kids 7–12), and unscripted series (kids 7–12), psychological thriller, horror, sitcom, sketch comedy, and science-fiction series. Led all aspects in the development, production and final delivery for original series. Sourced, reviewed, and evaluated pitches for series from outside production houses and creative in-house talent.
  • Senior development producer and staff writer, 2016–17, Beach House Pictures, Singapore
    Led the development, pitching and creation of live-action scripted, animation and unscripted series for the kids division targeted towards the international children's television market. As the senior development executive, spearheaded fresh ideas for pitching, oversaw scripted series ideas from junior scriptwriters and shepherded those projects into pitch proposals. Evaluated external pitches including treatments and concepts from scriptwriters. Attended international kids festivals and markets plus children's conferences to source and identify fresh talent. Reviewed children's books to potentially develop and pitch as a scripted children's series while fully involved in shaping the future strategy of the Kids division. Developed and nurtured strong relationships with key industry professionals within the international kids television community (showrunners, writers, directors, animators, broadcasters, production companies, etc.) across Asia, the U.S., Canada, Europe and Australia. Developed numerous pitches for original animation and live-action children's series that were taken out to the international television market.
  • Adjunct instructor, TV and screenwriting, 2013–16, New York Film Academy, Los Angeles, CA
    Duties included workshopping student's teleplays and screenplays, giving extensive notes on scripts, working as a thesis advisor along with teaching the core principles of dramatic writing. Courses taught covered TV spec writing (comedy & drama), TV pilot writing (comedy & drama), feature film screenplay plus short film screenplay. Acted as a personal tutor to the students in the screenwriting and TV writing courses. Taught six-week scriptwriting summer courses for teens interested in a career in film and television.
  • Instructor for TV scriptwriting, 2013–15, Orange County School of the Arts, Los Angeles, CA
    Taught television writing (comedy and drama) to high school students at a top performing arts school in Southern California. Performed weekly lectures on the core principles of dramatic writing covering character goals, plot, story conflicts, emotional arcs, etc. Workshopped students' scripts and acted as a personal tutor.
  • Freelance scriptwriter, 2010, "Arthur," PBS-TV, New York, NY
    Wrote What's in a Name, for the Emmy Award-winning animated children's series.
  • Staff writer, 2005, ABC Studios (Disney Television), Los Angeles, CA
    Pitched stories, jokes, and reviewed story outlines in the writer's room for a live-action, multicamera prime-time family sitcom on Disney's ABC television network. Series filmed in front of a live studio audience.
  • Staff writer, 2005, "The Replacements" and "Brandy & Mr. Whiskers," Disney TV animation, Burbank, CA
    Beat out stories, punched up jokes, reviewed outlines and pitched episode ideas for The Disney Channel's animated comedy series.
  • Staff writer, 2004, "Bill Cosby's Fatherhood," Nickelodeon Animation, Burbank, CA
    Was the only full-time staff writer on animated sitcom produced by Bill Cosby. Wrote three produced episodes.
  • Freelance scriptwriter, 2004, "Da Boom Crew," The Kids WB, Los Angeles, CA
    Wrote The Legendary Meemazaza, starring Wanda Sykes.
  • Staff writer, 2001, "The Proud Family," The Disney Channel, Los Angeles, CA
    Original writing staff on The Disney Channel's first animated African-American sitcom. Wrote Hooray for Iesha.

Awards, recognitions, and honors

  • Nomination, Best Children's Programme, Ollie and Friends Season 5, Asian Academy Award, 2019
  • Competition selection, TV/Film category, Little Tami's Book, Annecy International Animation Festival
  • Accepted, Disney TV Writers Fellowship Program, Walt Disney Television, 2000–01
    Selected out of 3,000 scriptwriters.