Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit organization that produces Sesame Street, offered Monique Hall ‘14 a creative development deal following her participation in its inaugural Writers’ Room fellowship.
As part of the development deal, Hall has the opportunity to pitch a concept for a television show or digital series and will continue to receive mentorship from Sesame Workshop.
Actors performed a staged reading of the script Hall wrote during the program at the closing reception following the announcement that she was one of the two winners.
As a film minor in Cornell’s Department, Hall took Introduction to Dramatic Writing with Aoise Stratford and Screenwriting I & II with Austin Bunn. “Those three courses gave me a really solid foundation in terms of how to structure a script and how to tell a compelling visual story. They also made me better at both giving and receiving feedback in a creative workshop environment, which was extremely valuable during the fellowship,” said Hall.
Hall was one of only eight aspiring writers chosen to participate in the fellowship in New York City this summer. Sesame Workshop created the program to foster diversity and representation in media.
The six-week program featured workshops with agents and executive producers, as well as guest speakers including Sesame Street’s head writer and creators of other children’s shows.
“The most exciting part about participating in the fellowship was the opportunity to meet and learn from some amazing people in the children's media industry, many of whom created and wrote for shows that I loved as a kid,” said Hall.
Hall recently graduated from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she received her master’s degree in technology, innovation, and education. She graduated from Cornell in 2014 with a major in human development and minors in creative writing and film.
Julian Robison '20 is a communications assistant for the Department of .
