About Alana

alanaI’ve worked with an EGOT.   I wrote and subsequently shot an original network pilot after giving birth to twins.  I cried tears of joy on a speechless Candice Bergen after shooting my first episode of Murphy Brown.  Just another (surreal) ‘day in the life’ of a TV writer.

Born in Southern California, I lived in Orange County until the middle of the eighth grade when my parents decided it was time to move to Northern California and subject me to the horrors of a new middle school–in January.  Talk about making those “difficult” years more… difficult.  They pulled that routine on me again in the middle of the tenth grade and while I hated moving both times, in hindsight, I suppose they were character-building experiences.  With an older brother and sister in college by the time I started kindergarten, I grew up somewhat an only child, playing the piano (and a short stint on the accordion), reading lots of Nancy Drew books, bowling at UCLA on the weekends and watching tons of TV, especially “I Love Lucy,” which aired at least four times a day back then (and probably still does).

I loved my high school years in the Central Valley and remain so grateful for the amazing friendships I made there, especially in my last two years.  I went on to UC Santa Barbara where I majored in English and interned in the news department at a local TV station before moving back to So Cal for a first job in entertainment p.r.  I wanted to be in the presence of actual scripts and this opportunity got me on actual stages.  From Blossom to the Golden Girls to even an Eric Clapton tour, I learned a lot about promotion and confirmed that I definitely did not want to be a publicist and absolutely did want to be a TV writer.  Determined, I found my way to a writers’ assistant position on Roseanne, which was one of the most enjoyable jobs I’ve ever had, despite the crazy hours and having to report to 25 insanely hilarious writers on the staff.

From there, things started to take off as I worked with a writing partner, got into the Warner Bros. Writing Workshop and landed a staff job on Murphy Brown.  I went on to write on ABC’s Life’s Work, starring Lisa Ann Walter, before moving to New York City as a newlywed.  Staffing positions were fewer on the East Coast, but the thrill of living in the big city inspired me to think out of the box.  I just wanted to write and embraced every opportunity I could, from the original Disney Channel movie, Get a Clue, starring Lindsay Lohan, to the Nickelodeon series, Just for Kicks, for which I won a WGA award, to a head writer position on MTV’s Spy Groove.  I also pitched and wrote many pilots, including See Jayne Run for ABC, starring Heather Locklear, 30 Under 30 for Bravo and The Chaos Chronicles for Nick at Nite.  I also worked on a number of preschool series, including a staff writer position on HBO’s A Little Curious and wrote many freelance episodes on other shows.  Here’s a little more info on some of my credits.

Lucille Ball was and still is my hero, as there are countless times over the years when I’ve found myself channeling Lucy’s ‘nothing’s gonna stop me’ attitude, be it “bumping into” Jim Carey at the hotel bar in my wedding gown, getting busted by a top fashion magazine editor for using a Kate Spade diaper bag as a “computer case” or staying on a notes call, despite several firemen putting out a little fire in my basement.  When I set my mind to something, somehow, I’m determined to make things happen, even if they don’t unfold quite the way I planned them.  As Lucy herself once said, “I’d rather regret the things I’ve done, than regret the things I haven’t done.”

Having lived all over California, including the beach (and in one of America’s most miserable cities in the U.S.), for me, nothing beats New York, where I currently reside and enjoy teaching at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, as well as for the Sundance Institute’s Sundance Co//ab and the Westport Writers Workshop.