We are SO excited to introduce you to our new RomCom Instructor! Zac Hug is an accomplished screenwriter and teacher and will be diving into teaching a RomCom Seminar and Workshop in January!
Here’s an Intro to Zac in his Own Words:
I write scripts mostly. And sometimes content. I have an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. I live and work in Los Angeles. I went to New York University and I studied theater at Playwrights Horizons. I used to ghost write some blogs for real housewives, and I was a Digital Executive at Disney/ABC Daytime/The View and Freeform (when it was ABC Family). I have a company called Group Hug, Inc. because of course I do. I wrote on some TV shows called Shadowhunters and Drop Dead Diva. I’m really proud of a web-series called These People that won a few awards. I’ve written about a dozen Christmas movies for Hallmark. I teach at UCLA Extension. And DePaul University. And also at the University of British Columbia. I am older than I look. I am queer as balloons. I believe in you. I’m a good brainstormer, if that’s helpful. Lately, I’ve been into humanism, LEGO’s, collectivist political theory, virtual reality laser-swords, and this dude I married name Dan Park. We have a dog named Pickles.
And Here’s Zac’s Teaching Statement:
Writing a rom-com for TV is exactly the same as writing a rom-com as a feature. Exactly the same except that it is also entirely different. Here’s how I think about helping you do that – mainly, I am here to help you learn the structure underneath the story you want to tell, and I will always do my best to keep my personal opinion, my political or moral or social background, and even my sense of taste from interfering in your process. As an instructor, I want to help you travel the distance between the writer you already are and the writer you will be in the future. I sincerely invite you to offer feedback to me on the material presented, and to keep me honest in how you are feeling about the work we do. I will listen without judgment and seek every opportunity to help. That’s also what I ask of you.
By joining a classroom setting, we’re all committing to helping each other see the distance between what we hope people take away from our writing, and what we’ve written. And so, let’s agree to talk about the work in a way that helps lead the writer toward clarity, rather than imposing our own ideas onto it. Let’s agree to be helpful without being pushy, to learn how to be open and strong at the same time. Let’s all try to listen more than we speak. As a writing class, we will use language that is affirming, compassionate, and we will stay open to being educated as to why some words are used for effect in writing, while remaining inappropriate for daily use. Let’s all remain aware that we’re a group of individuals who are arriving from different perspectives. Let’s all agree to act with good intention, to keep each other honest, and to respect everyone’s personal opinions and backgrounds.
Let’s be better than we think we should be.
Let’s enjoy ourselves, yeah?