Bianca Sams
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Summer Update...

5/30/2017

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It is hard to believe that it's JUNE already. Where oh where has this year gone? As they say time flies when you’re having fun and working hard... I've been doing both.

2017 has been a complicated year, but at least it has also been productive. I began by adding four new faces to my team by joining Abrams Artists. Then came the premiere of Training Day on CBS. I was also lucky enough to participate in two enriching mentoring programs with Women In Film and the WGA. 2017 also kicked off a great year of writing. I’ve kept myself (and my managers/agents) busy writing 4 new pilot scripts since January and a feature film in the works. My Tv spec BLACKTHORN was chosen to be included on this year's WriteHerList from WeForShe. Early May we had our gala event and ceremony.

On the theater side of things, my short play SUPERNOVA is being published in an anthology of 10 minute plays and four of my monologues are going to be included in a monologue project/anthology for women of color. I also ventured to Chicago where my play BATTLE CRY received a workshop reading at the 20% THEATER as part of their (Re)Focus series. I was so happy to work with amazing actors, director, and staff! My trip also gave me the opportunity to team up with Chicago Dramatist to work with an incredible new voice in the theater world Osiris Khepera. He's going to hit that scene by force... glad I get to work with him at the beginning of his budding career.
 
This May was also of course staffing season: an exhausting time of interviews, pitching ideas, and over analyzing who you are… lol. But, it was also a chance for me to see Training Day come full circle. Almost one week to the day I received an offer to work on the show... the series finale aired. It was incredible to realize how much a year can change you. Working with that staff really taught me a lot about the business, but more importantly put things into perspective. One of the highlights of the job was working with Bill Paxton. He was a true light in the world and a joy to be around. It was Bill who gave me my new motto and goal moving forward "Always enjoy the journey". Every time we spoke he always asked if I was "taking it all in and enjoying the ride". He will be greatly missed and those words will always make me remember his warm smile and kind heart.

Although, I was sad to see Training Day end, I am grateful to my amazing team and support system for their help in finding a new opportunity. I am happy to say I was able to land a coveted spot on a writing team. Hooray! Mama always said to wait until the T’s are crossed and the I’s dotted before announcing things…but, since tomorrow is my first day of work I guess I can officially tell folks.... I am excited to be part of THE ORIGINALS  writing staff.  SO definitely be on the look out for that.
 
So yeah! These are the highlights of what I’ve been up to the past several months. Lord willing I shall have lots of other great news to share in the fall. Thanks for being a part of my wild journey.
 
Have a great day,
 
Bianca Sams aka The Wee Black Lass




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Goodbye 2016!

12/31/2016

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This time of year always gets me thinking about how much I've grown & accomplished over 12 months. And since the seconds of 2016 are melting away, I thought it was a good time to share my finale e-blast of 2016!

It is hard to believe that 6 months have gone by since my last Wee Lass E-blast. But, as they say time flies when you’re having fun and working hard…and I've been doing both.

Most of my time this summer, fall, and into the winter was spent working on my first fully produced television show: TRAINING DAY! It was an incredible and intense experience. Our showrunner and creator: Barry Schindel and Will Beall were phenomenal. There were 10 dynamite writers on staff and we really worked hard to make a fun and exciting show. The months seemed to fly by. A few weeks ago, we filmed our last episode of the season...how did that happen so fast? Our season one finale was an extraordinary episode (as they all are), but particularly so because I got to work on it with John Covarrubias and Will Beall. Also, it was directed by Eriq La Salle. You will get to enjoy the fruits of 6 months full of hard labor on Feb 2nd 10pm! We air on Thursday nights at 10 pm. Be there or be square!

Other tidbits on the Film & TV front... BLACK WALL STREET made it to the 2nd round at the Austin Film Festival. BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATERS made it to the 2nd round at Sundance. I was also named one of 100 writers on the Tracking Boards' 2016 YOUNG & HUNGRY LIST.

On the theater front.... My play SUPERNOVA was performed at Ashland University this fall and the play will also be published in an anthology of short plays in 2017. Two of my monologues will be included in national theater project for Women of Color... which will be touring four cities in 2017 (New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Pittsburg) to raise money for the BLM movement. My play RUST ON BONE was also one of 12 finalist at the Centenary Stage Theater festival.

Moving forward into 2017, I am looking forward to my play BATTLE CRY, taking part in the (Re)Focus 20/20 series at 20% Theater in Chicago… So I will be heading there in March. I was also accepted into two different mentorship groups/programs... so I will be working with Sarah B. Downey (director),  Gaylyn Fraiche (Vice President, Movies for MarVista Entertainment) and Peter Tolan ( Writer/Producer - Analyze This, Guess Who & Outsiders).

So yeah-- I've been a little busy!

These are a few of the highlights from the past several months. Lord willing, I shall have lots of other news to share next year. Thanks for being a part of my wild journey.
 
Happy New Year,
 
Bianca Sams
        aka
The Wee Black Lass

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May 30th, 2016

5/30/2016

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It is hard to believe that 7 months have gone by since my last Wee Lass E-blast. But, as they say time flies when you’re having fun and working hard…and I've been doing both.
 
In the fall of 2015 I had the great pleasure of working with the incredible actors, directors, and theater ensemble of Babes With Blades in Chicago. My play RUST ON BONE was part of their Fighting Words Series.  I also ventured to Ohio State University as a speaker for their COST OF WAR symposium. 
 
In the winter I was fortunate enough to sign with an incredible group of managers at ECHO LAKE (Dave Brown, Chelsea Benson, and James Engle are the best!). I also spent several weeks working on an amazing show INCARNATE by Josh Stolberg and the ALLOY Entertainment team. I can’t wait for this show to find a home because it's truly fantastic!
 
2016 kicked off as a great year of writing. I’ve kept myself (and my managers) busy writing 4 new scripts since January (1 feature, 1 play, 1 spec, 1 original pilot).

My play RUST ON BONE also received a workshop reading at the BLANK THEATER in Hollywood as part of their LIVING ROOM series. I was so happy to work with amazing actors, director, and staff right here in LA!

Speaking of Rust On Bone, it made it to the finalist round at Centenary Stages Women Playwrights Series and the Semi-Final round at Humanitas/CTG Playwright Prize (which was won by my girl Ngozi Anyanwu!!!! Whoot! Congrats NGOZI!).
 
My Play BATTLE CRY was selected for the 2017 (Re)Focus 20/20 series at 20% Theater in Chicago… So I will be heading there in March 2017.
 
A few weeks ago I was thrilled to be chosen to take part in the Women In Film/Sundance Feature Film Intensive; a productive two day summit that has been extremely helpful as I continue to develop my first feature film.

I was accepted as a member of the Actors Studio’s Playwright/Director unit. A weekly writers/director mashup in West Hollywood.

I was truly excited to be asked to write a short piece on Diversity for the May/June edition of THE DRAMATIST, the Dramatist Guild magazine. http://www.dramatistsguild.com/media/PDFs/DramatistMay2016.pdf
 
I’ve also been doing some blogging on
www.fingerlickinkitchen.com so check out the newest recipes: Shrimp Pho w/ Zucchini Noodles, Homemade Limoncello, Water Kefir, Lavender Vodka, Vegan Thai Ice Tea and more.  
 
This May was also of course staffing season: an exhausting time of interviews, pitching ideas, and over analyzing who you are… lol. Thanks to my amazing team and support system, I am happy to say I was able to land a coveted spot on a writing team. Hooray! Mama always said to wait until the T’s are crossed and the I’s dotted before announcing things…but, since tomorrow is my first day of work I guess I can officially tell folks.... I am excited to be part of the TRAINING DAY writing staff. We will be a midseason show… premiering in winter/spring 2017. SO definitely be on the look out for that.
 
So yeah! These are the highlights of what I’ve been up to the past several months. Lord willing I shall have lots of other great news to share in the fall. Thanks for being a part of my wild journey.
 
Have a great day,
 
Bianca Sams aka The Wee Black Lass


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WHERE DID THE TIME GO?

11/18/2015

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It is hard for me to believe that the last time I updated this blog was at the beginning of the year. Dear me oh my has time flown by. I spent the spring finishing all three of my writing fellowships: Nashville Rep, Warner Brother's TV writing, and The Playwright's Center Core Apprenticeship. Nashville rep ended with a great festival and the first public viewings of SIMPLY BESS. I am currently in the process of writing my second draft of that. Warner Brother's TV has been a great ride. First, I got a deal to write a pilot for WB... which I spent all summer doing. Now I am working on a show in development for the CW. In between all of that excitement I also got to venture to Chicago a few times as RUST ON BONE was part of Babes with Blades FIGHTING WORDS series. And just recently I am happy to announce that I signed with the amazing folks over at Echo Lake Entertainment for management of my writing. So 2015 has been an incredible year. Looking forward to working hard until the year ends.

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Happy New Year!

1/5/2015

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Time flies when you're having fun as well as when you're working like a chicken with it's head cut off. My life I must say feels more like the latter these days. I am thrilled to be in SoCal working with some amazing TV writers at Warner Brothers and then jetting off to Nashville to write a play with a crew of bad ass Playwrights there. So yeah...things are moving moving. 

2015 is starting on a good foot  as well as my play Rust On Bone will be performed in Columbus Ohio next week. The play will receive a staged readings as part of Available Light’s cool new play development series called The Next Stage Initiative on Jan 16th.  This month I will also be working on Just Porgy in Nashville with Playwright Donald Margulies and my the other Ingram New Works Playwrights.

There are also a few other items on the back burner waiting to be announced. But, so far 2015 is looking very very promising.

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NEW ADVENTURES AHEAD

10/15/2014

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Recently there have been a lot of days I want to pinch myself to make sure this is all real. So many amazing experiences are literally happening simultaneously that I don't even know where to begin. First, I just learned that I will take part in the 2014 -2015 Warner Brothers TV Writing Workshop in LA. I've been really interested in learning more about television and I'm so excited to be one of 9 people selected for this years class! Second, I am also a playwright-in-residence at Nashville Rep with obscenely talented writers: Nate Eppler, Tori Keenan-Zelt and Gabrielle Sinclair. We will be meeting once a month in Nashville working on new plays. Plus, in January we will also get to work with the Playwright Fellow Donald Margulies! Ah some one pinch me. Oh and if that wasn't enough awesomeness I am also going to working with Playwright Kirsten Greenidge as part of my Playwright Center Core Apprentice Mentorship program. Seriously, seriously someone pinch me.
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GULFSHORE PLAYHOUSE NEW WORKS FESTIVAL

9/9/2014

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Working at the amazing Gulfshore Playhouse in Naples Florida was like being dropped into a little slice of artistic heaven. I am seriously having withdrawals it was so good. Seriously, I didn't want to leave. I didn't! But, alas all good things come to an end.

Kristen Coury, Cody Nickell, Jennifer Murray, Maura Lohan, Leah Shaeffer, and Margaret Medwedew are a crew of outstanding professional that made me feel welcomed, taken care of, and right at home. I also got the uber talented and generous Lou Tyrrell as my director. Awesome guy. He was like a calm in the middle of the storm not to mention insightful and inspiring.

Then there were the actors...10 all together working in Rep...SO TALENTED! The four in my show were Felicia Curry, Valeri Mudek, Kate Haggerty and Brad Koed. They slayed that script with just 12 hours of rehearsal. Loved it!

Oh and did I mention we got to mentor an entire room FULL of young female playwrights? Um, yeah. So Gulfshore has a great year long writing group for young playwrights called STARwrights.
It was great to pay it forward to the next generation of women writers.

Then there were the Festival Playwrights there with me: Scott Sickles, Stephen Spotswood, and Jenny Lane that made me laugh, scream inappropriate things in a theater, and cry. It was an honor to have my work go up along side these play writing beasts. MAN! It was a great festival!

If you ever get the opportunity to work with Gulfshore Playhouse...RUN don't walk! It's that fabulous!
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Playwright-in- Residence

8/28/2014

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So it's official! I will be a Playwright-in-Residence with Tennessee Rep Theater this year. I will be taking part in their Ingram New Play Project. I am so very very excited to work with this amazing theater company to develop a new play. SO blessed and so immensely excited!!!

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Summer Of Fun and Lots of Work

8/13/2014

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Life has been moving very fast these past few months. I jetted to Houston, New York, California, Ohio, and now Charlotte North Carolina! I worked with some amazing artists and spent some time with mi familia!  And in two weeks I will be in LOVELY Naples Florida working with the Gulf Shore Playhouse with the amazing Director Lou Tyrrell and a brand new cast for a reading of Rust On Bone! I also have a few fellowships lined up for the fall which I am waiting to announce publicly... so things are moving full steam ahead. I completed 105 submission in my 2013-2014 play submission challenge. Out of the 64 that I've heard back from I am currently at an 11% success rate, which is kind of mind blowing! A new fall submission challenge will begin in September. So hey playwrights...if you want to join me this year just drop me a line! I feel truly blessed to enjoy all these opportunities and I am working overtime to make sure I am ready to give my absolute best!

On a sad note, the world lost one of their greatest artists, mentors, champions, educator, and all around great guy, Robert " Bob" Winters yesterday. He spent 50+ years teaching at Ohio University but, his talent reached well beyond Ohio. He blessed me with three years of friendship and was one of the best mentors I could ever ask for. He will be greatly missed by me.


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Rust On Bone News 

7/18/2014

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Life has been awesome in the Big Apple. Eating amazing food, seeing friends, and working with some lovely artists: Chuck Smith, Antu Yacob, Thomas Daniels, Marissa Wolf, Stacy LeVine, and Sarah Bisman. The weather did not really feel like cooperating BUT the reading went well none the less. Thanks to the beautiful people at MTC for making the day easy and fun. I also found out that Rust was named the 2nd place winner of the 2014 Jane Chambers student play writing award. So there will be pictures and more news to follow re: Gulfshore Playhouse and other things in the works.

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    ABOUT MY WORK: I create lyrical investigations of found stories that force audiences to face their own love affair with misery.

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