To kick off the New Voices Interview Series, we asked our 2021-2022 New Voices fellows to share about their writing process, their experience with mentorship, and what inspires them to change the world, one story at a time. Our first interview is with Fellow Emma Soren.

Humanitas: What was the first script that had a profound impact on you?

Emma Soren: I watched The Lion King almost everyday when I was four years old. It was peak entertainment, and looking back, it somehow has everything: Shakespearean familial drama, humor, nature, friendship, romance, catchy Elton John songs, daddy issues, a Hans Zimmer score. What more could you want in a tight 88 minutes? 

H: What are you reading now?

ES: Just finished Tastes Like War by Grace M. Cho and I’m starting The Overstory by Richard Powers.

H: If you could have dinner with any writer, dead or alive, who would it be and why?

ES: Jane Austen. I would love to find out what she thinks of all the film/TV adaptations of her work.

H: What kind of characters do you love to write and why?

ES: Flawed, funny women—still gotta make up for all the years of one-dimensional female characters!

H: Which writer working today inspires you?

ES: I’m a huge fan of Tracey Wigfield’s work. She’s created, showran, and staffed on wonderfully joke-heavy comedies and I’d be thrilled to do the same.

H: What are you watching right now? 

ES: Currently, Joe Pera Talks With You, Survivor 41, Dopesick, Succession, Dickinson, and Foundation. Recent favorites: The Other Two, AP Bio, Fboy Island. Also looking forward to the season 2 returns of The Great and How To With John Wilson.

H: How does your identity shape your writing? 

ES: Anything I write is inherently going to be informed by my experiences, relationships, and opinions, so I try to just write what I'm interested in and what makes me laugh. 

H: How can writers use their art to make a difference?

ES: Most people are a lot more keen to watch a funny TV show or movie than read a political op-ed. It's an opportunity to sneak in a point of view some may have been less open to in other circumstances and potentially cause people to rethink their prejudices. 

H: Why do mentors matter?

ES: Everyone knows everyone in the entertainment industry, so having someone who's able to vouch for you is incredibly helpful. Every writers' assistant/script coordinator job I've had was thanks to people I previously worked with recommending me. A mentor can be a great resource for invaluable, specific advice that you can’t find online or in a screenwriting book.

H: If you could go back in time to when you wrote your first script and give younger you a piece of advice, what would it be and why?

ES: Start with character and the jokes will follow. Trying to craft a story around comedic set pieces will most likely lead to a reverse engineered mess.

Emma Soren is a comedy writer who writes short humor for The New Yorker and is currently developing an original animated feature for Warner Brothers. She is also the script coordinator on Hulu's upcoming series KOALA MAN and has over 75 episodes of TV experience as a script coordinator, writers' assistant, and showrunner's assistant. Emma is from the Chicago suburbs and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in PPE (Philosophy, Politics & Economics) and French. When she's not writing hilariously flawed female lead characters, she loves swimming, hiking, and doing crossword puzzles. 

Emma’s script, Virgin Miriam, is a comedic reimagining of the Virgin Mary's story, or how a teenage girl 2000 years ago told a lie to survive that spiraled out of control.

Contact Emma Here.

New Voices is a four-month mentorship program for emerging television and screenwriters. The program is committed to identifying and empowering five writers each year who are currently at work on a 30- or 60-minute pilot or feature film screenplay that upholds the mission of Humanitas. 

Learn more about Humanitas’s New Voices Fellowship here.