New Voices Alumni Interview Series: Eugene Ramos
As a part of the New Voices Interview Series, we asked our New Voices alumni to share about their writing process, their experience with mentorship, and what inspires them. Today’s interview is with New Voices Fellowship alum, Eugene Ramos.
Humanitas: What are you working on right now?
Eugene Ramos: I’m employed at Wonderstorm where I work primarily as a staff writer on the Netflix animated series, The Dragon Prince. We’re working hard on seasons 4 through 7, and hopefully you’ll see new episodes soon. Outside of Wonderstorm, I typically write science fiction, romantic comedies, and urban fantasy, but I’m working on a few, more grounded pilots. One of them turns my experience as an Apple Genius into a tech-themed murder mystery.
H: If you could have dinner with any writer, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
ER: William Shakespeare, of course! He’s one of my favorite writers, and his plays’ DNA is in everything I write, from my romantic comedy about Isaac Newton to my pilot about witches in a rock band who pull off heists. Also, no one actually knows the true identity of Shakespeare. So, who will come to the dinner? Christopher Marlowe? Edward de Vere? You don’t know who will show up!
H: What kind of characters do you love to write and why?
ER: I love writing young kids, because adults always underestimate them. Kids are oftentimes smarter than everyone thinks. And they’re also hilarious! They have a simpler, purer view of the world, and that often helps my main characters see what’s truly important.
H: Which writer working today inspires you?
ER: J.J. Abrams, because he does everything, and he does everything so well. I started paying attention to his writing on Felicity, and I followed him to Alias and Lost and beyond. He’s written teen dramas, epic sci-fi, spy thrillers and more. And now he’s a successful multi-hyphenate. I’d like to have that kind of career where I can work in different genres. And I would love to add producer and director to my resume.
H: What are you watching right now?
ER: I’m really enjoying Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. I love how the new Trek series, like Discovery and Picard, use serialized storytelling, but I’m a huge fan of the original Star Trek and Next Gen. Their elegant use of episodic sci-fi in exploring different themes of the human experience is what made me want to become a writer. And Strange New Worlds is doing a bang-up job of telling self-contained stories the Gene Roddenberry way.
H: How does your identity shape your writing?
ER: Representation matters. As a Filipino American, I do my best to include Asian characters in my scripts because there is very little Asian representation in Hollywood productions. And when Asians do appear, the stories lean heavily on negative stereotypes. I want Asian-American kids who watch my TV episodes or movies to see themselves and know they can be an American Idol winner or a powerful witch or simply the hero in their own story.
H: What impact did the New Voices fellowship have on your writing/career?
ER: Humanitas’s New Voices Fellowship connected me with my amazing agents at the Brant Rose Agency. I also got steadfast support from my mentors, who walked me through some tricky parts of my career. And, best of all, I made life-long friendships with the other Humanitas New Voices Fellows. A truly amazing group of people!
Eugene Ramos was born and raised in the Chicago area by immigrants from the Philippines, who wanted him to follow their footsteps into the medical profession. After devouring countless Shakespeare plays, he instead earned a degree in 16th-century British Literature from Northwestern University to the dismay of his parents. Still wanting to win his parents’ affections, he chose to go to an Ivy League institution for film school and graduated with an MFA in Film from Columbia University. Since then, Eugene has participated in several prestigious programs, including the Humanitas New Voices program, the Clarion Science Fiction Writers' Workshop, and the CAPE New Writers Fellowship. His romantic-comedy script, NEWTON’S LAWS OF EMOTION, won the Sloan Filmmaker Prize at the Tribeca Film Fest and a Gold Prize in the PAGE Awards. He also co-wrote a number of award-winning shorts, including DANDELION FALL (dir. Lauren Wolkstein) and THEY CHARGE FOR THE SUN (dir. Terence Nance), which was nominated for a Humanitas Prize and garnered a “That’s nice” from his mom. Because of his love for the Bard and science fiction, Eugene hopes to one day get a tattoo that says “The Sci-Fi Shakespeare Guy.” (He won’t say where, but it won’t be anywhere his parents can see.)
Are you an emerging, unrepresented writer? Join us this summer for Industry 101, a series of free online workshops inspired by components of the New Voices Fellowship. You can sign-up to learn more by clicking here.
Submissions for this year’s New Voices Fellowship closed on May 18, 2022, but next year’s program is slated to open for submissions in early 2023.
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 the Humanitas New Voices Fellowship by visiting this webpage.