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MFA in Screen and Television Writing Club, Courier 12, Hosts Writer Dean Batali

The master of fine arts (MFA) program in Screen and Television Writing at Seaver College will host Dean Batali, a writer for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and executive producer of That 70's Show. He will share his experience as a Christian in a Hollywood writers' room on Wednesday, November 4, at 7:00 p.m., in room 140 of the Malibu campus Center for Communication and Business.

The event will be hosted by the program's student club Courier 12. John Burd, Courier 12's president, says, "Pepperdine's MFA program is a place where writers take responsibility for the impact their work has on culture. We know Dean shares those concerns, and we can't wait to hear about his experiences working as an ethically-minded writer in Hollywood."

The MFA program launched in the fall of 2008 under the directorship of Leslie Kreiner Wilson, and takes a unique values-centered approach to nurturing and supporting the storyteller as cultural leader. The program is a groundbreaking new degree for Pepperdine and the university's first MFA program.

Wilson notes that Pepperdine's approach to the MFA emphasizes screenwriting as vocation. "We believe that writers don't have to think about their career on one road and their belief systems and values on another road," she says. "Rather, we'd like to encourage writers to intersect those two roads. At that intersection is where cultural transformation occurs."

This event is free and open to all. For more information, contact John Burd, or visit the MFA Web site.