Photo Note: To download a photo of Neigher, see end of the release.

Screenwriting program gains two more Hollywood writers

By DEE REID
College of Arts and Sciences

CHAPEL HILL -- Two more Hollywood writers will be visiting lecturers this year in the writing for the screen and stage program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Tom Whedon – winner of four Emmy Awards, a Grammy and a Peabody for his television scripts -- is based in the communication studies department for the year. He is teaching two introductory screenwriting classes this fall and will teach a class in the spring on writing the half-hour TV program.

Stephen Neigher, a writer, producer and creative consultant for numerous hit television programs, will teach a class on writing the one-hour TV series in the spring.

Whedon has written for popular half-hour comedies including "The Golden Girls," "Benson," "Alice" and "All’s Fair." In 30 years of TV and screenwriting, Whedon also wrote for children’s programs including "The Muppets," "The Electric Company" and "Captain Kangaroo." He scripted variety shows for hosts Dick Cavett, Andy Williams and Alan King and created Jimmy Carter’s "Talk to America" campaign in 1976.

Neigher, who has written for screen and television since 1978, created the CBS series "Sugar and Spice" and won a Writers’ Guild of America award for "Barney Miller." He also has worked on shows including "Judging Amy," "The Jeffersons," "Facts of Life," "Dear John" and "Due South."

UNC’s writing for the screen and stage program, in the College of Arts and Sciences, began offering an undergraduate minor this fall under the direction of David Sontag, an award-winning motion picture writer and producer. Hollywood notables Joan Darling, a two-time Emmy Award-winning director, and her husband, screenwriter and playwright Bill Svanoe, were visiting professors in the program last year and have joined the faculty as adjunct professors. Faculty members in the departments of English, communication studies and dramatic art also teach in the program.

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Photo urls:

· Neigher, Stephen: http://www.unc.edu/news/pics/faculty/neigher_stephen.jpg
· (Whedon photo not available.)

Contact: David Sontag, (919) 843-6035, sontag@email.unc.edu

News Services Contact: L.J. Toler, (919) 962-8589. laura_toler@unc.edu