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Nayna Agarwal Leading In The World Of Script Writing
Nayna Aggarwal leads with her work of art in the world of writing before launching into her diverse and unique personal information. She has been praised for her work with various organizations. She is a finalist with the Sultan Padamsee Playwriting Awards and The Adi Shankar Script contest for The Simpsons. Nayna advanced to the second round of the WB writers workshop. In an interview, Nayna reveals more about her passion.
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Featured in Variety’s “100 Writers to Watch” (2015), Nayna is a former NYC analyst, a former DC policy writer, a former SF international aid director, and a former touring dancer. Her plays have been staged and produced in numerous cities including New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Chicago. She is the recipient of an East-West playwright scholarship and a Moving Arts Theater playwright fellowship. In 2017, Nayna was a semi-finalist or finalist with the O’Neill Conference, PlayPenn, Screenwriters Colony and Harold Clurman playwright-in-residence program. Currently, she is a Sesame Street Writers Room fellow, a Notable Writer with the New York Television Festival and a Kenyon Conference full-scholarship recipient. She has written for an upcoming Netflix preschool series and is a 2018 semi-finalist for the WB Writers Program.
Born in Florida, raised in Virginia, and originally from India, Nayna has studied five languages, visited 22 countries, and worked in four industries. She received her BS in Economics and English at the University of Virginia, and her MFA at Northwestern University.
She suffers from Asian Girl Guilt Syndrome, Law& Order SVU rerun marathon binges (from which she has developed restless leg syndrome) and a tendency to misspell the word “syndrome.”
When was the first time you realized you were a writer?
When I was six and my haiku on lemonade was published in the local newspaper.
Who is your inspiration? Tell us about your influencers.
Margaret Mitchell, Joss Whedon, and Rohinton Mistry, Vince Gilligan.
Tell us about your favorite project?
I wrote a play a play about one’s dharma or cosmic duty. It’s a family dramedy.
If you were not a scriptwriter?
I’d continue to work in the non-profit sector. I love the zigs and zags of philanthropy.
Tell us about your upcoming projects.
I’m working on a half-hour TV pilot on loneliness and a full-length play on the intensity and fragility of female friendships.
Do you think film and television have a direct effect in changing society?
I think they can. I think they can ask us to question our beliefs and help inform our perspectives.
Where do you see yourself in the next five years?
Continuing to write scripts for the stage and screen!
What is your favorite destination for traveling?
Anywhere near a coastline.
Tell us about your regular day.
It’s rather cliché: drinks lots of coffee, stress about plot holes, dream about typing “The End”.
What are your hobbies?
Crossword puzzles, hosting dinner parties and sending cards via postage mail.
Some words for new writers…..
keep writing. Even writing poorly is worthwhile…it will make you a better writer. I promise!
