Alumni Spotlight: Sarah Nerboso '12
The Alumni Spotlight is a place to hear from the School of the Arts alumni community about their journeys as artists and creators.
Sarah Nerboso graduated from the University of Chicago with a BA in East Asian history and received an MFA in Film from Columbia University. A born and bred New Yorker, she now lives in Los Angeles with her wonderful husband and oppressively nice weather. Her screenplay The Adventures of Awesome Girl received faculty honors from Columbia and went on to be an Academy Nicholl Fellowship Semifinalist. She is currently a staff writer on a new series for Dreamworks Animation Television that will premiere on Netflix in 2018.
Was there a specific faculty member or peer that especially inspired you while at the School of the Arts? If so, who and how?
I had a lot of great, inspiring teachers at Columbia: Evangeline Morphos taught me to have confidence in my instincts and embrace my love of television; Katherine Dieckmann taught me to push through difficult rewrites and not be satisfied with ‘good enough’; Tom Kalin taught me to think visually and ask myself tough questions about intent and impact; and Andy Bienen maybe had the most impact because he straight-up taught me how to read and watch movies differently. After taking Andy’s Elements class and Screenwriting 3 and 4 with him, I can’t watch a film or read a script without a tiny voice in the back of my head trying to map the narrative structure, anticipate the story’s natural arc, look for the launch into the second act, etc. All of Columbia’s faculty members challenged me with their high expectations and rigorous standards, helping me grow as both creatively and personally.
How did attending the School of the Arts impact your work and career as an artist?
Columbia drilled the importance of story into me. Your dialogue may be hilarious and that shot may look cool, but it doesn’t matter if the story doesn’t work. Now, working in TV, I use tools I developed at Columbia every day to scour out kinks in narrative rhythm and identify how to make story and plot work in concert.
And, of course, my network of fellow alumni have been an invaluable resource post-Columbia, connecting me to opportunities, exchanging notes, and giving advice on how to navigate “the real world.”
What was your favorite or most memorable class while at the School of the Arts?
Screenwriting 3 and 4 felt like the embodiment of “what grad school should be.” It was two semesters of writing alongside the same students, with the same instructor, and seeing (mostly) the same scripts evolve and grow. I learned so much from the other writers in the class and it was exciting to see how much we all grew as artists over the course of the year (shout out to Elizabeth, Lena, Lisa, Ian, Andrew, Claudia, Jeff, Brian, Jeremy, Matt, and Marcelo).
What were the first steps you took after graduating?
First, I learned to drive (as someone who grew up taking the subway to high school, I skipped that milestone in adolescence). A month later, I moved to Los Angeles with two suitcases and tempered expectations. Then, it was a lot of balancing out survival jobs, continuing to grow my portfolio, and meeting as many people as I could.
What advice would you give to recent graduates?
Don’t be afraid of asking people you barely know to have coffee or drinks with you. Networking can be weird and awkward, but everyone knows the score and you never know where that 8:00 am breakfast meeting might lead.