Jalysa Conway, Christian screenwriter, recently visited Walla Walla University for several days to share with university students and community members the realities of professional screenwriting and her own unique journey to success.
Conway has worked on television series including Grey’s Anatomy and 9-1-1: Lone Star, and she is currently collaborating with Spike Lee and Rebecca Murge on a film called Liberty. Through her experiences with these projects and others, Conway offered valuable advice from the perspective of both an executive and a writer.
One of Conway’s first events was a pitch lunch. WWU screenwriting students had the opportunity to practice pitching script ideas and ask questions for one-on-one informal interviews. One of the student interviewees, Isabella Narvaez, sophomore social work major and film minor, said, “I liked how chill it was. There was no projector and I wasn’t standing for my pitch. I was having a respectable conversation with Jalysa Conway. She gave me valuable, constructive feedback about the pitch.”
Conway also facilitated a mock writer’s room open to students from the other colleges in the Walla Walla valley. Participating students were challenged to create a King Arthur story with a female Artoria lead and a Punk Rock feel. With Conway leading the discussion as the showrunner, students developed their main character, side characters and a narrative arc for an eight-episode series.
Jasmine Edmundson, sophomore aviation technology major and film minor, joined the mock writer’s room because she loves “all the creativity and hard work that goes on behind the scenes of movies and TV shows.” She felt this event did a great job of simulating a professional writer’s room, and she enjoyed seeing their script come together.
Conway’s busy schedule also included a Q&A colloquium about resilience and daring to dream big that was attended by students from a variety of majors and community members; a meet and greet hosted by Black Student Christian Forum and Berean Fellowship; guest speaking for select film classes; and more.
Her impactful visit would not have been possible without campus-wide support. Funding for the visit was provided by multiple WWU departments but most significantly by Donald Black Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity and Culture, which was founded in honor of Donald Blake, former WWU department of biological sciences faculty member.
Lauren Vizcarra, senior strategic communication major, attended a couple of Conway’s events. She loved how Conway shared her experience being a Christian screenwriter in Hollywood and said, “She gave this advice that will always stick with me: God opens doors for us — we just need to be prepared to walk through them.”
