NHMC Fellowship: What You Need to Know

Puerto Rican born Omaira Galarza is an army brat who grew up on-and-off military bases in New York, Germany and Texas. As the daughter of a spy, Omaira has always had a zest for investigation, but decided to use that curiosity to create fiction. Omaira has written for the International Emmy Award-winning series THE KITCHEN MUSICAL (AXN Asia) in addition to EAST LOS HIGH (HULU), TERESA (STARZ), writer/director David Ayer’s FAMILY CRIMES (STARZ), and the GREY’S ANATOMY spinoff STATION 19 (ABC). She currently writes for GRIFFORD ACADEMY, a YA mobile RPG by Landshark Games, and is a screenwriting instructor/consultant at Script Anatomy in Los Angeles and Stephens College. She is the current co-mentor for the NHMC's Series Screenwriters Program and was a mentor for the Warner Media Access program. When not immersed in the world of words, you can find Omaira in a dance class or working as a playtester for games like CANDELA OBSCURA by Critical Role.  

Prior to becoming a professional TV writer and teacher, Geoff Harris worked as Vice President of Story and Writer Development at NBC, where he oversaw the Story Department and developed primetime TV shows in all formats, from comedies and dramas to movies and mini-series. In addition, he discovered and placed talented new writers from around the US, some who went on to become showrunners. As a writer, Harris creates and develops TV shows and has pitched and sold his series to various production companies and networks. He also uses his storytelling talent and industry experience to mentor the next generation of writers, running intensive story-incubation labs that prepare diverse writers for the rigors of working on a TV series, including the National Hispanic Media Coalition’s Series Scriptwriters Program that he co-mentors. He also teaches screenwriting at the Institute of American Indian Arts (Santa Fe, NM) in its low-residency MFA program in Creative Writing. Under his tutelage, more than 45 writers have been staffed on series across all platforms—network, cable, premium cable, and streaming. Geoff holds two master’s degrees, one from Columbia University and the other from University of Notre Dame, and an undergraduate degree from St. John’s College.