Help an International Student Finish Her MFA!

Hi!

My name is Katie and I am a writer and performer from South London in the UK.

As some of you reading this may already know, I have spent the last year and a half living in LA and working towards my MFA at USC's prestigious John Wells Division of Writing for Screen and Television (not secretly my uncle - just to be clear!).

For the Brits, USC consistently ranks in the top 5 film schools in the world and was ranked #1 for ten consecutive years by The Hollywood Reporter. Alumni include George Lucas, Shonda Rhimes, Jon Chu and Kevin Feige. This opportunity is something I never expected as it is a highly selective course with over 500 applicants for only 32 places.

This has been a dream come true for me.

I spent most of my childhood writing stories and putting my stuffed animals in little plays, as well as traumatising my Year 4 teacher with a poem about a woman jumping off a roof - still some of my best work. I went on to study Acting at drama school and it was here that I honed in on my desire to write. I then graduated with a First Class Honours degree in English and Creative Writing from Queen Mary University of London.

Knowing I wanted to get my MFA, I worked as a performer and voiceover artist for Shanghai Disney Resort and saved up as much as I could to cover my first year. I was also lucky to be a Frank Volpe Endowed Scholarship recipient and am incredibly honoured to have received an Annenberg Graduate Fellowship for my final year.

Whilst at USC, I have written more than I ever thought I could and, miraculously, had my work place in the Austin Film Festival, Humanitas College Screenwriting Awards, Screencraft Feature Competition and was a Top 10 Finalist in the Shore Scripts TV Pilot Contest.

However, (you knew there had to be a catch, and there is!) it turns out an MFA is expensive. Who knew. Even with a scholarship, fellowship, departmental assistantships and working as a student worker in the Writing and Post-Production divisions...I can't afford to complete my degree and will be one semester short of graduating.

As an international student, my options are extremely limited and so I am turning to you, the internet! If you are able to donate anything, no matter how small, I would be beyond grateful. Everything I receive will be going towards my school tuition for this last semester so that I can graduate in May.

So, if you're still here, thank you for reading, if you're able to afford a donation, thank you for donating and a massive thank you to my incredible friends and family because, without them, none of this would have even been possible to begin with. You know who you are.

And if Phoebe Waller-Bridge is reading this and has a spare $10k...or a job - I'm in! I make great tea!

I have no socials but my LinkedIn is available here if you want to stalk my career history. No judgement.

Katie