Post by irishkale on Sept 6, 2006 14:17:42 GMT -5
I was doing some creative Googling and I found this informative article about Veena Sud from 2004 -- the original article is a PDF with pictures -- I'll post it and then just the text:
www.kmrocks.com/stuff/Vol24issue2_Veena.pdf
(162K, Adobe Acrobat PDF format)
It is probably no coincidence that Veena Sud’s life resembles a carefully written script. This successful TV writer, who began her writing career at Country Day, now writes prime time, dramatic scripts for the CBS hit Cold Case. This lofty position in the entertainment field marks the culmination of a long-time goal for Veena.
“Exhilarating” and “challenging,” are the words Veena uses to describe this writing process because the turn around time from conception to filming is extremely short. Episodes, once approved, are written in five days to two weeks. “After the writer’s concept has been approved, the other writers and our showrunner, Meredith Stiehm, buckle down together and brainstorm the story out. It is a collaborative process with all eight writers giving some input. The individual writer is responsible for writing the entire episode, being on the set during the production of it, and giving post production notes during the editing of it.” Four of Veena’s scripts have been filmed this year, a number
she is proud of.
Country Day prepared her well for this assignment. Veena says she
“blossomed” under the direction of her teacher, Robert Voorhees whom she credits as her mentor, inspiration, motivator, and outside critic. “Mr. Voorhees treated writing as a life-long passion and passed this passion on to his students.” Although she avidly pursued writing in a more informal way at Columbia University, she did not choose to major in English or journalism, but studied political science instead. Rather than studying the form of writing, she wanted to study social
and political behavior, to study the human condition, knowing that her
writing would only improve. Veena states that the support she received at CCDS as a writer gave her the confidence to continue on her own at
Columbia, where there was no formal support.
After graduating, Veena remained in New York for several years working
as a journalist, and then enrolling in the graduate film school at New York University. This step gave her the opportunity to direct some TV,
including The Real World New York – The Reunion Show, an ambitious
“reality” project that took five months to shoot.
Winning a coveted Disney ABC Writing Fellowship, which she admits
was submitted “as kind of a lark,” gave her a toehold in the entertainment world in Los Angeles. She began by working on the heralded but short-lived Push Nevada series, conceived and produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.
Cold Case, the new Sunday evening crime series, was getting under way,
and its creator, Meredith Stiehm, was impressed enough with Veena’s work to hire her as a major writer for it. Veena, in turn, is very happy with her assignment and would like to remain for the show’s duration. “One of the reasons I can create an entire script in
a short time is that we grow to know these characters as real people – they exist on their own. They begin telling me what to write.” She feels blessed to write for a strong female lead, Kathryn Morris who plays detective Lily Rush.
Although New York City will always be her first love, life in Los Angeles has been good to Veena. She admits that LA living is easier. “The people are nice, you can drive everywhere by car, and you can buy a house. I like all of that.” Veena bought a home in the La Crescenta Mountains above Pasadena where she lives with her son Kumar, 12, and her fiancé Stephen Kasher. Steve and Veena are planning a wedding for April or May of 2005. “April and May are our vacation months. Everything in TV is on hiatus during that period and all celebrations
are scheduled for that short window of more leisurely time.”
When asked if her life felt glamorous to her because of working in such
close proximity with celebrities, she replied that at first, it was great fun to be around them in social situations, but that eventually, like everyone else, she had a job.
However, when Cold Case was nominated for a People’s Choice Award this spring, Veena attended. As they glided up to the theater, she saw
the Red Carpet, the screaming fans, the flashbulbs of hundreds of cameras, and the limos and stars. “Wow! I really DO have a glamorous job! This is fun!”
www.kmrocks.com/stuff/Vol24issue2_Veena.pdf
(162K, Adobe Acrobat PDF format)
ALUMNI ARTS
It is probably no coincidence that Veena Sud’s life resembles a carefully written script. This successful TV writer, who began her writing career at Country Day, now writes prime time, dramatic scripts for the CBS hit Cold Case. This lofty position in the entertainment field marks the culmination of a long-time goal for Veena.
“Exhilarating” and “challenging,” are the words Veena uses to describe this writing process because the turn around time from conception to filming is extremely short. Episodes, once approved, are written in five days to two weeks. “After the writer’s concept has been approved, the other writers and our showrunner, Meredith Stiehm, buckle down together and brainstorm the story out. It is a collaborative process with all eight writers giving some input. The individual writer is responsible for writing the entire episode, being on the set during the production of it, and giving post production notes during the editing of it.” Four of Veena’s scripts have been filmed this year, a number
she is proud of.
Country Day prepared her well for this assignment. Veena says she
“blossomed” under the direction of her teacher, Robert Voorhees whom she credits as her mentor, inspiration, motivator, and outside critic. “Mr. Voorhees treated writing as a life-long passion and passed this passion on to his students.” Although she avidly pursued writing in a more informal way at Columbia University, she did not choose to major in English or journalism, but studied political science instead. Rather than studying the form of writing, she wanted to study social
and political behavior, to study the human condition, knowing that her
writing would only improve. Veena states that the support she received at CCDS as a writer gave her the confidence to continue on her own at
Columbia, where there was no formal support.
After graduating, Veena remained in New York for several years working
as a journalist, and then enrolling in the graduate film school at New York University. This step gave her the opportunity to direct some TV,
including The Real World New York – The Reunion Show, an ambitious
“reality” project that took five months to shoot.
Winning a coveted Disney ABC Writing Fellowship, which she admits
was submitted “as kind of a lark,” gave her a toehold in the entertainment world in Los Angeles. She began by working on the heralded but short-lived Push Nevada series, conceived and produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.
Cold Case, the new Sunday evening crime series, was getting under way,
and its creator, Meredith Stiehm, was impressed enough with Veena’s work to hire her as a major writer for it. Veena, in turn, is very happy with her assignment and would like to remain for the show’s duration. “One of the reasons I can create an entire script in
a short time is that we grow to know these characters as real people – they exist on their own. They begin telling me what to write.” She feels blessed to write for a strong female lead, Kathryn Morris who plays detective Lily Rush.
Although New York City will always be her first love, life in Los Angeles has been good to Veena. She admits that LA living is easier. “The people are nice, you can drive everywhere by car, and you can buy a house. I like all of that.” Veena bought a home in the La Crescenta Mountains above Pasadena where she lives with her son Kumar, 12, and her fiancé Stephen Kasher. Steve and Veena are planning a wedding for April or May of 2005. “April and May are our vacation months. Everything in TV is on hiatus during that period and all celebrations
are scheduled for that short window of more leisurely time.”
When asked if her life felt glamorous to her because of working in such
close proximity with celebrities, she replied that at first, it was great fun to be around them in social situations, but that eventually, like everyone else, she had a job.
However, when Cold Case was nominated for a People’s Choice Award this spring, Veena attended. As they glided up to the theater, she saw
the Red Carpet, the screaming fans, the flashbulbs of hundreds of cameras, and the limos and stars. “Wow! I really DO have a glamorous job! This is fun!”