Class of 2026
Rachel Chin is a Malaysian-born writer and actor. She lived in Singapore for ten years before relocating to the United States. Her first full-length play, Expats Anonymous, tackled systemic classism and racism in Singapore, and was produced by the Yale Cabaret. Rachel’s plays have been commissioned by The Theatre of Others, MoreLife Theatre, The Wright Stuff Festival by The Toy Factory, and the Singapore International Festival of the Arts (SIFA X). She has also written for the MeWATCH Interactive TV Series, Adulting, and is a founding member of the sketch comedy group, Otters United FC. Rachel’s work often personalises the political, and she prides herself on finding levity in divisive themes. She was a resident of Centre 42’s Playwright’s Professional Development Residency and graduated from LASALLE College of the Arts with first-class honours in Acting. You can learn more about her work on her website, www.rachel-chin.com.
Abdeljaleel Ismail is a writer and short filmmaker. He is Sudanese by way of Marietta, Ohio. He graduated with a bachelors in Applied Mathematics and a secondary in English from Harvard University. After professional roles in Tech, Podcast Production, and Film Production Finance in Los Angeles, Ismail had the fortune to turn his favorite way to spend time — watching, writing, and storytelling — into his everyday at Northwestern. He likes to write about identity, religion, grief, ambition, and family drama through genres that favor the concepts he feels compelled to put on paper.
Amy B Tiong is a Chinese-American director and screenwriter. Inspired by her immigrant parents, she devoted herself to her love of learning, becoming a Gates Millennium Scholar and NYU Tisch Dean’s Scholar. She believes in showing solidarity on-screen and using film as a medium of generational healing; she aims to inspire empathy through genre-bending storytelling. Her feature script, When You’re Ready To Go, a horror immigration story, was in the top 3% of scripts on Coverfly, making it to the finalist rounds of WeScreenplay, Stowe Story Labs, and Screen Craft Competitions. She has directed short films with The Dolby Institute, Ghetto Film School, Bustle Media, PictureStart, Wavelength Productions, and The NAACP. Outside of her film career, she enjoys boxing, reading, dancing, baking, and serving her community. Additionally, she holds a Master’s degree in Human Nutrition. Her website can be found at amybtiong.com
Morgan Webber-Ottey is a writer and recovering lawyer. After discovering that there’s a lot less “trial strategy over takeout” in the real world than shown on TV, she made the difficult decision to hang up her litigator hat and swap one form of self-flagellation for another: writing darkly satirical dramas. Her character-driven writing centers deeply flawed women of color who are misfits and underdogs.
Morgan is a recipient of the Hansberry-Lilly Fellowship (The Dramatists Guild Foundation/The Lillys), a selected fellow for the NHMC’s Series Scriptwriters Program (sponsored by NBC and Disney/ABC), and a Stowe Story Labs/SAGindie Fellowship winner. She is an alum of the Writers Guild Foundation’s Writers’ Access Support Staff Training Program, a second rounder in the Warner Bros. TV Writers’ Workshop, and she previously worked as the Script Coordinator on the final, 20-episode season of Manifest, on Netflix.
Class of 2027
Michael Feldman is a playwright and screenwriter raised in Dallas, Texas, where he frequented the stages of the Jewish Community Center and was a member of a Planned Parenthood-sponsored theater troupe. His work explores how religious, economic, and political systems shape the choices people make. He was a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre’s award-winning collective Youngblood and has developed work on both coasts. Previously, he worked in politics, including as an intern at the Obama White House and a researcher at Everytown for Gun Safety, which inspired his first play. He recently taught playwriting at the University of Rochester and is a graduate of Vanderbilt University.
Ishita Mishra is a writer and filmmaker from India. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Delhi University and a postgraduate diploma in filmmaking. Her storytelling career has spanned multiple formats and platforms — from crafting animated narratives for children’s cartoon shows on Nickelodeon and Disney to writing brand films and digital campaigns as a copywriter in the advertising world. Through her films and scripts, she explores themes of freedom, empowerment, mental health, and child psychology across genres. When not writing, she enjoys reading, swimming, and photography.
Alex Prince is a writer and film lover, born in North Carolina and raised in the Chicago suburbs. An avid movie theater attendee from a young age, he discovered a passion for writing in middle school and fell in love with storytelling more and more as he dabbled in fiction writing, slam poetry, journalism, sketch writing, and eventually screenwriting. He enjoys writing horror and dark comedy, and often focuses on queer identity, religious/generational trauma, and the quest for acceptance – both from society and within. During his undergraduate years, he served as an EDI Mentor and Honors Student Leader, and was President of the Film Society at Illinois State, a student club dedicated to introducing students and community members to a diverse collection of films from all over the world. He participated in the 2025 edition of the Gotham EDU Film and Media Career Development Program, and is currently developing his own narrative projects.