Telemundo & Loyola Marymount University launch ‘Taller Telemundo: Escritores 2007’.

Telemundo in partnership with Loyola Marymount University, announced the launch of “Taller Telemundo: Escritores 2007” in Los Angeles. Telemundo and Loyola also formally presented the curriculum and the new students selected for the latest installment of the network’s successful and innovative writer’s program.

“Taller Telemundo: Escritores is the essence of what we do and the best example of two of Telemundo’s founding pillars, Service to the Community and Pioneering Innovation,” said Mimi Belt, Vice President of Artistic Development, Telemundo. “We are thrilled to launch this program in Los Angeles with Loyola Marymount University as we hope to continue shaping the Spanish-language industry of the future.”

Under the leadership of Telemundo President, Don Browne, the Telemundo created “Taller Telemundo: Escritores” as an innovative educational program designed to inspire, discover, recruit, and train the next generation of fiction writers. In an alliance with Loyola Marymount University, Continuing Education and Professional Development, Telemundo once again partners with academia to create a dynamic curriculum that specifically prepares and retains Hispanic writers in two new critical areas: 1) Fiction writing for TV and 2) Fiction writing for Digital Media. This cutting-edge curriculum also prepares talented writers to broaden their scope and create original content for alternative media.

This year, a pool of 38 finalists was selected for the Los Angeles program, from which 21 students were invited to participate. As in the Miami installment, Telemundo executives and adjunct Loyola Marymount professors will deliver many of the special workshops during the six-month intensive course.

“Loyola Marymount University is thrilled to partner with Telemundo in this innovative and exciting educational program,” said LMU President Robert B. Lawton, S.J. “It will provide students with challenging and thought-provoking instruction, as well as hands-on experiences that will result in life-changing opportunities.”

The application process, which kicked off on March 1, 2006 and ended on April 23, 2006, drew applicants from all walks of life representing 32 states and 23 countries from as near as Miami and New York, to as far as Switzerland, Belize, Spain, and Lithuania.

In 2005, “Taller Telemundo: Escritores” graduated 14 students and offered eight of them full-time employment. A year later, these new hires have written some of the network’s top rated programs, a best-selling book, and are leading successful Promotions and Digital Media projects. In December 2006, the program graduated another 13 students, four of whom were working for the network less than one month later.