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Pepperdine University Hosts Annual Fall Literary Arts Festival


The Seaver CollegeHumanities and Teacher Education Division will host the annual Fall Literary Arts Festival: MFA Showcase in Plaza Classroom (PC) 190 on the Malibu campus on Thursday, December 1, at 6 PM.

Graduate students enrolled in the Seaver College master of fine arts in writing for screen and television program will stage readings of their work and screen their short films. The festival will also celebrate the 10th anniversary of the degree program at Pepperdine.

The event will provide the students with “an opportunity to perform and screen their work, while others in the Pepperdine community can come and support these emerging artists who are working to make a positive global impact,” says Leslie Kreiner Wilson, director of the MFA program and associate professor of creative writing and film studies. 

This year’s festival will showcase the following:

Screenplay excerpt: 4 Daughters

  • Writer: Lara Dykstra
  • Narrator: F. Clint DeNisco
  • Cast: Andrea Baltazar, Steven Cleare, Matthew Frey, Elizabeth Kirk, Mariscia Rodriguez, Karma Christine Salvato

Sketch comedy script: A Bed Bug Bite

  • Writer: F. Clint DeNisco
  • Narrator: Lara Dykstra
  • Cast: Andrea Baltazar, F. Clint DeNisco, Mariscia Rodriguez

Short screenplay excerpt: Bloodlove

  • Writer: Steven Cleare
  • Narrator: Matthew Frey
  • Cast: Steven Cleare, F. Clint DeNisco, Lara Dykstra

Television script excerpt: Defenders!

  • Writer: Matthew Frey
  • Narrator: Morgan Jefferson
  • Cast: Nya’ Braxton, Sherroy Chapman, Steven Cleare, F. Clint DeNisco, Nick Durdan, Elizabeth Kirk, Beth Nilsson, Mariscia Rodriguez

Sketch comedy script: The Elevator

  • Writer: Mariscia Rodriguez
  • Narrator: F. Clint DeNisco
  • Cast: Steven Cleare, Lara Dykstra, Elizabeth Kirk

One-act play: Frances & Anita

  • Writer: Leslie Kreiner Wilson 
  • Cast: Steven Cleare, Beth Nilsson, Leslie Kreiner Wilson

Short film: Meet Cute

  • Writer: Andrea Baltazar
  • Director: Andres Orozco
  • Cast: Andrea Baltazar, Maynard Okereke

Television script excerpt: Men in Trees: “Under Construction”

  • Writer: Karma Christine Salvato
  • Narrator: Beth Nilsson
  • Cast: Andrea Baltazar, Nya’ Braxton, Steven Cleare, F. Clint DeNisco, Nick Durdan, Lara Dykstra, Matthew Frey, Elizabeth Kirk, Mariscia Rodriguez

Television script excerpt: Time Bandits: “It’s Your Time”

  • Writers: Nick Durdan and Hunter A. Cline
  • Narrator: F. Clint DeNisco
  • Cast: Nya’ Braxton, Steven Cleare, Lara Dykstra, Matthew Frey, Elizabeth Kirk, Beth Nilsson, Michele Nock, Mariscia Rodriguez

Short story: Trial By Tire

  • Writer/Reader: Elizabeth Kirk

For additional information about the MFA program, visit the Seaver College website.