‘Stargirl’ Lead Brec Bassinger Among 2026 UCLA Professional Programs Winners In Screenwriting
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- Brec Bassinger won the UCLA Professional Programs 2026 Screenwriting Competition for her feature comedy script Fumbled; her credits include Disney/Nickelodeon titles Stargirl, Final Destination Bloodlines, School Rock, and Bella and the Bulldogs.
- Ruya Karakaya, a Turkish-American former preschool teacher, won the Writing for Television Comedy competition with her dramedy pilot Preschoolers.
- Karolina Valerio-Romero, a Puerto Rican-Dominican archaeologist-turned-screenwriter, won the Writing for Television Drama competition for her pilot Gandersheim.
- Sameer Khan, a stand-up comedian, won the Advanced Competition for his romantic comedy Grave Expectations.
- Three honorable mentions went to Gary Duong for Eyewitness News (Screenwriting), Jeremy Ray Burchard for Greg's Dojo (TV Comedy), and Samantha Greco for House of Glass (TV Drama Pilot).
- The UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, founded in 1947, counts Francis Ford Coppola, Carol Burnett, Justin Lin, Alexander Payne, Gina Prince-Bythewood, and Tim Robbins among its alumni.
Why it matters: UCLA's 2026 Professional Programs competition, run by the school founded in 1947 whose alumni include Coppola and Burnett, spotlights screenwriters from nontraditional backgrounds — a Disney Channel actor, a former preschool teacher, an archaeologist, and a stand-up comedian all won. The diverse winner pool reflects the school's stated mission of amplifying emerging voices in feature and TV pilot storytelling.
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