Jennifer Frum, UGA’s vice president for public service and outreach, will deliver the graduate Commencement address on May 13, at 9:30 a.m. in Stegeman Coliseum. Tickets are not required for this ceremony.
As one of four Instructors trained by acclaimed screenwriter author and teacher, Syd Field, Valerie has served as Creative Director for Syd Field – The Art of Visual Storytelling platform. She also taught as Adjunct Faculty in the Stephens College Low-Residency MFA in TV and Screenwriting program (2015-2020).
Valerie C. Woods is a writer/producer in television and film, and is also a publisher, editor and author. Her most recent work (2019-2020) was as Writer/Co-Executive Producer on an upcoming Netflix drama series. She also worked in the same position for Season 4 (2018-2019) of the critically acclaimed television drama series Queen Sugar, airing on Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). She also wrote the screen adaptation of Tempest Rising, a novel by Diane McKinney-Whetstone, with the actor/director Phylicia Rashad.
In 2020 Valerie was added to the faculty of VONA (Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation) offering an online scriptwriting workshop.
Valerie founded the independent press, BooksEndependent which has published five titles including her novel Katrin’s Chronicles: The Canon of Jacqueléne Dyanne. She is also the author of Something for Everyone (50 Original Monologues), which is published by Samuel French, Inc. Through her production company, Valerie produced a series of staged readings of scripts adapted from literary work via Staged/Lit.
During Valerie’s 25+ years as a member of WGAw, she has written on one-hour drama series forCBS, Lifetime, Netflixand Showtime. Credits include Co-Executive Producer/Writer on the drama series, Any Day Nowon Lifetime Network. Her episode “Family is Family” was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award, and Consulting Producer/Writer for the drama series, Soul Food on Showtime Network. Her television career began after winning a Fellowship with the Walt Disney Studios.