High distinction for young Freeport screenwriter

In early October, Purchase College, part of the State University of New York system, announced that Laila Willson, a senior playwriting and screenwriting major, had been named to the inaugural class of the Peter Roth Internship Program at Manhattan’s Paley Center for Media.

Wilson, 21, of Freeport, is one of only 20 students in the country selected for the program, the only dramatic writing major and the only SUNY student.

Before earning the Peter Roth Internship, Wilson had racked up numerous major awards and internships, such as the SUNY Association of Council Members and College Trustees Excellence and Student Initiative Scholarship.

Wilson was also selected as one of just 20 recipients nationally for the NAACP Empowering Imagination Scholarship, powered by Kering. The NAACP awards the $5,000 scholarship to distinguished college students majoring in creative fields.

The daughter of a Panamanian-descent mother and African-American father, Wilson grew up at the border of Freeport and Baldwin. She attended Baldwin’s public schools. Fine art was actually the starting point of her creative work.

“In high school, I was in [Advanced Placement] art classes,” Wilson said. “I was accepted to the [New York State Summer School for the Arts] in 2016 and spent that summer at SUNY Fredonia studying painting and drawing.”

Wilson also attended Hofstra University’s Science & Technology Entry Program, and participated in Energeia for Teens, a community studies program that met at Molloy College.

“We tried to keep Laila and her brother Niles busy and exposed to different things,” said Wilson’s mother, Nicole. “They fenced at the Freeport Recreation Center, and went to Europe in the People to People travel program as young U.S. ambassadors in 2015. Laila also played travel and varsity volleyball at Baldwin High School.”

The broadening effect of these programs took a new direction when Wilson was accepted to Pratt’s pre-college program on a full scholarship from The Black Alumni of Pratt for the summer of 2017.

“Directly after that,” Wilson said, “in my senior year, I was accepted to a writing-for-television program at New York University. That was the program that inspired me to major in playwriting and screenwriting at Purchase.”

In her first semester of college, Wilson placed in the YoungArts national competition with her 10-page crime-and-drama screenplay, “Green Edge Park.”

“One of my main goals in writing that story,” Wilson said, “was to explore other genres outside my comfort zone, such as dramedy. I chose to address gang violence particularly and to write a different kind of a coming-of-age story.”

Her one-act play, “Just a Ballad,” was the only one selected to be produced onstage at the annual student-run Point-of-View Festival during her second year of college. The thrill of seeing her play in rehearsals during the first quarter of 2020 came to an unfortunate end.

“Because of Covid,” Wilson said, “my play was canceled two weeks before opening day.”

But Wilson turned her disappointment into the project of a lifetime.

“I decided that I could step in and helm the next year’s festival,” she said, “which would be completely remote because of Covid.”

With the support of her department, Wilson poured her skills of writing, art and leadership into the festival. She set up a venue for students to submit their work to her on a platform called Film Freeway and selected 11 stage plays, films and screenplays.

“My job was to take the written work and bring them to life in some way,” Wilson said. “My idea for three of the screenplays was to bring them to life in two months with animations.”

She commissioned student animators, raised funds so she could send student actors for the scripts to Brooklyn Actors Self-Tape to separately record their parts and chose an editor for her team who put the footage together.

The enormous project was entirely volunteer on Wilson’s part. She created internships in videography and marketing for two other students while spending 40 hours a week of her unpaid time, across two semesters, to make the festival happen.

“It could feel very overwhelming at times,” Wilson said, “but because I saw it through and was passionate about bringing other students’ work to life, I was able to get this done and was really proud of what I accomplished in the end.”

“It was a privilege,” said Nicole Wilson, “watching her create this whole new [virtual] version of POV because it wasn’t done virtually before. She basically built a whole system from the ground up … Her hope was not only to create this great event that the school community and beyond was able to enjoy, but that she would lay a foundation so the students that followed her would be able to make another great event with the same kind of template.”

Wilson used Vimeo to stream the two-day festival. She showcased theater plays the first day, and on the second day, films and screenplays (featuring three animations). The festival generated tremendous excitement across the pandemic-weary campus.

Her own family was awed. “I’m super proud of Laila for pursuing her talents and making her dreams come to life through discipline and hard work,” said Larry Wilson, Laila’s father.

“Some of the feedback she got was incredible,” Nicole Wilson said. “Her old professor at NYU — the screenwriting professor — said that he thought that her work was on par with some of the professional festivals that he’s witnessed.”

The massive project spawned more projects. The collaboration of student animators with screenwriters inspired Wilson to look into a nonprofit group called Women in Animation. She initiated a WIA club at Purchase.

“With the aligned majors offered at my college,” Wilson said, “I thought it would be great to provide resources and opportunities to my peers through an established organization that supports diversity.”

The other big project was applying for the Peter Roth Internship, a lengthy and rigorous process. Asked during the interviews to describe one undertaking that she was most proud of, Wilson chose the POV festival, which she felt helped her get selected.

“This project reflected my leadership abilities better than any other initiative so far,” said Wilson.

Wilson envisions a varied and fascinating career that builds on all of her experiences. Currently, she serves as a Film/TV Development Intern at the National Association of Latino Independent Producers virtually.

“Applying all that I have learned,” she said, “I hope to become a showrunner someday.”

But she is not only thinking about her own career. “My experience contributing to the education and interests of students seeking opportunities moves me to teach the youth about media when I have an established career,” Wilson said. “I intend to give back.”