Faculty & Staff: Faculty

Contact Info Dept. of Drama & Dance Aidekman 101A Medford, MA 02155 Phone: 617-627-3524 Email Lecturer

Drama

Susan Kouguell, Lecturer (part-time), Screenwriting

Susan Kouguell received her B.A. from SUNY Purchase.
Award-winning screenwriter and filmmaker, Susan Kouguell, teaches screenwriting and film at Tufts University and Screenwriters Online, and presents screenwriting seminars nationwide. Susan is the author of The Savvy Screenwriter: How to Sell Your Screenplay (and Yourself) Without Selling Out! (St. Martin's Griffin) and her articles appear in MovieMaker Magazine, Scr(i)pt, Writer's Digest, Screenwriter, and on the WGA Web site. Her six short films are in the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection and archives, won numerous international festivals, and were included in the Whitney Museum of Art's Biennial. She is the recipient of many grants and fellowships, among them the MacDowell Colony, Edward Albee Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Creative Artists Public Service (CAPS), and New York Foundation for the Arts.

Susan served as story editor/researcher/production coordinator/crew on Louis Malle's documentary And the Pursuit of Happiness. She worked as a story analyst for Miramax, Dustin Hoffman's Punch Productions, and Viacom, and as a consultant for Warner Bros. and Republic Pictures, and in the story and casting departments at Paramount Pictures. Screenwriting credits include over a dozen independent production companies, including Anjelica Films, and two voiceover narrations for Miramax Films.

As chairperson of her motion picture consulting company, Su-City Pictures East, Susan works with over 1,000 clients and film studios worldwide. Some of the award-winning films she consulted on include Kevin Bacon's Losing Chase (Golden Globe Best Actress Helen Mirren); Tag Purvis's Red Dirt, Jay Chandrasekhar's Puddle Cruiser; Jane Spencer's Little Noises, Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky's Brother's Keeper, and associate produced Maria Escobedo's Rum & Coke and Jay Craven's Where the Rivers Flow North.

Composer Alvin Singleton commissioned Susan to write two choral texts for works for chorus and orchestra. Performances include the Cincinnati May Festival, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and Spelman College. Susan is a violist with the Portsmouth Symphony Orchestra, performed with New York orchestras, touring to South America and the Far East, and is Board President of the Great Bay Youth Orchestra.

Course Taught:
DR 46 International Women Film Directors
DR 77 Screenwriting I
DR 178 Screenwriting II