GREENVILLE, S.C.—As he sat down last summer to try his hand at writing TV comedy, Adam Morgan, a 2007 graduate of Furman University, went with the advice offered all young writers: Go with what you know best.

It paid off big time.

Morgan’s script, titled “Liberal Arts,” is his take on the experiences of a college freshman at a small Southern school much like Furman. Morgan recently won $25,000 and the chance to have his script produced as a national network TV pilot by Fox Broadcasting Co.

The work was picked from more than 600 entries in the Fox-Procter & Gamble Comedy Script Contest, and the award was presented during the 2009 New York Television Festival Awards in New York City on Sept. 26.

Morgan, who grew up in the Carolinas and now lives in Chicago, is a second-year student in Roosevelt University’s Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Creative Writing Program.

The fact that he just got a big break in television hasn’t sunk in just yet.

While Furman isn’t named in the script, Morgan’s alma mater provided a wealth of inspiration.

“Every college has its own mythology and rites of passage, and I just thought it would be a great minefield for story ideas and a great setting for a comedy show,” Morgan was quoted as saying in a press release issued by Roosevelt University.

Morgan, who is concentrating on fiction writing in his graduate studies, has taken a screenwriting class. He wasn’t planning on attending the awards ceremony, but he changed his mind after receiving a phone call from someone affiliated with the New York Television Festival Awards.

He will meet with representatives from Fox and Procter & Gamble to discuss plans for a TV pilot. Morgan hopes to be involved in writing episodes for the TV show if the pilot gets the green light.

Read the Roosevelt University press release.

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10/1/2009

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