ne
The Arts
Anatomy
Lesson
Local talent Tia Napolitano
takes Los Angeles by storm, then
ends up on a grey Seattle set.
By Nancy Hitchcock
I
Plot Pitcher
North Shore native
Tia Napolitano lives in
Los Angeles where she
writes for ABC TV.
174 nshoremag.com December 2013
NBKJ Dec13 Tia.indd 174
f you've ever been curious
about who writes those funny
lines or dramatic conversations
that you hear on your favorite TV
shows, you will now be able to see writers discuss the process on the Sundance
Channel's The Writers' Room, which first
aired July 28, 2013. In a recent Boston Globe
article about the show, reporter Matthew
Gilbert wrote: "The most acclaimed shows
of our time…have been driven almost
exclusively by writers with distinct and
original visions. Without these people,
the 'quality TV' revolution in recent years
wouldn't have occurred."
The North Shore is home to one such
TV writer, who recently had her first episode for Grey's Anatomy aired on ABC. Tia
Napolitano—who was born in Winchester,
grew up in Medford and Newburyport, and
graduated from Brooks School in 2002—
describes how her love of writing led her
to overcome a major obstacle and land a
writing position that has her working on
behalf of Shonda Rhimes—the acclaimed
writer-producer of the hit series.
One of the scariest yet most exciting
days in Napolitano's career occurred while
she was working as a writers' assistant for
Grey's Anatomy. She'd written a freelance
episode and had to watch as the actors
read the script aloud, scene by scene, to
gauge if they were laughing at her jokes
and tearing up in the appropriate places.
In a spacious rehearsal hall on a studio
lot, Napolitano found herself staring
into the faces of Grey's Anatomy's stars,
along with its creator-executive producer,
photograph by rick poon
10/25/13 2:09 PM
