Alumni Spotlight

Alys Murray ‘13

Alys Murray graduated from Dunham in 2013 and went to attend NYU Tisch School of the Arts and King’s College in London for her Masters in pursuit of her dream of becoming a full-time working artist.

What inspired you to become a writer of novels as well as a creator of stories for film.

I initially went to college to study Musical Theatre directing – I wanted to direct huge, smash hit Broadway musicals. However, once there, I realized that wasn’t my true dream. A playwriting professor told me I was a promising writer, and after having a play produced in New York City, then being accepted to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, I realized that writing was what I’d been missing in my career path all along. While playwriting in London, I was reading a lot – and I mean a lot of romance novels. My boyfriend at the time, who would go on to become my husband, encouraged me to write a book myself. I did, and about six months later I had my first professional writing contract.

I fell into screenwriting, interestingly enough. It was never originally part of my dream. However, after writing The Christmas Company, a novel for Hallmark Publishing, a producer in Louisiana reached out to me about the possibility of screenwriting for him. I took the opportunity, because I knew if I didn’t, I might never get another chance – and I’ve been screenwriting and writing novels ever since!

Advice that you would give to students considering your career?

Start small, start local. Everyone who is in the entertainment industry dreams of going to New York or Los Angeles, getting “discovered,” and launching their career to blockbuster success overnight. I should know – I went to NYU because I wanted to do just that! But my career really began with writing small-budget films for Hallmark and Lifetime here in Louisiana. Those films built my resume, allowed me to learn a lot in a lower-stakes environment, taught the industry that they could trust me and that I knew what I was doing, and allowed me to build a career that brought me to my development deal with Sony and my Netflix Visionary fellowship.

What advice would you give to your fellow alumni?

Stolen quote, but it’s one that I remember every day. Coach Mike Leach once said during a press conference about a particularly hard loss, “Everyone wanted to win the game; no one wanted to play the game.” And for me, I apply that to my
everyday work. A lot of people say they want to have done hard things. Want to have written a movie. Want to have published a novel. Want to have a successful business. They want the result. A movie. A book. A professional empire. But most people don’t want to actually write a book or a movie. They don’t actually get up every day and do the work that gets them to the result. If you want the rewards, you just have to start – and do a little every day to get you closer to that goal. Don’t be like the people who wants to win the game. Be the person who plays the game. Also, “The risk of failure is essential to innovation.” If you want to create the next big thing, then you have the undeniable chance of failure. Do it anyway.

What was your favorite Dining Hall meal?

Those churros in the cafeteria used to go SO crazy. And the chocolate chip bread pudding! I still think about them to this day!

What was new at Dunham during your senior year (program, building, experience).

My senior year, we opened the arts center complex. As a musical theatre girlie who would go on to direct and write plays, this was a landmark in my time at Dunham. To get to perform on a professional-level stage every day during drama class (and of course during our school musicals) truly gave me the experience and attitude that would carry me all the way through my career.

What college did you attend after Dunham graduation and why?

I attended New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, for two years at their New York Campus and then two years at their London campus. I also attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts for my playwriting training and then King’s College London for my Master’s. My original plan for university was to attend NYU. If I didn’t get into NYU early decision, I was going to take that as a sign that a life in the arts wasn’t for me and attend George Washington University, getting
a double major in Geopolitical Conflict Resolution and Farsi. Thankfully for the entire world, I did get into NYU and pursued my dreams of being a full-time working artist.

NYU is the #1 school for arts in the world, which is why I applied early decision and chose to attend – it was a no-brainer after being accepted. (And I would be lying, as a lifelong Yankees fan, if I said that getting to graduate at Yankee stadium wasn’t a tiny part of my NYU decision!) The same applies to RADA and King’s College London. RADA is the #1 playwriting school in the world, and King’s College was among the top programs in the world for Film Studies Masters. I was determined to be the best I could be, and these schools afforded me the education to get me there.