Emerging Screenwriter Interview: Adam Karpel

A native New Yorker, Adam received a BFA from Ithaca College and completed one year of his MFA at UCLA before deciding to quit because those hard wooden classroom chairs were really chafing his ass. Writing began for him when his first play was produced at the West Coast Ensemble Theater in Hollywood. A creative executive who happened to be in the audience one night called Adam the next day and asked him to write a movie for him. Spoiler alert: it never got made. Shocking, I know! Nevertheless, he persisted. Adam's day job as an Executive Producer of unscripted television shows such as "The Real Housewives of Orange County", "The Real Housewives of Dallas", "Southern Charm" and "The Bradshaw Bunch" pays his bills while he writes. To date, his sojourn in the scripted world includes selling a treatment to Disney Feature Animation, being a staff writer on comedy pilots for AMC and Discovery Kids, acceptance into the Warner Bros Comedy Writers Program, being a finalist for the Disney Fellowship in Screenwriting, developing a romantic comedy with Bryan Cranston for him to direct, and writing several features and pilots that have all received accolades from each contest in which they've been entered. Adam's most recent success includes being one of ISA's TOP 25 SCREENWRITERS TO WATCH IN 2025. His Horror / Comedy "HELL HOLES was one of five ISA Staff Picks for December 2024 and one of ISA's 25 Top Reads for Winter 2024. "HELL HOLES" is also in the TOP 8% of all scripts on COVERFLY. Adam's bread and butter is comedy, and his peanut butter and jelly is infusing other genres like horror, action and sci-fi with that comedy. Except for his one drama feature. That one is strictly a BLT on toasted wheat, light mayo.