Faculty Spotlight – Kyle Arrington
Introduce yourself briefly and tell me a bit about your background. What is your role at FSUFilm?
I was raised in the Old South (Augusta, GA) by Midwestern Hippies and grew up playing basketball, drums, and doing lots of theater. I was obsessed with films and writing from a VERY young age, so the FSU Film School was on my radar for a long time. I didn’t get into the BFA program, but I came to FSU anyway to study Creative Writing and Film, and volunteered on MFA film sets throughout undergrad. I then got my MFA in Screenwriting & Playwriting at the Film School, graduating in 2009. I lived and worked in Los Angeles for 11 years before moving back to Florida with my family in 2020, where I’ve been focusing on developing, writing, directing, consulting, and teaching. Since 2021, I have been spearheading the TV Writing track of the MFA Motion Picture – Writing Program, bringing my experience to the table for the students to better prepare them for the industry.
Who is your favorite filmmaker and what is your favorite movie or show?
I am so engrossed in TV that when I think about my “favorites” I think about showrunners whose careers I’d love to have. For me, Damon Lindelof (Lost, The Leftovers, Watchmen) and Graham Yost (Silo, Justified) stick out the most – I love the consistency of their work, their range, and the longevity of their careers. For my favorite movie and show, I’d have to say The Neverending Story was my first favorite and most inspirational from when I was a kid, and similarly LOST was the first show that made me comprehend the true depth and power of TV storytelling.
What are some of your favorite projects that you have worked on?
In 2011, I and a bunch of MFA alums from my class (Ken Adachi, Eric Bader, Morgan Hall, etc.) made a feature called DEAD DAD that I wrote, produced, and acted in. To this day, it was the most collaborative and enjoyable film set I’ve ever been on, and I’ve tried to replicate that vibe ever since. I’m also still very proud of that film – we had a healthy festival run from 2012-2013 and won a bunch of awards. I also wrote on four seasons of CW’s The Originals, and my first episode ever was a story about vampires fighting in World War I, so there’s no way I can’t add that to my “favorite projects” list.
What does your typical day look like?
I wake up at 6:30 every morning to write for at least an hour before I make breakfast for my wife and son. After family time, I usually spend another 2-3 hours writing or working on various projects that I’m developing. I also work as a consultant and have a myriad of other jobs, so I keep myself busy throughout the day and try my best (but don’t always succeed) to shut off around 5 to spend some quality time with my family, letting my son use me as a human jungle gym.
What is different about FSUFilm from other film schools?
FSUFilm has the distinct ability to help students hone their craft outside of direct industry scrutiny. This allows voices to be truer to the artist, with a depth that is rarely seen from recent graduates. With regards to the writing program, the faculty and I work very hard to instill up-to-date industry knowledge into their craft with the intention of having industry-ready graduates. Former students of mine have found themselves in writers’ rooms or getting notes from executives who have told them they already are acting like professionals. That’s the goal!
As an FSUFilm alum, what is it like being part of the “FSUFilm Mafia”? Did the alumni network impact you in any way?
I wouldn’t have a career without the FSUFilm Mafia. I love being a part of it so very much. Every single job I got in LA was in some way thanks to fellow alums. Whether it was working on HOUSE, M.D., The Big C, Conan, The Originals, both features that I wrote, or the many other odd jobs I worked from BreakMedia, Snapchat, or comedy punch-up writing… each and every one of them was in part thanks to the FSUFilm Alumni Network. I work very hard to pay that forward and support alums and former students as much as I can.
You’ve been working with the first-year MFAs on their most recent project (called the M3s), filming six episodes of a series on a virtual production stage. Can you tell me a bit about that process?
The M3s were designed to bring a true TV experience to the film school while also utilizing our amazing virtual production wall. In TV, the writers are ultimately in charge, so the writing students and I had a writers’ room where we broke a season of stories and wrote them before turning the scripts over to the production students. Then – like in TV – directors were assigned to each episode where they had to work with a producer, cinematographer, production designer, VFX artist, and other crew who were also assigned to their episode. Over the course of 12 days, we filmed all six episodes on the virtual production wall. It was a new experience for every student, but despite that, everyone showed up and delivered great work, making a first run at the M3s a very special one. I’m excited for everyone to see REENTRY – it’s an incredibly cool project that the MFAs knocked out of the park!
FSUFilm pays for the second-year Screenwriting MFAs to go to LA for an intensive each year. What makes this experience so important for the students, and what is it like from a faculty perspective?
The LA Intensive is near and dear to my heart because I used to be the on-the-ground mentor that the Film School sent the writers to at the beginning of the summer. They spend eight days having 2-4 meetings a day with alums and other industry professionals, really getting an in-depth look at what it means to be a working writer in the industry. In addition to fellow alums, I love being able to introduce them to colleagues of mine: from showrunners to development executives, directors, actors, and producers, who all have had illustrious careers and have achieved it all while being good people. It’s tantamount to me to introduce them to quality people first and foremost, because living and working in LA can be tough, but it’s much easier when you’re surrounded by good people who care about you and will fight for you. That’s the experience I try to give them every year!
What do you think someone applying to the MFA Screenwriting program should know about the FSU Film School?
The MFA Screenwriting program is unlike any other on the planet. We have unique classes like the “Writer’s Room Simulation,” where a class is assigned a pilot and then spends the semester breaking a season of story and writing multiple episodes. There is no other class like it offered at any other film school. Also, our amazing professors work hard to deliver excellent classes on writing pilots and features, all while offering opportunities for students to collaborate with directors on student films, the serialized TV experience of the M3s, and a capstone project in their final semester that is intended to be their flagship script that they take with them into the industry. Lastly, there’s the amazing opportunity to be the writer on the Third-Year feature, meaning that in three years a writer could graduate with: multiple pilots, multiple features, multiple shorts they wrote, experience writing and producing a serialized TV show, and a produced feature film. Honestly, I can’t overstate how incredible an opportunity the FSUFilm MFA writing program is for aspiring writers!
As a film industry veteran, what advice would you give to students pursuing a career in screenwriting?
My main advice is for writers to learn as soon as they can that writing isn’t just putting words on a page: it’s about cultivating empathy, learning how to collaborate, killing your ego to receive notes, and learning how to stay humble so that you are always growing. It’s as much of an emotional experience as it is an academic one. While a writer is developing their projects, they should also be developing themself as a person, seeking out new experiences, being a sponge in every situation they find themself in, and learning how to see the story in everything and everyone so that when they do sit down to write actual pages, there’s a never-ending flow of inspiration at their fingertips.
If you are interested in the work our MFA Writing students produce, catch the screening of all six episodes of the M3 project, as well as the 2026 M2 collection, in the Student Cinema at FSU’s Askew Student Life Center on Friday, July 31, 2026 at 7:00 pm or online here.
For more information about the MFA Writing Program and all things FSUFilm, visit film.fsu.edu.