Emmy Award Winning Chicago TV Producer Changes Career to Write Hollywood Movies

Sylvia L. Jones is the newest rising star in television episodic and film production. From a stellar career as a journalist in broadcast news, to a sought-after writer for hit shows like Starz’s Power Book IV: Force, Showtime’s The Chi, and Cherish the Day on OWN, the Chicago native’s unique approach to a career change is an encouraging story of faith, and determination.

This past February, the Chicago branch of the National Academy Of Television Arts and Science hosted a webinar featuring Sylvia’s journey, ‘From the Newsroom to Hollywood’. The two-hour virtual event was moderated by Afua Owusu and attended by both NATAS members and aspiring writers.

Sylvia began the webinar discussing her tough decision to leave her highly-coveted job as Special Projects Producer at ABC-TV Chicago and move to Los Angeles to start a new career.

“I approached what I now refer to as my midlife crisis. At 44, I was trying to decide if I wanted to stay the course and ride this wave to retirement or give up my steady salary, health insurance and 401k to chase my dream.”

The Emmy-award winning journalist decided to leave Chicago to study screenwriting full-time in the Professional Program in Writing for Television at UCLA. To add to her excitement, she received her Acceptance Letter just two weeks before classes were set to begin. “I didn’t know what to expect in Hollywood, but I figured the worst that could happen is that I would fail. I would rather try and fail than live with regret.”

When Sylvia was asked by a webinar participant how she navigated such a fast move from Chicago and obtained residency in Los Angeles. She explained it was with the help of a long-time friend. “I asked my freshman-year college roommate’s mom if I could live with her. Fortunately, she welcomed me in. I had my own car, but LA is very expensive. If I had rented an apartment, I would’ve run out of my savings pretty quickly.”

In her early experience in Los Angeles, Sylvia realized that working on film and episodic programs were extremely enjoyable, but despite the long hours there was no stability. Unlike television news which operates on a continuous cycle, entertainment jobs would come to an abrupt end.
“While on my first job as a Production Assistant on the set of Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, I thought ‘wow this is what it’s like to live and work in Hollywood.’ But after a few months of filming, the Director would say, ‘that’s a wrap,’ and that would be our last day and the entire crew would be back on the job market looking for work. The idea of waiting for a ‘pick-up ‘to see if we’ would work the next season was a foreign concept to me.”

With advice from seasoned co-workers, Sylvia was encouraged to stay in touch with fellow crew members, because they tend to share job prospects with one another. In her job search, Sylvia knew she wanted to pursue a career as a writer, so she stayed in contact with the Showrunner, who is the Head Writer and Executive Producer of a series.

Her keeping in contact with the Showrunner led to her first opportunity in the ‘writers’ room’ where she was hired as a Writers’ Assistant on the first season of Showtime’s The Chi. She was later promoted to the coveted position of Writer On Set for several episodes. “The Writer On Set works closely with the Director. In the absence of the Showrunner, this writer makes sure the Director is interpreting the scenes as intended and the actors are saying the lines as written. If there are questions about scenes or intent, or there’s dialogue that needs to be changed on the fly, the Writer On Set makes those calls.” 

Sylvia described how working on various projects allowed her to learn and develop her skill-set. Over a span of a few years, she says it wasn’t long before she was hired on a number of different shows and each time promoted to a new position. After The Chi, she worked as a Staff Writer on USA’s Pearson and ascended through the ranks to her most recent position, Supervising Producer, on NBC’s The Endgame.

One of Sylvia’s proudest achievements since transitioning her career was writing the award-winning Lifetime biopic, The Clark Sisters: First Ladies Of Gospel. “Having been a lifelong fan, it was a dream come true just to be approached about the project. But for my script to get made and do well is more than I ever imagined.”

Sylvia shares her story to budding writers to encourage them to pursue their dreams in the entertainment industry. She’s created the Sounds Like Joy Writers’ Retreat & Workshop where participants can learn television and film writing skills during a summer weekend in Chicago. “We teach ready-to-apply lessons like story structure and character development, inside information like what execs are looking for in a pitch, and how to make a lasting impression in a general meeting.“

Sylvia says its okay to think big and sometimes that requires bold moves including relocating, enrolling in new classes and stepping out on faith. “Sharing my story is my way of showing that dreams can come true. I’m living proof that the best is yet to come, even if you’re beyond a certain age.” And when changing careers during midlife, Sylvia says, “You only get one life to live, but you don’t have to do just one thing with your life.”

For more information on Sounds Like Joy Writers’ Retreat & Workshop visit sylvialjones.com.