Independent Writers' Caucus
Elan M. Carson
Elan grew up in Detroit as one of the “Whitest Black” kids you’d ever meet, thanks in part to her grandmother, an English teacher who insisted she speak properly, and Elan’s love of The Brady Bunch. What did this make her to her classmates? The kid on the bleachers…
During her tween and teen years to cope with her outsider status, Elan found catharsis in two things: rebelling against the status quo and writing angsty poetry. Was she going to conform? No. She was going to stand out as a shining example of what it meant to be unique, listening to commercial pop-rock bands like Evanescence and Fall Out Boy. These weren’t radio hits in her neck of the hoods.
Penning goth poetry (yes, she had a poem called Dreams of Dreary) carried her through high school until she left for college in California.
At her liberal arts college, she discovered new challenges, however. Some of her peers had never seen a Black person before (this was pre-Obama era) and she was placed on a pedestal of tokenism upheld by microaggressions. Again, she turned to writing to cope.
Today, Elan now finds humor and heart exploring themes of racial identity through sketch comedy and larger-than-life characters in her T.V. pilots. She also produces TikToks with her mom, letting others peek into the wholesome and unfiltered life of Black mother-daughter relationships, filling a niche in the content space that’s needed. Through comedy, Elan has moved proudly from the bleachers to center stage.
Honors & Awards
Emerging Screenwriters - Quarterfinalist - DIRTY DONNA - 2025
Final Draft Big Break - Quarterfinalist - INFLUENCER - 2024
Shore Scripts - Quarterfinalist - PINK SLIPPED - 2020
Fresh Voices - Semifinalist - THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL - 2020
non-WGA
Female, Black
INFLUENCER
Half-Hour Single-Cam, Comedy
As a self-absorbed micro-influencer chases online fame in Los Angeles, her over-the-top antics wreak havoc in the lives of her single mom best friend and her friend's impressionable young daughter.
JUST A SPRITZ
Half-Hour Single-Cam, Comedy
When a disgraced CEO takes a humbling job selling perfume at a department store, she must navigate the world of petty coworker rivalries, commission wars, and keeping her ego in check, all while her co-worker coaches her on being a basic saleswomen.
THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL "Take a Stand"
One-Hour Single-Cam, Drama
Midge gets new neighbors in her building. They’re black, bourgeois, and lack any knowledge of Jewish culture. When she invites them to one of their acts and they’re not allowed inside, she has to decide in the moment what she truly stands for.
Character-driven, Female-centric, Satire, Silly, Late Night, Sketch
Female, Black
unrepped