Kayla Yumi Lewis
Kayla Yumi Lewis is a Korean-American writer with a BFA from NYU. Growing up in the STEM-centric culture of Silicon Valley, she felt like the black sheep on the block—due to both her artistic aspirations and her biracial identity. She’s compelled to tell stories of young people grappling with intersectional identities and finding that the qualities that set them apart also make them extraordinary.
Kayla’s debut YA drama pilot, PARKED IN AMERICA, made its world premiere at SXSW in March 2021 in the Episodic Pilot Competition and won the Pitch-a-thon. PARKED screened at 8 more festivals including SeriesFest, Atlanta FF, and Nashville FF. At SeriesFest, Kayla won the Best Writer (Drama) Award and the Level Forward Impact Award.
Currently, she continues to develop PARKED for series with Abigail Disney's company, Level Forward. She works in development at Uzo Aduba's Meynon Media.
Teenage Wildlife
One hour drama, YA magical realism
Following the death of her mother, a gruff teenage girl with an ethereal connection to the world moves to a rural elite boarding school where her mystical gifts are inaccessible, forcing her to discover who she truly is without her preternatural skills. Here, she experiences the highs and lows of adolescence the way everyone else does, with new friends at her side, all while sinister forces — both human and transcendent — lurk in the shadows.