CSU professor, writer hosts screening for Hulu series

COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) - A college professor in the Fountain City shared her talents in the entertainment industry with students.

Columbus State University English associate professor Natalia Temesgen is a writer and producer for a popular Hulu series.

Thursday, CSU’s English department hosted a special screening of the season two premiere to show students what people in Columbus are capable of.

That series is “Reasonable Doubt,” starring Emayatzy Corinealdi as Jax Stewart, a Los Angeles defense attorney. A person who played a huge part of the show is Natalia Temesgen, a writer and producer of the drama series who doubles as a creative writing professor at CSU.

“I wrote episode six of this new season, but I was able to be in the writer’s room the whole 20 week process, pitching ideas, helping to develop with character arc, and as a producer I got to help with the entire production,” said Temesgen.

With the new season of the drama coming out, Temesgen shared information about her behind-the-scenes role, things she learned, and realistic tips for students to take notes on.

“I remember growing up in Columbus and being like this is something that I dreamed of doing. It’s really special when I get to share this with students and people in town. I imagine my younger self saying this is something I can do in the future,” said Temesgen.

Someone who aspires to follow in her footsteps is CSU freshman Kyler Driskell, who had a lot of questions for her future professor.

“I think it’s really cool that one of my professors has actually done the thing that I’m working towards,” said Driskell. “Ideally, I would love to be in the writer’s room, I would love to work on scripts, and do that kind of thing, and I’d have to do a lot of networking and get out of my comfort zone.”

Temesgen says it’s hard to balance both professions, but it’s manageable.

”What’s been great that what I’m doing as a TV writer is aligned with what I’m doing as a creative writing do here as a professor, so there’s an understanding here on campus that this is something valuable,” said Temesgen.

She says it was a great experience being around talent like veteran actor, Morris Chestnut.

“He smells like peppermint. Whenever I would go in to give him a note or something and I was close enough...he smelled like Altoids...very classy man.”

That crew for “Reasonable Doubt” also includes a CSU grad and production assistant Nekesha Sherere.

“I was thrilled to see CSU alums or really just Georgia folks working on this production. This production for season one was in LA, the show is set in LA, my boss is from LA, we get it, but I’m so glad that production ended up in Norcross because Georgia has so much to offer the industry. We just have a warmth and a willingness to do the work,” said Temesgen.