Cameron Dupuy knows crime, in fact he knows it so well, he could script an entire television episode about it. NCIS: New Orleans episodes to be precise.
During his time at the University of New Orleans, Dupuy was captivated by film and television, which he soon made his major. While completing his undergraduate degree, Dupuy secured himself a once-in-a-lifetime internship with NCIS: New Orleans.
Dupuy worked hard throughout the internship, and when it came time for his graduation, Dupuy was asked to stay as a script coordinator for the show.
Now, in his current role, Dupuy rubs elbows with some of the most seasoned television writers on the market. Each day, it is up to Dupuy to work in the writer’s room and serve as the last line of defense before the script and story documents see the light of day. Dupuy then proofreads the documents and gives his notes to the writers.
What Dupuy enjoys the most and finds most exciting about his position is keeping the continuity of the show and making sure everything is legally correct. This means that Dupuy has the pleasure of providing many of the names on the show. He has even worked the names of several brothers into episodes.
While his role as script coordinator keeps him on his toes each day, it is Dupuy’s ultimate goal to become a writer. Recently, he had the opportunity to co-write an episode for the show, an opportunity he says was the highlight of his career, so far.
“Personally, I learned so much about how a TV show works and the mechanics of how they are written, and how to write a good one, so that has been a great experience for learning,” said Dupuy.
The episode which Dupuy cowrote will air at the end of February and took about two months in all for it to come to life. After pitching the idea and writing the first draft (over 60 pages written in about 10 days), Dupuy and his writing partner were able to help visualize what the episode and costumes would look like.
In addition to a great writing opportunity, Dupuy says the lessons he learned about deadlines and working with a plan in mind have been invaluable.
“It’s amazing what you can get done when you’re told you only have 10 days to do it, “said Dupuy, laughing. “I would never think I would be able to write a script in 10 days, but here I am.”
Dupuy credits much of what he learned about collaboration and communicating effectively with others to his days in Lambda Chi Alpha.
“It [Lambda Chi Alpha] had a huge effect on me in general, it was a really meaningful part of my life,” said Dupuy. “I think the two things I’ve carried forward with me are leadership qualities and how to talk to people efficiently.”
Such a large part of television writing, according to Dupuy, is pitching an idea and being able to clearly articulate that idea, something he says he learned from talking to brothers from all walks of life in the fraternity.
While Dupuy is just at the beginning stages of his career, he has already had meaningful experiences which he hopes will carry him forward in his dream of becoming a full-fledged writer.
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