Julie Lacey, nominated for her writing on the Power Play episode ‘Foolish Heart,’ says she hopes all her jobs are as educational as Power Play was: ‘I learned so much.’

Lacey – a staff writer on aac’s Power Play with several others, including the series creators – has since added the credit of producer to her personal legend with her work on I Was a Sixth Grade Alien. The latter was offered to her by aac right after Power Play finished, based on the strength of her work on that series.

‘That’s how it works with series, a lot of it is word of mouth. You work so intimately with people that you really do get a feel for who can do the jobs.’

Although she has no plans to give up writing for television – having written three I Was a Sixth Grade Alien episodes for last season – Lacey says she found the challenge inherent in producing for the first time satisfying.

‘I’m interested in writing, I’m interested in tv, and writer/producer is the credit everybody aspires to. They’re both really challenging and incredibly interesting. I really enjoyed the production part of it – I enjoyed being on set more than I had been. The demands are different – absolutely different. In production it’s comprehensive, whereas in episodic writing, when you’re part of a staff you’re in charge of one aspect. We broke it up so each writer had one area. In producing you are overseeing all areas, so it’s a larger job.

‘In my next project I’d just like to work with people I can learn as much from as those I worked with on Power Play. Right now I think what I’d like to do is read new series and look at the new seasons, which will be starting in winter. You have to know what’s out there. I love writing, but I’m happy to keep the diversity happening. Every job I take I consider on a project-by-project basis.’ *