Newhouse alumna Charlotte Lillie Balogh holds a copy of her new young adult novel, Capsized, during a recent campus visit.
Alumna Charlotte Lillie Balogh Writes Her Way in the Entertainment Industry
In the world of Charlotte Lillie Balogh ’17, rowing and storytelling have long played prominent roles. This fall, those two influential forces came together for Balogh with the publication of “Capsized,” (Delacorte Press), a young adult mystery novel centered on a girls’ competitive rowing team.
“I can’t help but see a story anywhere I go,” says Balogh, a Remembrance Scholar who majored in television, radio and film at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. “I’m always people watching or taking notes.”
The Los Angeles-based author, screenwriter and former competitive rower turned coach spent eight years working on “Capsized,” which she originally pitched as a TV script. Now, in a full-circle moment, she’s developing it as a pilot for Hulu. In summer 2025, she published her first young adult novel, “Kill the Lax Bro,” (Delacorte Press), a darkly comic murder mystery.
At Syracuse, the Boston area native competed for the Orange women’s rowing team for a year and got a firsthand look at the entertainment industry through the Newhouse LA program, interning with NBCUniversal. But it was screenwriting professor Keith Giglio who recognized her affinity for superheroes and comics and put Diane Nelson ’89, then head of DC Entertainment, and Geoff Johns, an acclaimed superhero screenwriter and executive, on her radar.
She met Nelson on a Newhouse visit and built a relationship with her that eventually helped her land a job as an assistant to Johns at DC Entertainment, where she worked on numerous projects, including “Wonder Woman 1984,” and the CW series “Stargirl.”
Balogh shared more insights in a conversation with Syracuse University Today.
Rowing has always been a massive part of my life. My dad was a rower and got me into it when I was little. In high school I joined this competitive team with people from all over Boston. It was awesome—and rowing is why I got to go to Syracuse in the first place. That opened a huge door.
Now, as an adult and coach, I can look back and see that sport taught me time management, discipline, teamwork, these basic values of sportsmanship, camaraderie. I think I have the work ethic I do today because of it.
In an early draft of “Capsized,” I got feedback that the dialogue sounded too realistic. I was offended because I was like, “Don’t you want it to sound like real teenagers?” I don’t know how much of it is process or intentional, but I spend time with real-life young adults. The highlight of my week is coaching my RowLA team and hearing about what’s going on with them and looking at the challenges in their lives. I love it and think that has kind of osmosed into my writing.
I would not be where I am if I hadn’t had someone two or three steps in front of me holding the door open. I don’t think the doors to DC would have opened if I hadn’t connected and met with Diane Nelson. That would not have happened if Keith Giglio hadn’t pointed me in that direction, and so I try to pass it along and believe in treating others the way you want to be treated.
Treat every homework assignment like it is a real project that you can work on after graduation—because it is….
Look into alumni at companies or with a career you’re interested in and find ways to authentically reach out and see what you can learn. Approaching every one of those relationships with curiosity is key—as opposed to going into anything thinking, “I’m going to get a job out of this.”
One is that sense of team, showing up for someone else the way you want them to show up for you. Supporting your teammates with your own effort, and just that buy-in and building community is tremendously important. It’s an honor to be with these young people as they’re learning how to show up for one another in these spaces.
