Heather Marion, Class of 2005

Published by Concordia University, Nebraska 6 years ago on Fri, Sep 15, 2017 11:59 AM
Photo courtesy Jenn Carroll

Heather (Williams) Marion, ’05 came to Concordia from Superior, Nebraska, to study biochemistry in the Fall of 2001. Her plan was to go to medical school to become either a funeral home director or a pediatrician. Having grown up in the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS), she already knew several people at Concordia and was attracted by the Concordia Exchange program.

Marion’s father, David Williams is a mortician in Superior and together with his brother Dayre, operate Williams Funeral Homes in Superior, Red Cloud, and Edgar, Nebraska. Her mother, Kim is the bookkeeper at Superior High School and in the summers leads the Vacation Bible School program at Centennial Lutheran Church.

“While at CUNE, I wanted to take the opportunity to explore other parts of the country through Concordia's exchange program,” said Marion. “I spent 2002-2003 at Concordia College in Bronxville, New York, where I took more drama, writing, performing, and debate courses than I had in Nebraska, as I wanted to spend as much time as possible exploring Broadway, Times Square, and the NYC entertainment scene during my temporary stay.”

Once she returned to Concordia, Nebraska, she began taking courses in literature, journalism, History, and drama then changed her major to English. In 2005, she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in English, with minors in History and Spanish.

After graduation, Marion began work as a photojournalist at “News Link,” a media company in Lincoln, Nebraska, that generates newsletters for other companies. After several years, and additional writing courses, her career as a screenwriter began.

Heather and her siblings l-r: Amy, Heather, Rhys, Lauren

“With the support of my family and best friends/housemates Steph and Jeni McGowen, and the countless other amazing friends in my life, I set my sights on screenwriting, let go of all my back-up plans, and moved to LA in 2008 with all my stuff in my lil' Pontiac Grand Am.”

Marion has written for many popular television shows, most recently AMC’s “Better Call Saul” where she was also a dual Writers' Assistant/Script Coordinator for Season 2 while co-writing the finale episode (#210, “Klick”) with Vince Gilligan. That script earned a nomination for a 2017 Writers Guild Award.

She currently serves as a full-time staff writer for Season 3 of “Better Call Saul,” earning her first solo-writing credit (Episode #308, “Slip”). In addition, she is working on a feature project with Jeff Garlin for Netflix. 

“The faculty at Concordia encouraged, instructed, guided, and offered spiritual support that gave me the skills to succeed in this industry and the courage to give it my best shot,” Marion said. “Dr. Lisa Ashby, Dr. Daniel Thurber, Dr. Jerry Pfabe, Dr. Robert Fiala, and many many more!”

A continuation of Heather Marion’s profile will appear in the Winter issue of “The Broadcaster.”