Full Sail Stories

Spending two decades in Los Angeles provided Susan Albershardt with a diverse portfolio of experience in the entertainment industry. The Full Sail University course director has since taken this and other unique endeavors to give back to creative writing  students.

The native of Indianapolis, Indiana graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Communications and an MBA, both from Rollins College. She later earned a Creative Writing MFA from Full Sail. From a young age, she was determined to make a living through the written word.

“I wrote poetry and stories and was a huge reader,” Susan shares. “We had one TV in the house and my dad controlled the remote. I didn’t like to watch most of what he liked, so I spent lots of time reading and writing.”

At 19, she picked up and moved across the country to San Francisco, California before heading south to LA. It was there where she says she learned so much on the job, doing everything from production work to modeling to acting.

“I was on a movie set and I just absorbed what all the different jobs were and who did what,” she recalls.

The first movie she appeared in was Hanging on a Star. She later played Laura on the 1980s hit drama series The A-Team. She also cut her teeth as a writer, working for well-known TV producer/writer Glen Larson who created shows like The Fall Guy, Magnum, P.I., Knight Rider, and Battlestar Galactica.

“I learned a lot from him,” she says. “I learned how he worked with his writers. He knew the formula for primetime action and adventure shows. He didn’t think twice about using a Sharpie to cross out several pages of a script. I learned you have to have thick skin and you can’t be so protective of your work. Sometimes you have to be willing to go back and try again.”

She even got to know renowned actor/filmmaker Jack Nicholson who once wrote a letter of recommendation for her.

Upon returning to Florida years later, she led the television development department at Universal Studios for five years. She went on to serve as the Florida State Film Commissioner under former Governor Jeb Bush; during that time, she oversaw a multi-billion dollar film and entertainment budget for the state and helped push for entertainment-related legislation. Plus, she launched a business consulting firm, Albershardt & Associates, LLC, which she maintains today.

A big reason Susan pursued her graduate studies was to eventually teach. She came to Full Sail in January 2009. Her current courses include Professional Development Seminar I and Professional Development Seminar II. She has also taught some of the Project and Portfolio classes, the Creative Writing Industry course, and Media Distribution in the entertainment business curriculum. She even published a book, The Creative Writing Professional Development Workbook, geared toward her creative writing students, as well as a business book, Make Money Renting Your RV.

And how does she describe her teaching style as an instructor?

“I try to get students to talk [to find out] what they’re thinking, wondering about, what’s on their minds,” she shares. “I want them to feel like my class is a safe place to express themselves and explore new ideas and concepts. I want them to research, spread their wings, and try something different.”

As an educator, Susan says she is most proud of “helping the next generation of leaders and writers. It doesn't get better than this… I like the idea that I am lighting a path behind myself for those that come behind me to have a clearer focus on their final destination.”