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Some yellow brick roads begin at CWRU
One alumna's journey from campus to Hollywood
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Alumna Julia Bianco with the Wicked movie credits that include her name and title.Julia Bianco (CWR '16) first saw Wicked on Broadway at age 10 and remains a "huge fan" of the blockbuster musical with its beloved songs and complex relationships between women.
Eighteen years later, she joined the Wicked movie team as the U.S. assistant to director Jon M. Chu, going to pre-production meetings before shooting began in the United Kingdom. She rejoined Chu for the post-production process.
"Working with Jon on Wicked was like a dream," she said. And the post-production experience was "amazing," providing a rare opportunity to see how all the pieces come together on a movie produced on such a grand scale.
Bianco worked on both the first installment of Wicked, which came out in November, and the second, slated for release this coming November.
Now Bianco is living another dream: She wrote Broken Coven (St. Martin's Press), a novel to be released in spring 2026 about two contemporary witches' groups, or "covens," that become immersed in a fierce rivalry in Los Angeles.
Bianco got her first taste of novel-writing as a Case Western Reserve University undergraduate, during a course with Distinguished University Professor Thrity Umrigar, PhD. While Bianco didn't complete the draft, it led to more ideas and drafts of other books until she got the idea for Broken Coven.
She's also working on the second book in the Broken Coven series and continues to work as an assistant in television and film.
"I love getting the opportunity to help tell women's stories across multiple mediums," Bianco said. "I'm so grateful for my time at CWRU, which allowed me to grow as both a person and a writer."
