Delaware writer behind Netflix's 'Step Sisters,' 'Dear White People'

If there's a low-level job in Hollywood, Chuck Hayward probably worked it.

Before he wrote the Netflix film "Step Sisters" (out Friday) and joined the staff as a story editor for the streaming service's critically-acclaimed comedy series "Dear White People," Hayward put in a decade worth of grunt work.

The Brandywine High School graduate and Northeast Wilmington native moved west after completing college at Syracuse University in 2002. Without any industry connections, he began to make his own.

STORY: The Districts return to rattle The Queen

STORY: Eminem, Kendrick Lamar, Arctic Monkeys & The Killers lead Firefly '18

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

STORY: Remember when Tonya Harding boxed a mailman in Delaware?

He worked as an assistant for years, helping everyone from producers and directors with an eye on being a writer himself. It's something he was first encouraged to do by Brandywine High teachers who first saw his talent.

And even as year by year went by with little to show for it -- both in terms of his resume and in terms of a paycheck -- he stuck with it as he struggled to pay rent at times.

He knew a dude from Delaware could make it in Hollywood. All he had to do was look at his roommate Will Fetters, also a screenwriter.

While roommates, Fetters, a Brandywine Hundred native, wrote the 2010 film Robert Pattinson-led drama "Remember Me." He has since rattled off a string of films: 2012's "The Lucky One," 2014's "The Best of Me" and this year's heavily-anticipated remake of "A Star Is Born," co-starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. 

Hayward saw Fetters' work ethic firsthand when he would leave at night to go out to have fun, leaving Fetters at the apartment writing "Remember Me." As Fetters' career took off, Hayward began to buckle down and focus more on his own work. 

"His story was really inspirational," says Hayward, 37, who needed a shot of inspiration at times. "I would tell people I have to make this work because I'm not qualified to do anything else. I think that mentality got me through some pretty rough times."

These days, Hayward is as busy as Fetters.

The second season of the satirical "Dear White People," which follows a group of black students facing social injustice at a predominantly white school, will surface on Netflix this spring. This time, Hayward will have a new title: executive story editor. (He penned three of the episodes in the first season.)

In addition, Friday marks the release of his first major film with a budget to match: the Charles Stone III-directed "Step Sisters." (Stone, whose 2002 debut film "Drumline" was a hit, has Delaware connections himself, by the way. His late father Chuck Stone, a Tuskeegee Airman and the first president of the National Association of Black Journalists, taught at the University of Delaware for seven years.)

"Step Sisters" -- think "Bring It On" with stepping instead of cheerleading -- tracks the black captain of a sorority step dance team (Megalyn Echikunwoke) who has to teach her inept white classmates how to step ahead of a competition. It's a broader comedy than the more socially pointed "Dear White People." 

It seems all of Hayward's time and effort over the past decade is finally paying off after working smaller writing jobs on programs such as NBC's "One Big Happy" and Nickelodeon's "Wendell and Vinnie."

"I come in battle-tested already with a strong network of people I know now. When I'm in these meetings, we have different points of connection that make them a lot more receptive to me," he says. "They always say it's all about who you know, but I think people misinterpret that to think it's about your parents' connections, how much money you have or what background you come from.

"But a lot of it was just through people I met and relationships that I fostered. And a lot of that came from how I was raised in Delaware."

Hayward grew up near Harlan Elementary School with his older sister Onya, raised by his father Charles, the retired former director of Delaware's Division of Child Support Enforcement, and his mother Saundra, a speech pathologist.

Since he was never good at sports, he was class president for all four years at Brandywine as an extracurricular activity. And while he did try acting, performing in school plays such as Woody Allen's "Don't Drink the Water," he found the experience terrifying.

"I generally retreat from the public and I was much more comfortable writing than on stage," he says.

Instead, he leaned toward work he was doing in English class, focusing on writing, reading and language -- all while being encouraged by a team of teachers who saw something in him.

"They really appreciated that I liked learning about language and literature," Hayward says. "I was lucky in a lot of regards because everyone at Brandywine looked out for me. I still keep in contact with some of them to this day." 

While in Hollywood, Fetters isn't the only Delawarean he's spotted. He bumped into actress and Wilmington native Aubrey Plaza in a restaurant once and lost it a little: "I think I scared her a little bit, I was so excited."

But it's that shared Delaware upbringing that Hayward repeatedly points to as secret for his years-in-the-waiting success.

"We were raised to treat everyone with respect and kindness and that goes a really long way in a town where most people don't behave that way," he says, recalling his visit home to Delaware for the holidays. "I went into Wawa and a 7-year-old held the door for me. Oh my God -- that would never happen in Los Angeles. It made me smile and think, 'That's what has helped me be successful.'"

Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).

IF YOU WATCH

What: "Step Sisters," written by Wilmington native Chuck Hayward

Where: Netflix

When: Streaming begins Friday