COLUMBIA — Alex Trebek, host of the popular game show "Jeopardy!", and his wife are funding a faculty position for Stephens College's new Master of Fine Arts in TV and Screenwriting program.

According to a news release from Stephens College, the Alex and Jean Trebek Family Foundation is supporting a Guest Lectureship in the Psychology of Character, which will become an endowed chair in screenwriting.

Program Director Ken LaZebnik, who is friends with the Trebek family, helped start the program. LaZebnik is a screenwriter and playwright in Los Angeles and a Columbia native. He wanted to create a position that would focus on the psychology of film and television characters.

LaZebnik said he wondered, "How can we as writers show the fully human aspect of our characters?"

He said Jean Trebek had a combined interest in theater and psychology. She was interested in the power of film and storytelling in a truthful way.

One goal of the program is to increase the number of women writing in the industry, LaZebnik said.

The program is open to both men and women, but the focus is on women. Women are "grossly underrepresented in Hollywood," said Janese Silvey of the college's Office of Marketing and Communication.

There are many talented women writers associated with the program who understand how hard it is to be a writer and a woman in this industry, LaZebnik said. 

"We want to give women writers the inspiration and skills they need to successfully compete for screenwriting jobs in film, television and online media," LaZebnik said in a news release.

The program is enrolling students for August 2015. Through the program, students work online with professional mentors. They also take classes at the Jim Henson Studios in L.A. for 10 days during the semester.

The program has also gained support from women writers, including Winnie Holzman, the creator of the ABC series "My So-Called Life"; and Linda Woolverton, who wrote the 2014 movie "Maleficent" starring Angelina Jolie.

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