Episodes

We talk to the fantastic Lisa Morales. She tells us about crashing James Cameron's Hummer, her role as an executive and then giving that up to become a writer. She walks us through being fired for not being confident enough, ...

We have the the amazing ‘Jewaiian’ twins who tell us about writing Moana, their early failures and why poetry didn’t pay the bills. They talk about representation in native Hawaiian storytelling, being down to their last 12 d...

Season 3 Premiere We have legendary Simpsons showrunner Mike Scully on the show. He talks about being pigeon-holed as ‘Cartoon Boy’, losing out on an Emmy to the Rugrats Passover special and writing jokes for $25 for Yakov Sm...

After a season break and, not withstanding the strike, the podcast returns. In this pre-season show, we talk about the strike, what people can expect this season and how much Noah surfs. We talk writers, execs and who you can...

We temporarily return from our mid-season break to hear from Burn It Down author Mo Ryan. She talks about writing her book, what she tried to achieve and her hopes for the industry. On her second podcast appearance she descri...

Our 100th guest is the amazing Erica Huggins, President of Fuzzy Door Productions. She talks about her early days as a film editor, being fired and told she will never work in this town again and her subsequent successful car...

We talk to the extraordinary Chef Andre Rush in a slightly different episode of the podcast. The former solider and White House Chef talks about his transition into television, the 'sharks' he found there and why he chose to ...

We talk to the excellent Brannon Braga. He talks about the pressure of working on the Star Trek franchise, understanding when he was, and wasn't, 'in peril', and we walk through his failures. Brannon tells us about which show...

We talk to Steve Vitolo, aspiring writer and now a tech leader. He tells us his story of writing in rooms, getting his show cancelled and developing his app on the side. He talks not taking advantage of his new found access, ...

We talk to the amazing Diane Ruggiero-Wright. She talks passionately about early success, a big cancellation and nearly returning to waitressing. She tells us why she regrets not completing her education, the huge fall-out sh...

We talk to the amazing Diane Ademu-John. She talks about her first writing room, being afraid to speak and then getting fired from Crossing Jordan. She talks about leadership, co-showrunning and learning and growing even from...

We talk to Australian showrunner Luke Tunnecliffe. He tells us about trying to run a sports documentary during a global pandemic, bringing an LA production to Australia only to get locked down and moving from sports documenta...

We speak to the extraordinary Gina Yashere about her journey from British comedian to American sitcom actress and showrunner. She talks about her dream to play a best friend in a sitcom, the lack of pressure because she never...

Two Englishmen talk Hollywood rejection as we managed to lose Noah for the episode. Veteran Jim Piddock tells us about his fight for fair pay for Tooth Fairy, what a nice man the Rock is and his huge problems with a high prof...

We turn the microphone round and have host Dan Rutstein as guest. Friend of the podcast Paul Bae asks the questions with Noah as Dan talks through unsuccessfully applying for 100 jobs, getting laid off during the pandemic and...

We talk to the fascinating Eric Guggenheim. We talk early career success, serious imposter syndrome and working with his brothers (one of whom has already been on the podcast). He tells us about his good years, his fallow yea...

We talk to the extraordinary Simran Baidwan. She tells us about her best and worst rooms, the transition from criminal prosecutor to Hollywood and the importance of grace in leadership. We cover inclusion, telling a good stor...

We talk to the amazing Jeffrey Lieber - for the second time. We take a deep dive into the world of failure, rejection and adversity in Hollywood. We talk ill-fitting jobs, managing and leading teams and shit sandwiches. Jeffr...

We talk to the fascinating Paul Bae. The teacher/comedian/podcaster/screenwriter/actor talks us through his journey. We talk failing in screenwriting and acting leading to millions of downloads for his scripted podcasts, gett...

We talk to the extraordinary Ildy Modrovich. She talks about arranged marriages, the importance of two showrunners and the pilot that was guaranteed - until it wasn't. She talks about losing her confidence, making sure others...

We speak to the amazing and hilarious Chris Sheridan. He reads out some of his rejection letters, tells us about making calls from payphones on street corners and why he really didn't want to work on Family Guy. But then he t...

We have comedian, actress and writer Brittani Nichols on the show. A fascinating discussion about diversity, inclusive comedy and working on a rocketship of a show like Abbot Elementary. We talk happy and unhappy rooms, frien...

We talk to the dynamic duo of Scott Beck and Bryan Woods about gimmicks in scripts, a yes after multiple nos and what happened to their directing dreams. They talk with incredible candor about their Quiet Place journey, what ...

We talk to novelist and showrunner Dari Polatin. She talks about getting her book written at 4am and during lunchbreaks, the rarity of being allowed to adapt a novel and the struggles of a junior female writer in a room full...