Episodes

We talk to film producer Andy Horwitz. He talks about about how to let writers go from projects, trying to treat people fairly but also the principle of 'protect the movie at all costs'. Adam explains the process of movie making, the difference between TV and film rejection and why he was so desperate to become a movie producer. He tells rejection stories, his own battles to get Triple Frontier made and what's most important to him - blockbuster money, awards or working with good people. Andy ta...

Having written or produced more than 120 hours of television, Joseph Mallozzi has had a stellar career. We talk to him about the relative comfort of working on one show for more than ten years, his impatience when he isn't on a show and the importance of working with great people. He talks about the frustration of working on a difficult show, with impossible deadlines and budgets and managing the absurdity of the situation. And what he learned from that for when he next ran a room. Joseph explai...

We talk to insightful and wisdom-filled manager Zadoc Angell. This long-time literary agent, manager and TV producer, as well as current Co-President of Echo Lake Entertainment, talks about moving from agent to manager, managing client expectations and why emailing rejection is often the best way. He talks openly about his career, the different ways executives articulate passing on a project and the importance of honesty and accuracy when sharing bad news. An insightful and amusing journey throu...

We talk to the remarkably funny and articulate Marc Guggenheim. The industry veteran talks about moving from procedurals to genre, working for an abusive showrunner and his regrets over taking a gig ‘just for the money’. He talks openly about the different shortcomings of showrunner, what he learned from good and bad bosses and the importance of fostering creativity. He explains how he takes rejection, why he’s comfortable taking about it and how much of his success he owes to 20 years of therap...

We talk to doctor-turned-writer and showrunner Neal Baer. He talks us though his journey on ER, the public service he performs and the lives he has saved through television. We cover the anti-science movement, the joy of working with execs who give you freedom to be creative and the challenge of transitioning to non-medical shows. Neal tells us how he deals with rejection, making television during Covid and gives inspiring advice to the next generation of writers.

On a special episode, we push Noah Evslin into the guest hot seat and the creator of the world's most successful scripted podcast Paul Bae joins as co-host. Noah talks about his experience of rejection, failure and adversity. He talks about the risks of leaving the relatively safe world of producing in Shondaland to push forward with writing elsewhere, the continual fear that you never know if you'll work again and his enjoyment of the process of creating. He explains what he has learned about t...

We talk to Canadian-British actor and producer Jonathan Lloyd Walker. He talks about his career, moving between disciplines and the different types of rejection he has met in each one. He explains how he had a fast start in writing, thinking it was easy and then quickly finding out it wasn’t. Jonathan talks about his worst rejections, being flown across the country only to be replaced by a mysterious extra person in the room and whether he would rather win an award as an actor or a writer. He ad...

It is a cultural phenomenon that beautifully treads the line between disaster film and farce. We talk to the writer of the first four Sharknado movies Thunder Levin. He talks about the success of the franchise, his 'rock star' moment on the stage at Comic Con and his attempts to be a 'serious science fiction writer'. Thunder explains the journey of Sharknado's meteoric rise, the contradictory notes around how much humor to put in and his attempts to recreate that success again. He explains his f...

Fired, banned from set, thrown off projects, fired again, briefly blackballed. An extraordinary interview with writer and show creator David Steinberg about his journey from an arrogant youngster, to rebuilding his career and achieving success - with a few more firings and one more set ban along the way. David talks about being embarrassed by his early mistakes, his own personal journey of change and growth and what he learned along the way. Honest, funny and enlightening - an in-depth blow-by-b...

We talk to producer and screenwriter Steven S. DeKnight. He talks about his career highlight working on Spartacus, the opportunities he missed that led to him taking that meeting and the challenges (and excitement) working on Marvel's Daredevil. He talks honestly about when to push back on execs, how to compromise and when to admit you have it wrong. Steven talks about directing, what he got right, what he got horribly wrong and being shouted at by a line producer. And gives great advice about w...

We talk to actor-turned-director Keegan Connor Tracy, She tells us why she chose to try her hand at directing, the struggles of starting from the bottom again but why now is the right time for her. She talks about the lack of role models behind the camera when she was acting, how she wants to change that and some of the things she had to put up with on set. Keegan is honest about how she deals with rejection as an actor, not wanting to watch shows she didn't get on and tells us about some of her...

We talk to Michael Fuller who talks us through the pain and heartbreak of his show Quarry being cut, how he used cigarettes and bourbon to get through it and the balance between being a showrunner and being part of other people's shows. He talks about the dilemma of writing your soul and writing to make a living with a family, what he's learned about the industry and what he learned as an adult (and why he encourages other writers to take acting classes). And he tells those considering joining t...

We talk to lawyer-turned-writer Melissa London Hilfers. She talks about her transition from attorney to entertainment, what her old colleagues think of her new role (and how they are easily impressed by celebrity namedropping) and the sense of achievement she gets from her creative work. In painful detail, she walks us through the time another writer told her he wanted to do a 'page one' rewrite of her script and how she circled around Los Angeles in an uber crying. She describes writing her fir...

This week's guest is the extraordinary writer, creator and double Emmy winner Javier Grillo-Marxuach. He works out how many of his 23 shows have been cancelled (a few), how many he has quit (some) and which were the ones he cared most about and were most proud of (The Middleman). We talk about how winning Emmys 'doesn't suck' (and giving them to his parents to display), the joy of being able to create a show he loved and the time he tried, and failed, to sell out. Javi talks about some of the fr...

We talk to the extraordinary writer and producer Akela Cooper. She talks about combatting the loneliness of writing, particularly during a pandemic, the sage advice of her mother and the discipline of constantly working on her own projects even when in a room. Akela talks honestly and openly about an abusive experience she faced, how she had the strength to walk away and the fear that she would be branded 'difficult' in a tough industry. She explains how she overcame that challenging time, what ...

We talk to legendary writer, show creator and exec producer Glen Mazzara. He talks about crisis training in the entertainment industry, how he still suffers from imposter syndrome and the time a knife fight broke out on the Shield when prostitutes mixed with actresses playing prostitutes. Glen told us about facing such a serious rejection that he couldn't get out of bed for three weeks and it took a year, and a commencement speech at NYU, to get over it. We discuss the need to provide better tra...

We talk to the extraordinary Ryan Knighton, a blind writer of books and TV. He explains how blindness helps him with the art of describing scenes, using the time he doesn't spend on driving and video games to perfect his craft and the risks of being typecast and only being asked to work on visual impairment projects. Ryan also talks about the advantage of pitching without seeing people's responses, how he uses nudging with his assistant to help him and whether or not he thinks he has lost projec...

We talk to Kira Snyder, computer game designer-turned-writer and now showrunner. She talks about the 'new' Hollywood and its concern for mental health and wellbeing, how working in corporate America has helped her prepare to be a showrunner and why working on Eureka was so fulfilling. Kira talks about diversity, how failed computer games prepared her for failure in Hollywood and the importance of working on projects you really care about. We discuss making the next project the most important, th...

We talk to writer and graphic novelist Bryan Hill. He tells us about an extraordinarily cruel early rejection, how he channeled that, and other setbacks, into success and why he feels without failure he wouldn’t have done what he’s done. Bryan talks passionately about dealing with setbacks, staying true to the writer you want to be and helping your managers help you. And he also gives the most extraordinary piece of advice to aspiring writers - a step-by-step walkthrough of a winning movie formu...

We talk to showrunner Joe Henderson about his Hollywood journey. He talks about his formative years as an assistant and how he is grateful for the extended period he spent at this position - but then also about his triple promotion. Joe talks about the complications of Lucifer: the odd premise, the early cancellation the stop-go issues around later series - but also its tremendous success. He explains whether or not he expects people to have watched his shows, the importance of maintaining quali...

We hear the fascinating take of Jeffrey Lieber, the creator of the first version of the Lost pilot. We talk about how he dealt with his relationship with the show as it went in a different direction, the years it took him to process it and his views on the show and how the ending was received. He talks about why he writes, the role therapy has played and how he approaches new roles. He talks about the struggle of writers, what he is hoping to achieve with Charmed and the importance of story, col...

We talk to veteran writer Jose Molina. He talks through the balance between finding a long-running show, finding a show you like and making bold and reckless decision early in your career. He explains why young writers should actually take advice from their mentors, even if they think none of the rules apply to them, why he quit SVU and he tries to define 'success'. Jose talks about worrying less about his next gig and more about his next gig being the right one, the important of working to pay ...

We talk to Marc Bernardin about his different careers and the different types of failure he suffered. He talks about journalism, being fired while on vacation and knowing when to break the rules and reach out to interview subjects for opportunities in writing. He explains the pros and cons of diversity hires in Hollywood, getting fired from TV writing and then his return to journalism. Marc tells us how he got back to screenwriting while working for Playboy, making the most of his opportunities ...

We talk to David Goodman, veteran writer and WGA West President. He talks about the pain of a comedy writer pitching jokes that don’t land, the thin line to tread between comedy and causing offense and knowing you’ll get fired if you can’t make people laugh. He describes some iconic comedy rooms, talks about his animated show that got made but never aired and the responsibility of Guild presidency and standing up for writers everywhere. Extraordinary anecdotes, insight and advice from a veteran ...