Let me start this off by saying, there are so many different ways to break into TV writing. And I DID NOT take the easiest route.
In fact, in the years after I broke through, this route has become even more difficult.
So, why am I even bothering to talk about my way in. BECAUSE it illuminates some of the intricacies of the industry and gives you information about some of the jobs you can get as you make your way inside the writers’ room.
There is a hierarchy of writing jobs, but here is also a hierarchy of assistant jobs.
Having a foundational knowledge of what these jobs are will tell you whether this is a route you want to pursue, and it may even give you some insight as to whether or not this is an industry you want to pursue.
My Journey to TV Writer...dom
I moved out to LA in 2012 and the only thing I knew about breaking in was to “get a PA job.” So, that’s what I did.
I was a PA/Runner for a production company that produced some of the ESPY Awards.
Terrible job. And really gave me no insight as to how to make TV.
BUT it did lead me to make some connections, including someone who used to work at Warner Bros.
This led to an interview at a scripted show as a Night PA.
Night PA
The Night PA is the PA that comes into the writers’ office in the evening on shows when the room tends to keep their writers late.
My job was to get dinner for the writers and then, at the end of the night, print out all the scripts that would be needed for all the departments, writers and actors the next day.
Then I moved up to…
Writers' PA
This was basically the same job, except my day would now start at 10am. I would get coffee and lunch for the writers, take them to set, at times help out on set. That sort of thing.
One of the writers on this scripted comedy I was working on got their own show, and I was brought over and moved up to…
Writers' Assistant
This was my first move into the writers’ room. This was a way more difficult job than the PA job I had before.
You’re in the writers’ room taking notes on whatever the writers are saying all day long.
Unfortunately, this show I was working on was not long for this world. The cancellation fairy visited quickly and, for the next few years, I bounced around to a few pilots and TV shows as a writers’ assistant until on one show I was given a FREELANCE SCRIPT.
This is a script given to someone outside of the regular writing staff. This provides cache and a nice payday. Both nice things.
The following year, my show was cancelled, but I was able to find work on the pilot and then eventually a TV show as a…
Script Coordinator
This is basically the highest you can get on an assistant level in a TV writers’ office. You’re like the king assistant.
The script coordinator job is difficult, dare I say even more difficult than the writers’ assistant job.
You are basically in charge of the script, not the content, but how it looks, proofing it, making sure all departments are aware of any changes being made. Here, I was given my second freelance script, and with that, I was granted entry to the WGA, the writers’ union.
TV Writer
As seemed to be a common theme for my career, this show was also cancelled. And I was out of a job.
I had now met tons of writers and producers, and a lot of people knew me… as an assistant. Well, I was done being an assistant.
So, now I had to forgo the jobs I had before, look for new folks, talk about myself in a different way, and try to make my way in differently.
And I was able to. The WGA, during their agency fight, created a directory of management companies. My writing partner and I incessantly emailed and, eventually found some managers who were scrappy and wanted to give us a shot.
It was there that we connected with another one of their clients who had a TV show about to go into production and we were brought on as writer/producers.
The Takeaway
When it came to assistant jobs, I found there was a ladder to climb.
But the jump from assistant to writer was just not going to happen. Shows don’t last long enough for you to establish yourself and make that jump.
So, it was assistant jobs that got me into the right position to make the leap, but only if I stopped taking those jobs and reframed the way people saw me… as a writer, not an assistant.
