I have a book that came out on September 3rd, 2024, which, if you've clicked on this post from Google, should be rearing its ugly head as a pop-up any second now. Are you back? Don't hate me. We all must promote.
The experience of coming out with a book is surreal, especially one that touches so close to home. I mean, I have a whole chapter about the past 12 years of my life in entertainment. I feel vulnerable and proud. Scared and excited. All the things. But I didn't write this book simply as an exercise in embarrassment and self-aggrandizement. I wrote this because I saw a gap in knowledge, and I wanted to fill it.
I moved to Los Angeles in 2012 after studying TV/Radio/Film (that was my major) at Syracuse University. And I found myself woefully unprepared for the world of entertainment I was joining. This wasn't the university's fault. Because nobody had this knowledge. Nobody but the people on the inside who it's unlikely anybody breaking in is familiar with knows just what it takes to break into this very insulated world.
So, I did what most people do. I scrambled for the only type of job I had been told to get, a PA job. After that, I was going to have to figure out everything else for myself. Because, nobody really tells you what a PA job is good for. Nobody tells you the other assistant jobs that can get you where you want to go. Nobody tells you when assistant jobs are just holding you back. This was everything I had to learn for myself.
Eventually, I made a path for myself, with many many missteps along the way. I became a PA, then a writers' assistant, then a script coordinator, then I wrote my first episode of TV. Eventually, I became the Executive Producer of a TV show, and am pitching my projects around to studios and networks.
Through it all, I found that people inside the industry aren't really looking to open up the gates and let everyone in. Everyone's scared for their own jobs, and if the ladder is easier to climb, that means more competition. So, it's in everyone already on the inside's best interest to safeguard crucial information, and make it so that you need some serious family money to hang around long enough to figure it all out.
I didn't like that. And I saw an opportunity to shed light on this weird world of TV writing and make it easier for those who come after me. That opportunity was the pandemic...
The Origins of Breaking Into TV Writing
It was March of 2020. Remember that time? It was shitty. Like, "everything you touch and everyone you meet might kill you" shitty. And all work in the entertainment industry had stopped. I had been working on a single-camera sitcom that had turned into my worst job yet in entertainment. The boss was conniving and belittling. The other writers were nice, but everyone was sad and stressed.
I was actually relieved when my job ended early. This job had demoralized me and made me question whether I wanted to be in this industry anymore. In fact, I had decided I did not. But I wanted to make sure I got down everything I loved and hated about the industry. I thought maybe that would make for an interesting read, maybe use this as a foray into publishing. Well, it didn't make for an interesting read. It made for an angry manifesto. But then I rewrote it, this time with helpfulness in mind, rather than "I don't have a therapist and this is how I'm going to vent" in mind. And the result was something I was really proud of. It's all the information I wish I had when I was trying to break into TV writing, along with stories of people who broke in in various ways.
Why I Felt Like I Had To Write This Book
Eventually, as this book transformed, I found that it was feeling important for me to write this book. It had become more than just a venting session, or even a guidebook. I felt this was a way to make the industry more transparent, particularly for new people trying to break in, and among that group, particularly for those who don't have the means to support themselves while they spend years trying to figure it out.
I had been sick of hearing time and time again things like "it's all about the writing." That's a really nice sentiment. And I so wish it were true. But I can assure you, after having been in 14 different TV writers' rooms and reading countless scripts from professional well-paid writers, it is NOT all about the writing. Not at all. But it is a nice thing to believe if you were able to make it in based on your pre-established connections, or luck, or both.
I'm not trying to say that your writing ability doesn't count for anything. Sometimes it really does. And sometimes it really doesn't. And I wanted to keep that at the core of my book as I re-structured and revised it. Definitely learn how to write a great script. That should be half the battle. But the other half is what I describe in my book - how to navigate your TV writing career.
What I COULD FIND online was tons of information about writing a good script. But that only gets you so far. What I COULD NOT FIND was any information about making TV writing a career. This includes:
How do you actually get into the writers' room?
What does a writers' assistant actually do?
How much do you get paid as an assistant?
Where can I find job postings?
This is all stuff I learned that was never taught and never existed anywhere. And THAT, I felt, was worth putting into writing. Your TV writing career will be 50% your writing ability. It will be 50% how you network, meet people, establish yourself and grow within the industry (in other words, treating TV writing like a business).
This book was written to make it easier for you to treat TV writing as a business and grow within it.