OnWriting: A Podcast of the WGA East

Caroline spoke with playwright, screenwriter, and showrunner Gary Lennon about embracing rejection; the elements of a successful writers' room; his philosophy on putting real life in your fiction; the new seasons of POWER, HIGHTOWN, and EUPHORIA, and much more. Gary Lennon's somewhat tumultuous childhood paved the way for the start of his writing career: his first screenplay, for the 1995 film DRUNKS, was an adaptation of his stage play, BLACKOUT – a series of semi-autobiographical monologues about alcoholism. Since then, he has been a consistent fixture in the film and television worlds, with writing credits on shows like THE SHIELD, JUSTIFIED, and ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK. He's currently the co-showrunner of the Starz crime drama POWER, and is an executive producer on the forthcoming Starz drama HIGHTOWN and the HBO teen drama EUPHORIA. POWER tells the story of James St. Patrick, a ruthless drug-dealer under the nickname "Ghost", who wishes to leave the criminal world in order to support his legitimate business interests as a nightclub owner. The sixth and final season will premiere in August. EUPHORIA, which premiered last month, follows a group of high school students as they navigate drugs, sex, identity, trauma, social media, love and friendship. HIGHTOWN follows federal Fishery Service Agent Jackie Quinones, whose life of partying and less-than-enthusiastic relationship to her job are upended after she discovers a body in Cape Cod Bay, and finds herself at the center of the Cape's gruesome heroin epidemic. It's tentatively set to premiere in early 2020. -- Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews:www.onwriting.org/-- Follow us on social media:Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

Caroline sat down with the one and only Tom Fontana (for his very first podcast!) to discuss his writing process, running less-than-traditional writers' rooms, mentoring writers, his latest series - CITY ON A HILL, and much more. Tom Fontana's extensive résumé includes writer, producer, showrunner, and (co-)creator credits on several groundbreaking television series, including OZ, HOMICIDE: LIFE ON THE STREET, THE PHILANTHROPIST, COPPER, and Netflix's BORGIA. He has received international recognition for his writing, including five Writers Guild Awards (three for Episodic Drama and three of the East's honorary awards), three Emmy Awards, four Peabody Awards, and four Television Critics Association Awards. He is currently the showrunner for CITY ON A HILL, the crime drama series created by Chuck MacLean which recently premiered on Showtime. CITY ON A HILL—a fictional account of the 1996 "Boston Miracle" that changed the city's reputation for violent criminals, racism, and corrupt law enforcement—follows Brooklyn-raised Assistant District Attorney Decourcy Ward as he and forms an unlikely alliance with corrupt yet venerated FBI veteran, Jackie Rohr. Together, they take on a family of armored car robbers in a case that grows to involve, and ultimately subvert, the entire criminal justice system of Boston. -- Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews:www.onwriting.org/-- Follow us on social media:Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

Caroline was joined by writing team Robert and Michelle King—creators of THE GOOD FIGHT, their new series, EVIL, and the Writers Guild Award-winning show, THE GOOD WIFE—to discuss the upcoming seasons of THE GOOD FIGHT and EVIL, the difference between writers' rooms in LA and NYC, life as a married writing team, and more. Before their work on THE GOOD FIGHT and EVIL, the Kings co-created the political satire/science fiction BRAINDEAD and the police procedural IN JUSTICE. THE GOOD FIGHT- a spin-off of the Kings' award-winning series THE GOOD WIFE - follows attorney Diane Lockhart (Christine Baranski) as she loses her employment after an enormous financial scam destroys both the reputation of her goddaughter Maia (Rose Leslie) and Diane's savings, leading them to join Lucca Quinn (Cush Jumbo) at one of Chicago's preeminent law firms. The show's third season premiered on CBS All Access earlier this spring, and was recently renewed for a fourth season. EVIL is the Kings' upcoming series which follows a skeptical female clinical psychologist who joins a priest-in-training and a blue-collar contractor as they investigate supposed miracles, demonic possessions, and other extraordinary occurrences to see if there's a scientific explanation or if something truly supernatural is at work. -- Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews:www.onwriting.org/-- Follow us on social media:Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

Caroline was joined by writer and director Alex Ross Perry to discuss his upcoming film HER SMELL (which is in theaters on Friday, April 12), their shared Philly roots, his Kim's Video alum-heavy list of frequent collaborators and much more. HER SMELL follows '90s punk rock superstar Becky Something as she grapples with motherhood, exhausted bandmates, nervous record company executives, and a new generation of rising talent eager to usurp her stardom - and eventually must retreat from the spotlight to try to recapture the creative inspiration that led her band to success. Alex's career kicked off with the 2009 feature film IMPOLEX - an absurdist comedy inspired by Thomas Pynchon's novel Gravity's Rainbow. Since then, he has written seven other features - five of which he also directed - including indies like THE COLOR WHEEL and QUEEN OF EARTH, as well as the 2018 Disney film CHRISTOPHER ROBIN. -- Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews:www.onwriting.org-- Follow us on social media:Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

Caroline spoke with David Mandel - the showrunner of the HBO hit series VEEP - about his amazing career trajectory, his strong opinions on writers' rooms, and their mutual obsession with Robert Caro. VEEP follows Selina Meyer, the Vice President (and, later, President) of the United States, and her team as they attempt to make their mark and leave a legacy without getting tripped up in the day-to-day political games that define the American government. The Emmy- and WGA Award-winning series – which is an adaptation of the BBC satire THE THICK OF IT – is currently in its seventh and final season. Before David Mandel's tenure as VEEP showrunner, he was a writer, director, and executive producer for CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM. Prior to that, he wrote for the seventh, eighth, and ninth seasons of SEINFELD; for the 18th, 19th, and 20th seasons of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. He also co-wrote the screenplay for the 2003 film adaptation of THE CAT IN THE HAT, and was a writer and co-creator for CLERKS: THE ANIMATED SERIES. -- Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews:www.onwriting.org-- Follow us on social media:Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

Caroline and WGAE Indie Film Caucus Director Jenna Bond sat down to speak with writer, director, and comedian Bo Burnham about his feature film debut, EIGHTH GRADE, which received a Best Original Screenplay nomination in this year's Writers Guild Awards. EIGHTH GRADE follows Kayla - an anxious thirteen-year-old - as she tries to survive the last week of her disastrous eighth grade year before graduating to high school while simultaneously hosting a video blog on YouTube in which she gives life advice. Bo's own career also started on YouTube, where he published a number of viral comedic music and skits starting in 2006. His online popularity quickly translated into an IRL career when he signed with Comedy Central Records in 2008. Since then, he released a series of comedy albums and stand-up specials, appeared in a number of feature films, and co-created, wrote, and starred in the MTV comedy series ZACH STONE IS GONNA BE FAMOUS. -- Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews:www.onwriting.org-- Follow us on social media:Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

Caroline spoke with Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider, co-creators of the Comedy Central series THE OTHER TWO. THE OTHER TWO follows two older siblings who navigate and struggle to find success in their 20s, as their much younger brother becomes a mega star thanks to a viral video he made for a song called, 'I Wanna Marry You at Recess'. Chris and Sarah were staff writers on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE starting in the show's 37th season, and were co-head writers for its 42nd season. Before their careers at SNL, Chris was a staff writer and director at Funny or Die and Onion News Network. His first feature film, OTHER PEOPLE, premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. Sarah was a writer and actor for CollegeHumor, where she starred as a fictionalized version of herself in the sitcom THE COLLEGEHUMOR SHOW. She has also written for the Netflix comedy MASTER OF NONE. -- Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews:www.onwriting.org-- Follow us on social media:Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

In this episode, Caroline was joined by Jenna Bond, who leads the WGAE Indie Film Caucus, and screenwriter and director Barry Jenkins to discuss Jenkins's film IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK. Barry Jenkins had his feature film debut with the 2008 independent film MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY, starring Wyatt Cenac and Tracey Heggins. Eight years later, in 2016, he released his second feature film, MOONLIGHT, which won the Writers Guild Award for Best Original Screenplay and two Oscars - including Best Picture. His latest film, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK, is an adaptation of the 1974 novel by James Baldwin. The film follows Tish, a newly engaged Harlem woman who races against the clock to prove her lover's innocence before the birth of their first child. -- Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews:www.onwriting.org-- Follow us on social media:Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

Caroline spoke with David Magee about his screenplay for MARY POPPINS RETURNS—the highly anticipated and ambitious sequel to the 1964 Walt Disney classic. Prior to MARY POPPINS RETURNS, David wrote the screenplays for FINDING NEVERLAND, MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY, and LIFE OF PI. He received Academy Award nominations for his work on both NEVERLAND and PI, and is currently at work on a project about the life of famed author Hans Christian Andersen. MARY POPPINS RETURNS follows the magical nanny as, decades after her original visit, she returns to help the Banks siblings and Michael's children through a difficult time in their lives. It opens in theaters everywhere tomorrow, December 19. -- Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews:www.onwriting.org-- Follow us on social media:Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast

In this episode, Caroline sat down to chat with John Krasinski—the screenwriter, director, producer, and star of one of this year's most frightening features (and one of AFI's Top 10 Films of 2018), A QUIET PLACE. The film follows the Abbott family as they attempt to silently navigate a post-apocalyptic world plagued by ruthless monsters with ultra-sensitive hearing. It was released in April 2018 to widespread critical acclaim and quickly became a box office success. You probably know John Krasinski from his eight-year stint playing Jim Halpert in the NBC comedy THE OFFICE, or else from his more recent turn starring as the eponymous hero of Amazon Prime's JACK RYAN, but Krasinski has also made a name for himself behind the camera. He made his feature film screenwriting and directorial debut in 2009 with BRIEF INTERVIEWS WITH HIDEOUS MEN, based on the short story collection by David Foster Wallace, and he wrote the screenplay for the 2012 film PROMISED LAND, directed by Gus Van Sant. -- Read shownotes, transcripts, and other member interviews:www.onwriting.org-- Follow us on social media:Twitter: @OnWritingWGAE | @WGAEast Facebook: /WGAEast Instagram: @WGAEast