When Isabel Met Aviva

In this episode, we are joined on the pod by director Alicia McDonald who shares her journey into filmmaking, the creative process behind her rom-com Finding Emily, and insights into making authentic, relatable stories that challenge genre stereotypes. We got so many great insights from Alicia about her directing experience for Finding Emily and loved chatting with her about what makes a rom com r...

In this episode, we explore the world of editing! From film school to working on blockbuster trailers and scripted TV shows, this episode features a guest and friend, Catherine Cloutier! Cat shares her insights into the technical and creative aspects of editing, the challenges of trailer production, and how collaboration shapes the final cut. We really loved hearing her thoughts about the art of e...

Welcome back to another episode of the pod! This week, we got to chat with local LA Director, Candace Williamson! She shares her journey from USC to Cannes, her experiences at USC, and her innovative projects including a PBS documentary and a short film about black farmers and the history of the banjo! We also have some chit chat about the challenges of getting scripts made, our favorite rom-coms...

We're back! In this episode, we chat with local Seattle filmmaker Gracen Bayer about her journey in the film industry, her projects, and her insights on directing, genre preferences, and industry challenges. FYI she is the director of the romcom (or romdram???) that Aviva wrote and in this episode...they reveal the *new* title of the film!! Follow Gracen: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/g...

Another Wednesday, another episode of the pod!! In this episode, we explore the journey of being an emerging writer and filmmaker navigating the industry. Our friend and a listener of the pod, Kalee Quiñones, joins us to share her insights on screenwriting, networking, and personal growth! We ended up having a pretty fun and candid conversation about the realities of making it in LA, and Kalee sha...

In this episode of the pod, we are joined by our writing group friend and fellow romcom writer, Becky Jerams! Becky is a UK-based novelist and joins us to share her journey from songwriting to novel writing. We chat about the challenges of the teen and adult romance markets, and explore the differences between screenwriting and novel writing. Spoiler alert: Isabel talks about wanting to try novel...

We're bacccccck! And we are kicking off season 7 with amazing news to share and celebrate: Aviva optioned her first script!!!!! How freaking cool is that?! Listen to this episode of the pod to hear all the deets that Aviva can *legally* share! Aviva's inspiring sale led us into a discussion about how we're like, actually on the path to becoming full-time writers!? Feel free to email us...

Welcome to the second table read on the pod! This episode features a unique table read format. We are joined by six professional actors who read for the characters in Aviva’s Mary-Kate and Ashley-inspired romcom fan fiction script, TWINSIES. Logline: After their grandfather dies, two Millennial twins travel to his farm in Austria and find themselves transported to an alternate dimension — a tween...

A special episode of the pod is releasing on 6/13/26, which happens to be Mary-Kate and Ashley’s birthday! Isabel & Aviva are joined by six actors for a table read of Aviva’s Mary-Kate and Ashley-inspired romcom fan fiction script, TWINSIES (the same script Isabel read when they first connected on Twitter). Logline: After their grandfather dies, two Millennial twins travel to his farm in Austr...

It's the last episode of Season 6 already!? We think it was Worth The Wait for this chat with Maggie Hartmans, a screenwriter who turned her passion into a career and sold her first movie to Tubi, a free streaming platform! Maggie joins us on the pod to tell us how she made her first movie, a rom-com, 'Worth the Wait' for Tubi!! Maggie shares her journey in screenwriting, the impact of...

In this candid, fun chat on the pod, Avra Friedman joins us to share her behind the scenes of her life in La La Land! You may recognize her from our table read of Isabel's script, Dating Zac Efron! We had such a good time chatting with Avra about the bizarre world of seat fillers at the Oscars to the secret joys and frustrations of being an actor, comedian, and aspiring writer in Hollywood. If...

In this episode of the pod, we discuss ableism in romcoms with writer Alys Murray! Alys shares her journey from aspiring musical theater director to successful screenwriter and novelist. She discusses her work in rom-coms for Hallmark and Lifetime, the creative process behind her scripts, and her insights into the industry, including diversity initiatives and the art of the romcom! Alys's Webs...

We're back with another yap on the pod! In this episode, we breakdown how Isabel’s new daily writing flow helped her finally finish a script, why she stopped stressing over perfect scenes, and her "dump draft" technique that keeps her writing consistent! Aviva shares her recent wins—including winning $500 in a romcom screenplay contest! Feel free to email us: ⁠whenisabelmetaviva@gmai...

We've got a super exciting episode of the pod today! We had the honor of chatting with screenwriter Leigh Dunlap, creator of the beloved film 'A Cinderella Story!!!' We shared and reflected on this iconic film's impact, particularly on both Aviva and Isabel's pre-teen years! Leigh shared some behind-the-scenes fun facts about the script's development, casting choices (we lo...

In this new episode of the pod, we chat with screenwriter and cinephile, Simone Toney! Simone told us all about her journey as a screenwriter, her experiences at the 2025 Austin Film Festival, and her insights on pop culture, specifically some of her hot takes on the Oscar noms!! Simone’s Sunstack: https://simonetoney.substack.com/ Feel free to email us: ⁠whenisabelmetaviva@gmail.com⁠ Instagram &a...

We're back with a new interview! For this episode, we were so excited to chat with Erin Rodman, a showrunner and screenwriter who recently produced the new Hallmark series '12 Dates Till Christmas.' Yay! We finally learned what a showrunner does! Erin's Website: https://www.erinrodman.com/ Erin's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erin917 Feel free to email us: ⁠whenisabelmet...

Another week, another episode of the pod! This time we discuss our personal creative journeys, chatting about the challenges and triumphs of writing and filmmaking! Aviva shares exciting behind-the-scene stories from her first time making a short film of her script, "Let The Dust Settle." Plus, we chit chat about the recent Emily In Paris Season and read funny notes on our phone about mo...

Our first interview of season 6 is one we have been manifesting for a long time!! At the end of 2025 we finally got to chat with Kristen Buckley, the screenwriter of the iconic rom-com 'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days!!' We're so excited to finally share our chat with Kristen and you won't believe who she said was originally cast as Benjamin Barry! Kristen's website: https://krist...

We're back for another year of the pod!! For our first episode of season six, we reflect on our experiences and growth throughout 2025. We chat about the challenges of balancing writing with full-time jobs, our personal lives and, you now, trying to do ALL THE THINGS! We manifest our goals for 2026, crown the best romcom of 2025, and Isabel shares her hot take on The People We Meet On Vacation...

Hi, everyone. What a surreal episode to publish, but Aviva’s producer, mentor, and friend, Karen Glass, passed away unexpectedly this week. We are heartbroken. We wanted to re-release the conversation we had with her from season one of the podcast in 2023. It was a privilege to hear all her amazing stories — she made all our favorite films from childhood. We are sending love to her family and frie...

She's back...our first guest on the pod, Carley Smale, joins us almost exactly two years later for a fun catch up! We loved getting to hear how Carley's career has grown since we last had her on the pod! In this episode, we chat about the challenges of maintaining creativity amidst life's pressures, the current slowdown in the entertainment industry, and the importance of persistence i...

We're beyond excited to share this week's episode of the pod because we finally set it up....and got to chat with Claire Scanlon, the director of Isabel's fav Netflix romcom, Set It Up!! We discuss the making of Set It Up and Claire's journey to becoming a director and editor for shows such as The Office, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and The Good Place. Claire shares sooo many fun st...

This is a fun episode of the pod as we chat with Susannah, a matchmaker and screenwriter, about dating and...well, writing about it! Susannah is a professional matchmaker, so we discussed the recent fake romcom, Materialists, and shared all our hottest takes! Susannah also shares about her journey in screenwriting, her experiences in the Green Room Fellowship, and her thoughts on the challenges of...

This week on the pod, we are joined by another screenwriting Twitter friend, Paulina Ward! We had such a cute chat about our shared experiences in the screenwriting world, the challenges of trying to be authentic with our creative expressions on social media, and Paulina teaches us all about audio dramas! Follow Paulina on Instagram: ⁠@princesspaulinaaa Paulina's Production Company: www.zaspap...

Welcome to the first table read on the pod! This episode features a unique table read format. We are joined by 6 professional actors who read for the characters in Isabel's romcom fan fiction script, 'Dating Zac Efron'. Logline: Actor Zac efron tries to use tinder but gets no swipes because people think his account is a catfish. When he calls Tinder customer support for help, the customer service...