Creative Principles

Courtney Lilly’s writing credits include Invader ZIM, Arrested Development, Everybody Hates Chris, My Boys, The Cleveland Show, and Black-ish. In this interview, we go Ito the weeds about writing comedy, uncover the rhythms of a television, talk about universal needs in stories, discuss the writer’s room, and talk about the legacy of Black-ish as the series wraps up. You can also find more info on...

Ep339 - Chris Sheridan, Creating SYFY’s ‘Resident Alien’ “I always wanted to be a writer, but I didn’t know what type of writing I wanted to do,” said Chris Sheridan, who originally thought he wanted to be a journalist until he discovered screenwriting in college. “It immediately clicked.” Sheridan’s writing credits include shows like Living Single. Titus, Yes Dear, Family Guy, and most recently R...

Moses Storm was doing a show in the back of a comic book store when he was discovered by one of Conan O’Brien’s booking agents. Moses, along with Chris Redd (Episode 334), was asked to come improv a special show with Conan O’Brien. Over the years, Moses and Conan have become close friends where they’ve performed together and were Moses has done sets on the series. Currently, Team Coco are producin...

Christopher Riley and Kathy Riley met Coleman Luck, screenwriter of The Equalizer, who challenged them to an interesting idea: find the defining moment of a character. As a screenwriter, Riley has spent his life creating these moments in characters for the big screen. Now, he’s written a book on The Defining Moment to help other writers uncover these wounds and gifts that create character. In this...

Mike Sielski began his career following the woman’s basketball team as a sports writer at La Salle University. As a sophomore, he realized he could write a sports story in the same way he wrote his English papers, and he was hooked. Currently, Mike works for the Philadelphia Inquirer and has published books such as ‘How to Be Like Jackie Robinson,’ ‘Fading Echoes,’ and most recently, ‘The Rise: Ko...

“Films from the 70s really stayed with me,” said Tim Kirkby, Director of ‘Last Looks,’ ‘Action Point,’ ‘Fleabag,’ ‘Veep,’ and ‘Brockmire.’ His latest film, ‘Last Looks,’ stars Charlie Hunnam and Mel Gibson. The story follows a disgraced ex-cop who has a quiet life until he’s forced to return to his former life as a private eye to investigate a murder. In this interview, Kirkby talks about his fasc...

“I met with a guy and he gave me a show that was terrible,” began Chris Redd. “I went back to my talented friends who don’t do terrible comedy and said, ‘We should make a version of this.’ We kept jamming on that shit and there were four different versions, but it eventually became Bust Down.” Redd is known for his work on Saturday Night Live, Popstar, and Joker. His talented friends include Sam J...

Alice Wetterlund started her career with improv and stand-up. As a comedian, she’s performed on shows like Conan. As an actress, she’s best known for her roles on Space Force, New Girl, Silicon Valley, and most recently as D’Arcy Bloom on Resident Alien. Resident Alien stars Alan Tudyk, Sara Tomko, and Corey Reynolds. The plot reads: A crash-landed alien takes on the identity of a small-town Color...

“I have been writing screenplays since I was 13 years old. I have been writing for a long, long time, back before there even were screenwriting books,” said Neal Marshall Stevens, who has 45 writing credits on IMDB (and many more unlisted). “I think I bought an old Star Trek episode, which was totally inappropriate as a screenwriting guide,” he joked. “You could order screenplays back then, but th...

Weiko Lin’s writing comes from a place of pain, but also a place of fear. He was already a professional screenwriter when his mother passed away, but since this monumental moment, his work became more authentic as it changed his views on writing character. In this interview, Lin talks about his new book ‘Crazy Screenwriting Secrets: How to Capture a Global Audience,’ how to write about duality, wh...

As a literary agent early in her career, Jandy Nelson was attracted to “voice-driven work.” A poet and YA reader, she saw a path for herself in the subgenere of verse novel. “That’s when I wrote The Sky is Everywhere and fell in love with fiction.” In The Sky is Everywhere, the story follows a shy, teenage musician who tries to keep things together after the death of her older, outgoing sister. Ne...

Since elementary school, Dana Schwartz has been writing full-length books. Today, she’s known for her work as a writer, author, and podcaster. Most recently, Dana published the book Anatomy: A Love Story, which was recently chosen as a pick for Reese Witherspoon’s book club. Set against the backdrop of 1830’s Edinburgh, this is a gothic tale full of mystery and romance. Inspired by grave robbers a...

At age 25, Mike Mills found filmmaking through music videos, following the path of Spike Jonze, and eventually working with musicians like Moby and The Beastie Boys. Mills launched his career with Thumbsucker, an adaptation of Walter Kirn’s novel by the same name, followed by Beginners, and most recently, C’mon C’mon. The plot follows a woman who asks her radio journalist brother to help look afte...

Screenwriter James Vanderbilt returns for the third time to talk about his new film Scream. Look for James in Episodes 50 and 163 of the podcast for more great advice. In the new film, Scream, the plot reads, “Twenty-five years after the original series of murders in Woodsboro, a new Ghostface emerges, and Sidney Prescott must return to uncover the truth.” In this interview, James talks about writ...

Rebecca Sonnenshine “came to screenwriting last,” after making short films, capturing images, and attending Film School. After trying her hand at screenwriting, she discovered she loved the process. As a writer-producer, she’s best known for working on The Vampire Diaries, Outcast, The Crossing, The Boys, and now, James Wan’s Archive 81 for Netflix. In her new series, the description reads: “An ar...

“As a kid, I was so moved by these things,” said author Christopher Vogler about the world of cinema. “What made stories so exciting? I followed that trail to Film School at USC, where I encountered some of the ideas of Joseph Campbell.” Vogler’s Professor encouraged him to further explore the mythological signs that stood out to him, which led him to Campbell’s The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Thi...

“Necessity,” said Bashir Salahuddin, about his path to screenwriting, as he and his writing partner Diallo Riddle were limited in which roles they were given, even in sketch comedy performances in LA. The duo felt like there had not been a “boisterous black sketch comedy show in LA” since Keenen Ivory Wayans’ In Living Color (1990-1994). “We had goofy sketches, like Malcolm X doing stand-up and th...

Andrew Herr spent the bulk of his childhood playing hockey, until he moved senior year, and got involved with acting and theaters in the new environment. Herr is best known as Jonesy on ‘Letterkenny,’ where he plays one of two bumbling hockey players in a small town in Canada. The character-based series is made up of “hicks, skids, hockey players and Christians.” In this interview, Herr talks abou...

Rachel Shukert grew up in the Omaha theater scene, where she absorbed plays by Tennessee Williams as an actress, before landing at NYU, where she began to find her voice as a writer. As a writer, she’s known for working on Supergirl, GLOW, Cursed, and Netflix’s The Baby-Sitters Club, where she’s also been producing since 2019. In the 2020 series, the description reads, “Based on the book series of...

Valerie Armstrong always wanted to be a writer, but quickly discovered there was no clear path to becoming a screenwriter. That said, she knew she had to give it a shot, and she eventually landed a job as a Writer’s Assistant on ‘Masters of Sex.’ These days, she’s known for ‘SEAL Team,’ ‘Lodge 49,’ & ‘Kevin Can F**k Himself,’ where she’s also the Creator for this AMC series. The plot is about “the...

As far back as he can remember, Aaron Augenblick has been obsessed with cartoons and animation. As he pursued his passion, he quickly decided to open his own studio at the age of 22. Aaron is best known for working on Daria, Ugly Americans, The Jellies!, Death Hacks, Teenage Euthanasia, and The Adventures of Drunky, which stars the voice talents of Sam Rockwell, Jeffrey Tambor, Steve Coogan, and N...

Camille Griffin has credits in the Camera and Electrical Department for movies like Layer Cake, Star Wars: Episode 1, and Jojo Rabbit, before making her first film Silent Night. The new film stars Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, and Roman Griffin Davis. The plot for her debut reads, "Nell, Simon, and their son Art are ready to welcome friends and family for what promises to be a perfect Christmas...

“From the very first moment I saw Annie, I knew I wanted to do that.” Kourtney Kang got her start acting and singing before moving into screenwriting and playwriting. Today, she’s best known for creating the Disney Plus reboot ‘Doogie Kamealoha M.D.,’ and writing for major shows like ‘Fresh Off the Boat,’ and ‘How I Met Your Mother.’ In Doogie Kamealoha M.D., the story follows Lahela "Doogie" Kame...

On her first day on set, Danis Goulet knew she wanted to be a filmmaker. As she transitioned from casting to head a film festival in Toronto, she saw a potential path to making her own shorts, like Spin, Divided by Zero, Wapawekka, and Barefoot. Her first full feature as the writer-director, Night Raiders, the story focuses on a mother who joins an underground band of vigilantes to try to rescue h...

“It stretches back at least 10 years,” said Edgar Wright about the story idea for Last Night in Soho. Edgar, who is well known for his musical taste, in movies like Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim, and Baby Driver, seems to write, direct, and edit with the score or soundtrack in mind. With this setting in mind, Edgar eventually crafted the character of Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie), an aspiring fash...