Emerging: How to Eventually Make it in Film & TV

We've all heard the term "fake it 'til you make it", but how many times have we seen it actually work in practise? Well, this week's guest is the perfect example - writer, producer, filmmaker and horror aficionado Jed Shepherd started out with no experience in an office job, and somehow emailed his way to a producer credit on cult disasterpiece Birdemic 2(!), before embarking...

It's one thing to love a film or TV show devoutly, it's another to gel with the writing itself, so this week we're digging through our favourite scripts and trying our darnedest to figure out what we've learned from them, and what makes them so great. And it's not just The West Wing and Buffy, we're talking everything from single-serving episodes of Doctor Who to Spike Lee&...

Who're the writers, filmmakers and all-around creatives who inspire us, and how can we learn from what they've done and continue to do? In what Martin's calling our "most pointless episode ever", we're talking inspiration and how looking up to other people and their work is a GOOD THING. Whether that's Alice Lowe's sensationally dark microbudget horrors, the Wayan...

If this week's absolute MASTERCLASS on the British comedy writing scene somehow wasn't enough, you're in luck - here's a whole bonus 30 minutes with the brilliant Emerald Paston as we take her through the last call. Featuring some genuinely new advice we haven't come across before (despite doing close to 100 of these!) And if you want to follow Emerald's journey, you can fi...

We're unbelievably lucky to have some British comedy royalty join us this week, in the form of Have I Got News For You writer and general all-round funny person Emerald Paston! A self-confessed comedy nerd, and with credits stretching across everything from famous panel shows to digital shorts and her own (brief) stab as a stand-up songwriter, Emerald knows the UK comedy world inside out, so w...

We're all just trying to get better at the craft every day, and while writing a lot is maybe the only *sure fire* way of getting there, don't ignore all the other extra curricular activities that we find ourselves doing that have an effect too. Reading books, watching how the pros did it, listening to absolutely killer podcasts full of different perspectives and outlooks. It doesn't al...

Where do you see yourself in the next five years? It's a big, boring, frustrating question that gets asked a lot, sadly because it has a bit of weight. Especially when you're a writer and trying to figure out where you're heading. It's such a competitive industry, it's very easy to get lost in the weeds and turned around by the concept of actual work; sometimes we lose sight of...

Summer's over, so we're not only wrapping up Martin's production stories from the set of his new short LICKS, we're also taking a look at the upcoming Autumn scheme deadlines - not least the surprisingly inflated entry fee for one very prominent competition. Is £65 too much to pay to give your script a chance at flourishing? When are all the deadlines this year? And how exactly does one get themse...

Even as writers, occasionally we crawl out from behind our oversized desks and trade our scripts for a camera to actually try and make something - which is exactly what both Martin's spent the summer doing. So join us for a big ol' recap of all the nitty gritty bits and pieces needed to actually put a production together, as Martin walks us through his experience writing, directing and producing h...

Sometimes it's more fun to "share the load" as Samwise Gamgee would say, so this week we're talking collaboration - what it means to share the writing responsbilities on a script with one or more other people! From how to make the tech work, to what a good partnership looks like, and our own experiences of both, including the several doomed attempts to write together as a trio. Ben is also nameche...

Tray and Ben are back from the Edinburgh TV Festival, wrapping up what they saw, who they saw and what they should do next - from following up with new connections, to making the most of the inspiration. A huge thank you to the TV Foundation for having us along! And even if Edinburgh wasn't on your cards for this year, consider this a helpful checklist for how to follow-up after every other festiv...

It's August and Tray and Ben are on their way to the last ever Edinburgh TV Festival - the only problem is, neither of them have prepared. At all. Not even a little bit. So this week we're chatting festival and networking prep; how much should we plan ahead, and how much is just freeballing it and going with the flow? How much of the schedule is useful, how many meetings should we be chasing, whic...

How fast can you write? Sometimes, whether we like it or not, we're gonna have to move fast. Whether that's coming up with ideas on the fly or turning around a fresh draft "ASAP" after a round of notes, the industry doesn't always wait or take its time in the way we want it to. So this week we're talking about SPEED, how quickly we move generally, and what methods we employ when we need to take th...

When you've always got too much to do, how do you plan your work and projects to make sure you're prioritising what's important? It's one of the ultimate questions every emerging writer faces, especially when you're juggling paid work, family life and 100 scripts that all feel like they're so close to finally being done. There're only so many hours in the day! So join the three of us as we take a...

A whole bonus 15 minutes with brilliant writer, producer and social media chatterer Karla Williams Posiuniene, as we take her through the last call and get some top tips about keeping your career on the move, even if you have an agent on side. And of course if you want to follow Karla's journey, you can find all her links at https://bio.site/cue.karla 📬 Get In Touch: Email us: TheEmergingPodcast@...

This week's guest will be verrrrry familiar to anyone who regularly finds themselves watching screenwriting content on TikTok - Karla Williams Posiuniene has made a name for herself sharing industry info online, and it's started to open doors in every direction. So is it worth doing? And how? On top of some A+ community-finding advice, Karla also goes into detail about her unusual journey to date,...

How're you doing with your scheduling? This week, Ben's moving house and everything's very much up in the air - so we figured we'd take a look back at how we map out our time around all those big work and family and just general life commitments, because clearly sometimes they get the better of us! 📬 Get In Touch: Email us: TheEmergingPodcast@gmail.com Follow us on Instagram: @theemergingpod Ben...

We're (over) half way through the year, so what better time to catch up with everything that's been going on in the last quarter to support and celebrate each other - lord knows some of us need it (especially Ben's deeeeep unhealthy voice). Not Tray though, who's suddenly maybe the most prolific writer in the entire emerging community. Lots of fun news, upcoming shorts, new projects and Edinburgh...

If like us, you need more John Jackson in your life, here's a whole extra half an hour with your new favourite working TV writer, as we cover everything from specific advice for emerging writers, to why sports movies are just THE BEST. And as before, if you want to keep up with John, he's @johnjackson5412 on Instagram, and EAST, the network we talk about which John co-founded to support British Ea...

This week we're going all-in on longevity as we sit down with the exceedingly successful John Jackson, a true journeyman TV writer with credits stretching back 25 years, on everything from Being Human, to Robin Hood, FX's Trust and Sky's Riviera. It's one thing to get those early credits, it's another to keep your head in the game for as long as John has, and this episode is FULL of exciting littl...

More great advice from our new favourite agent Jack Gilchrist, as we dive into the Last Call and get very specific about query emails, School of Rock and why more creatives should have grown up on Disney Channel original movies. If we didn't answer it in the main episode, we almost certainly cover it here - we well and truly rinsed Jack's brain. 📬 Get In Touch: Email us: TheEmergingPodcast@gmail....

After talking about our preferences and the challenges of getting an agent last week (and for a good year prior), today we've actually managed to corner one to answer all of our questions directly - so please welcome the exceedingly lovely, exceedingly patient Jack Gilchrist, an agent at Casarotto Ramsay & Associates here in the UK! How do agents realise they want to be agents? How do agents *...

We've been talking about looking for agents for as long as we've been writing, but with the British industry where it is right now, we've started asking ourselves - do we actually need an agent to progress? The answer is obviously, pretty complicated, so here's a solid hour of back and forth about not just that, but what our ideal agent would look like, and how best to approach the good ones. This...

We all need more Louis in our life, so here's another bonus chunk of our elongated chat with the very exciting emerging filmmaker as we take him through the Last Call. From how long your short should probably be if you want to get a festival selection (from the guy who's been to LFF, Raindance and the others!) to why no one cares how much dust is on the table in your script, Louis spills A LOT of...

An episode a long time in the making - today we're (finally) joined by the ridiculously exciting writer, director, Martin collaborator and true Simpsons connoisseur Louis Chan, one of the most name-dropped creatives in Emerging history! Louis guides us through not only his wiggly career making (very very good and very very celebrated) shorts, but also how he found the energy and nerve it took to g...