My Job is to Play - Women in Television (Conversations on Creativity with Erin Mallon)

Today we have SHEILA CALLAGHAN on the show.  In 2010, Sheila was profiled by Marie Claire as one of “18 Successful Women Who Are Changing the World.” She was also named one of Variety magazine’s “10 Screenwriters to Watch.”  Sheila was a longtime writer/producer on the hit Showtime comedy Shameless and a founder of the feminist activist group The Kilroys. She was nominated for a 2016 Golden Globe...

Today we have RACHEL VINE on the show!  Rachel is a feature and TV writer who has worked on many animated series. Some of those include My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, DC Super Hero Girls, Wander Over Yonder and DuckTales. Rachel was story editor for Peabody Award-Winning The Owl House. This conversation was really cool for me, since I knew not a thing about working in the world of animation....

This week we have AJA GABEL on the show! Aja is the author of the novels Lightbreakers (coming in November 2025) and The Ensemble , both from Riverhead Books. Her prose can be found in The Cut , LA Times , Buzzfeed , BOMB , and elsewhere. Her TV credits include: the max original mini series The Staircase starring Colin Firth, Toni Colette and Michael Stuhlbarg, Sunny featuring Rashida Jones and th...

Today we have MADHURI SHEKAR on the show. Madhuri is a playwright and screenwriter. She wrote the Amazon/Blumhouse feature EVIL EYE produced by Priyanka Chopra Jonas based on her Audible original audio drama . Her TV credits include THREE BODY PROBLEM on Netflix, the HBO fantasy epic THE NEVERS and she, along with John Wells is currently co-showrunning UNACCUSTOMED EARTH for Netflix, based on Juhm...

This week we're happy to have ELEANOR BURGESS on the show. Eleanor is a playwright and screenwriter.  Her work has been produced at theaters across the United States, including Manhattan Theatre Club, South Coast Rep, Geffen Playhouse, McCarter Theatre Center, Huntington Theatre Company, Writers Theatre, Milwaukee Rep, Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Geva Theatre Center and so many more. Her wor...

HANNAH BOS and PAUL THUREEN are the creators and showrunners of Somebody Somewhere, HBO’s Peabody Award-winning, critically acclaimed comedy series starring Bridget Everett. The Boston Globe declared the series a “revelation” that “exudes compassion” with a “nuanced take on the everyday.” The Daily Beast called the show “TV’s sweetest slice of life.” They received an Independent Spirit Award nomin...

Today we have SARAH MCCARRON on the show.  Sarah is a Los Angeles-based writer, producer, and director who works in television, film, and theatre. TV projects include: currently executive producer of a one hour drama in development at Showtime (hopefully to be announced soon!); co-executive producer on Netflix’s forthcoming THE ABANDONS, starring Gillian Anderson and Lena Headey; HBO Max’s Emmy-no...

Anna Ouyang Moench is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter. Her plays have been produced at La Jolla Playhouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival, NAATCO/The Public Theater, the Geffen Playhouse, the Playwrights Realm, East West Players, InterAct Theater, Theater Mu, and many other theaters across the country and around the world.  In television and film, Anna has worked with Apple TV+, HBO, A...

Darcy Fowler is a writer, actor, and producer who co-created and co-wrote the animated horror comedy Little Demon on FX/Hulu, voiced by Danny DeVito, Lucy DeVito, and Aubrey Plaza, and executive produced by Dan Harmon. She was a writer on the last (and never aired) season of Netflix's Glow, and has developed, collaborated on, and sold shows to networks including Comedy Central, TBS, and AMC,...

Gina Fattore is a TV writer, producer, and showrunner. Some of her many credits include Dare Me, Gaslit, Better Things, UnREAL, Masters of Sex, Parenthood, Californication, Gilmore Girls, and my eternal favorite, Dawson’s Freaking Creek. Her debut novel The Spinster Diaries was published in 2020 by Prospect Park Books and is a total delight (a fun bonus - the audiobook is narrated by friend of the...

This is our 40th episode and the end of Season One! This first year of the podcast has flown by. I'm so grateful to everyone who has tuned in, shared episodes, rated us, reviewed us... it's all meant so much to me. For this final episode of the season we thought it would be fun to go back in time and celebrate some of my favorite moments from this first year, so that's what we'...

Today we have Natalie Naudus on the show. Natalie is a brilliant Audie-Award winning narrator of over 400 books. We get into that a little in this interview. But mostly we talk about her writing and celebrate the release of her debut novel. It's called "Gay the Pray Away" and it is the #1 Best Seller in Coming of Age Fiction for Teens on Amazon this week. I loved talking shop with N...

Today we have my friend Eliza Bent on the show. Eliza and I go way back. She is a playwright and a performer whose Bentertainments include solo works, plays, adaptations, and hybrid affairs. She makes short films. She speaks Italian. She has degrees in philosophy and playwriting and she's on faculty at Northwestern University’s Radio TV & Film department. She's a cool as hell person...

Today we have my friend Amy Staats on the show. Amy is an actor, writer, producer, director... you name it, she does it. This conversation was so much fun for me. We talk about Van Halen, understudying on Broadway, writing plays, developing projects for TV and film, and overcoming perfectionism. Amy's currently doing an experiment where she shares a piece of brand new writing every single day...

Today we have NY Times Bestselling Author Jodi Lipper on the show. Jodi is a Collaborative Writer, also known as a Ghostwriter. I've always been interested in how this process works but I thought it was super secretive and I didn't want to pry. Well Jodi let me pry for this podcast episode and I'm so happy she did. I'm amazed at how many skills it takes to be successful in this...

Today our guest is my dear friend Thérèse Plummer. If you are an audiobook listener there is a very strong chance you've had this lady's voice in your ears. She's a beautiful storyteller, a kind soul and a hella strong human being. Almost three years ago she was in ahead-on car collision with a drunk driver and she's been on a relentless journey to recovery. We talk about that...

Today our guest is Charlie Pollock. Charlie is an incredible singer and actor. He's worked with the likes of Dolly Parton, David Bowie, John Mellencamp... the list goes on. Every time I see him onstage whether in a Broadway show or playing in his awesome band, I'm so jazzed by how he operates. Charlie is just one of those magnetic artists you can't take your eyes off of when he perf...

I am so excited for today's episode. If you've ever talked with me about TV, you know my absolute favorite show of all time is This is Us . It's one of those shows that's so deep in my bones I have to hold myself back from referencing it on a daily basis to my friends and family. Well today I got to take a deep dive and talk about it as much as I want, because Siddhartha Khosla...

Today we have my dear friend Lia Romeo on the show. She's one of the smartest and most generous playwrights I know. Her new play STILL is having its New York Premiere right now. It opened last night at the DR2 Theater in Union Square. It's presented by Colt Coeur with direction by Adrienne Campbell-Holt and features performances by Jayne Atkinson and Tim Daly. In this conversation we dis...

It's week two of my Spring Break and we're back with another great replay. Today we're heading back to the very first episode of the podcast where I got to talk to Amy Daws, romantic comedy author extraordinaire.  Amy is a #1 Amazon Bestselling author. She's written over 20 books and they're all hilarious, sexy and playful as hell. This is perfect timing, because just yest...

I am on a Spring Break for the next two episodes, so we're revisiting two of our early conversations from back in September when we launched the podcast. First up for our replays is the wonderful Kristoffer Diaz. Kris and I go way back. Kris is a Pulitzer Prize nominated playwright, a screenwriter and an educator. People call his work "Brilliant theatrical innovation" and "A fi...

Today we have my buddy Mike Houston on the show. He is an incredible actor who works in Theater, Film and TV. Mike spent four seasons on Orange is the New Black as Lee Dixon and recently played Harvey Weinstein in the feature film "She Said" starring Zoe Kazan, Carey Mulligan and Patricia Clarkson. In this episode, Mike and I really "talk shop" and get into what collaboration l...

Today we have the great Theodora Taylor on the show. I first learned about Theodora's work a few years ago when I picked up her book "7 Figure Fiction: How to Use Universal Fantasy to Sell Your Books to Anyone." With a title like that, why wouldn't I buy it, right? I expected lots of cool tips on selling my books - which I certainly got - but I got so much more. Theodora cracke...

Today we have the lovely Samantha Brentmoor on the show. Samantha is a wonderful romance audiobook narrator which is the space we've been hanging in lately, but we go way back to my early theater days in New York City where she actually ran the theater where I was performing. Every time I snag a few minutes with her at a book event, I think man, I want more time with this woman. So we made th...

Today we have my friend Melanie Maras on the show. Melanie is a working writer in Hollywood, which you can hear her discuss every other week on her podcast: Two Writers Talking Shit w/her co-host Saeed Crumpler. This conversation was a real treat for me because I felt like I got to be the writer talking shit with her this week. Melanie is such a curious and gregarious person, so I shouldn't h...