OnWriting: A Podcast of the WGA East

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 gra...

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 sta...

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...

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...

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...

It's season two of the podcast, and we're hitting the ground (front-)running. In this episode, our season 2 host Caroline Waxler sat down with THE FRONT RUNNER co-writers Matt Bai, Jay Carson, and Jason Reitman. The film, based on a book by Matt Bai, explores how, in 1988, Senator Gary Hart's presidential aspirations were derailed after an affair became national news, and chronicles the moment whe...

We're bringing you a special episode of OnWriting all about the Made in NY Writers Room —a fellowship program from the WGA East, the NYC Department of Small Business Services, and the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment. The fellowship elevates emerging writers with diverse backgrounds and view points by providing career development training from established showrunners and television indust...

For the 6th and final episode of Season 1, Jordan spoke with David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik, the brilliant minds behind the award-winning Showtime/BBC series EPISODES, which recently concluded its fifth and final season. David and Jeffrey both got their start writing on the legendary late-night HBO sitcom DREAM ON. From there, Jeffrey went on to write and co-produce the hit series MAD ABOUT YOU, w...

For episode 5 of the show, Jordan was joined by Emmy Blotnick to talk about her career writing late-night comedy. Emmy was the head writer for THE PRESIDENT SHOW on Comedy Central and is currently writing for THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT. She kicked off her late-night career writing for the MTV talk show NIKKI AND SARA LIVE. After that, she wrote for Comedy Central's internet-themed game sho...

For episode 4, Jordan spoke with Sybil Rosen and Ethan Hawke about their film BLAZE. BLAZE is inspired by the life of Blaze Foley, the unsung songwriting legend of the Texas outlaw music movement that spawned the likes of Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. The film explores Blaze's love affair with Sybil Rosen; his last, dark night on earth; and the impact of his songs and his death had on his fans,...

For episode 3 of the show, Jordan spoke with Sofia Alvarez about her latest project, the romantic comedy TO ALL THE BOYS I'VE LOVED BEFORE, which was released on Netflix on August 17. The film was adapted from Jenny Han's 2014 novel of the same name. It follows 16-year-old Lara Jean Song Covey, whose life is thrown through a loop when someone exposes the secret love letters she wrote to—you guesse...

For episode two of OnWriting, Jordan spoke with Alec Berg and Bill Hader about their Emmy-nominated HBO series, BARRY — a dark comedy starring  Hader as a low-level hitman with aspirations of becoming an actor. Bill Hader's eight-year stint on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE turned him into something of a household name. He's also written on SOUTH PARK for the last decade, and he co-created the mockumentary s...

For the first episode of OnWriting, we spoke with Academy Award-winning screenwriter Michael Arndt about his video lecture, ENDINGS: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE INSANELY GREAT. Michael's first feature-length screenplay – LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE – earned him the Oscar and the Writers Guild Award for Best Original Screenplay. His other credits include TOY STORY 3, THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE, and ST...