Screaming into the Hollywood Abyss

We talk to the fascinating Mark Goffman. He tells us about swapping real Government speech writing at the State Department for writing on the West Wing, some extraordinary career luck and ventriloqism documentaries. Mark talks about the importance of giving people a voice in a room, the importance of working with good people repeatedly and the importance of reflecting something of yourself in ever...

We weren’t finished with John Wirth, so he comes back for more. This time we talk leadership style, drinking too much soda and the use of the red pen. John talks about being blunt, some more failure stories and even more advice.

We speak to the legendary John Wirth. He talks about a Hollywood career so long that he can't even remember all of the shows he has run, the shows he has been fired from and arguing with actors who hadn't won Emmys. He talks about managing upwards, 'run money' and an extraordinary argument with talent about trust. A remarkable episode with a remarkable storyteller.

We talk to the extraordinary SJ Hodges. She talks about changing her name to a gender neutral one to get read, jumping from staff writer straight to show runner and what she learned from managing a literal car crash on The Player. Then SJ shares her personal journey of losing her husband to a brain tumour, what she did next and how she ended up building a community around her memoir Uneven Ground....

The podcast is back for the second half of season three and we have a cracker. Gary Whitta, writer of Book of Eli and Rogue One gives an extraordinary interview about his transition from video game editor to writer, working on Star Wars and his frustrations with Hollywood.  He gves us an extraordinary pig analogy, talks about the excitement and pressure of being asked to work on the world's l...

After a long mid-season break, we are back up with the second half of Season Three of Screaming into the Hollywood Abyss. Noah and Dan talk about what they have been up to the last few weeks - Noah's show got cancelled! - and we thank our long-term partner Scriptation and then introduce tomorrow's episode with Rogue One writer Gary Whitta. This taster episode will just remind you of the...

Our first Oscar winner! For the last episode before our mid-season break we have Ed Swick on the show. He talks about his new book - Hits, Flops and Other Illusions. And we talk winning Oscars, writing truthful books about Hollywood and his extraordinary career. He tells us how the industry has changed, that films like the ones he made aren’t made anymore and a bit more about winning Oscars. Ed te...

We talk to the fascinating Jim Mickle. He tells us about this start in independent movies, taking a break during the strike and the upcoming final season of Sweet Tooth. He explains how he got in to tv, becoming a showrunner and suffering from imposter syndrome and working in New Zealand during a pandemic. Jim talks about how hard and tiring being a showrunner was, nearly working with Stallone and...

We talk to the fascinating Emily Fox who tells us about getting fired, trying to stuff a large chair into a car in the rain while in tears and the importance of connection in a writing room during a pandemic. She tells us about her shows getting cancelled due to a change of exec, being nice to people firing her and building bonds among colleagues. We talk the importance of support outside the indu...

We talk to Emmy-nominated writer and producer Wendy West. She talks about researching murder, her love of morgues and being the only woman in the room early in her career. Wendy talks about mentoring young female writers, supporting veterans and what it's like to work in the Dick Wolf world. She explains her path to success, her love of crossovers and finding out her show is being cancelled b...

We talk to Oscar and Emmy award nominee Eddie Schmidt. He talks about being comedy adjacent, his time in an improv troupe and how he moved into the showrunning part of Hollywood. We discuss leadership style, the fun of working in comedy and the demeaning comments of mean bosses. We talk about how to appreciate comedy, the complexities of navigating Hollywood and being able to speak truth to talent...

In a slightly different style of episode we talk to comedian Ray Ellin. We discuss how social media has changed comedy, hear some magnificent failure anecdotes from comedy clubs and bars and talk through the process of creating comedy. Ray talks us through his love of live standup, working in tv and why he made a podcast about Little House on the Prairie. We also cover cancel culture, Aruba and Th...

We talk to Oscar-nominated writing partners Eric Johnson and Paul Tamasy,  They talk about their fight to get the Fighter written, battling both the mob and Hollywood, the joy of an Oscar nomination and the slog of the promotional campaign. They talk about how they savour every moment of red carpets and parties, the importance of never giving up and the frustrations of the arbitration system. They...

We talk to screenwriter Tom Vaughan who opens up about his Hollywood journey. He talks about his early career, the arrogance and refusal to take notes even from Disney and the mistakes he made. He talks candidly about being 'a drunk', how despite success he deservedly couldn't get people to work with him a second time and moving into teaching and taking a break from Hollywood saved...

We talk to the fascinating Matthew Carnahan. He tells us about his early work with Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, why he didn't want to work in TV and how he broke in to that world. He talks passionately about choosing meaningful projects over money, the joys of a successful project and the anger at the death of that same project. Matt talks about his early-career rage, losing projects to st...

The One with 4-time Emmy winner Ted Cohen. We speak to Ted about his time on Friends, what’s it like to win an Emmy and how we coped after coming off Friends and spending ten years in the development wilderness. We talk about the switch from comedy to drama, writing for himself and getting on Veep. Then we hear about Succession, working on a game- changing project, his desire to create his own sho...

We talked to Head of Casting at Universal Content Productions, Steven O’Neill. He proudly talks about his work helping people achieve their dreams, how he fell in love with casting and what the pandemic did to change the process. He talks about how to deal with disagreements with showrunners, separating behaviour from performances and running into actors who he hasn’t cast. A fascinatingly honest,...

We talk to legendary showrunner Cheo Hodari Coker. He talks about his journey from music journalist to writer, what he learned from the tough world of hip-hop and how he used those skills in Hollywood. Cheo talks about the similarities between running and writing, finding pockets of time to write and how screenwriting can be painful. He describes embracing the suck, seizing his moment and writing...

We speak to Keith Geller who talks us through his unscripted journey. We talk game shows versus docu-follows, shrinking budgets and higher expectations and picking only proven formats. He talks about his journey from Shakespeare to Wipeout, the role of social media and the changing attitudes towards mental health and crises. Keith talks pitching new formats, creating his own show and trying to cre...

We talk to the lovely Daniel Kunka, writer of Netflix number one movie Lift. We talk zombie apocalypses, impregnating wolves and the unlikely demise of a great script. He tells us about his 15 year gap between movies, writing for a female lead and ending up with Kevin Hart and how it feels to have the number one movie on a global steaming platform. Daniel also explains the anxiety of losing his he...

Back from the winter break and we have another 'case study' episode of the podcast. We talk to Marc Benardout and Hugh Broder, producers of He Went That Way, a new movie out tomorrow. They talk about working with Jacob Elordi and Zach Quinto, about dealing with the death of their director but also Marc's son during production and the 19-year journey to get the film made. We discuss...

We talk to the effervescent Ashley Michel Hoban. She talks about the excitement for her new show coming out today, her journey from assistant to showrunner and what she learned along the way. She tells about self belief, imposter syndrome and how’s she’s expecting to feel tomorrow morning after tonight’s Dr Death Season 2 premiere. Ashley discussed the importance of just writing, the pressure of b...

We speak to the excellent David Slack. We talk about how an independent movie failure led him to Hollywood, the path from animation to live action and getting fired from Law and Order. David tells us about the shows that didn’t make it, claiming unemployment and some of the poor behaviour that has gone on in Hollywood. We also cover post-strike executive interactions (good), AI ruining civilizatio...

The day before his new movie hits 3000 theaters in 38 countries, we talk to the talented Adam Anders. He tells us about his transition from a very successful music career with shows like Glee to  his 17 year journey to writing, producing, directing and songwriting for a Christmas family musical called Journey to Bethlehem. Adam talks about being creatively unfulfilled, the tightrope to walk when w...

Must. Listen. Episode. We have the legend that it David Kirschner. He talks getting his break designing an album cover for Neil Diamond, pitching Steven Spielberg at his July 4th party and Hocus Pocus going from abject failure to cult classic. David explains the story of Hocus Pocus taking years to make, bombing and leaving him in tears and then growing into a massive success. We hear about being...